Seasoned pianists, cellists, and other talented musicians performed at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. The symphony will continue to play throughout the end of the month on up until April 1, 2012. Last weekend’s event at The Majestic Theatre was brilliantly executed. Beethoven’s classics instantly come to life as the orchestra strategically mimics Beethoven’s 9 Symphonies: concerts 3 & 4 of 9.
Acoustically, the balcony seats are great according to staff at The Majestic Theatre Box Office; however, students are offered a discount and can enjoy this incredible symphony for only $8 anywhere in the house, as long as they can provide a student I.D., and “it’s one ticket per I.D.,” said Brad, a staff member at the Majestic Theatre Box office. This offers a great advantage to students because it means students can get the best seats in the house for only $8, while regular paying customers must pay between $11.75-$64.75 for balcony, mezzanine and front level seating.
The “Nine Symphonies of Beethoven” are being revisited by The San Antonio Symphony with, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, as conductor. In addition, the Festival partners are even including all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, 10 violin sonatas, his complete chamber works for solo cello and much more. The atmosphere is nothing short of spectacular, as echoing strings and horns are effortlessly played by featured musicians. The Beethoven Festival has been going on for a while in San Antonio, beginning its Pre-Festival Concerts on October 16, 2011 and continuing performances until April.
The festival will give the community a chance to experience all nine of “Beethoven’s Symphonies” live. The concerts are in succession of the other, according to a schedule in which the symphonies are to be played. If you’ve missed any of the first in the series, don’t worry because performances will continue well on into the spring and you will have many chances to attend. To get tickets, visit ticketmaster.com, or buy your tickets at the event. You may also call the San Antonio Symphony at 210-554-1010 for more information on how to purchase tickets.
The next event is on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 at 2 p.m. The event is being held at Laurel Heights University Church, and will feature violinist, Augustin Hadelich. A later event being held on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at the Christ Episcopal Church, with feature guest, Audrey Andrist, on Piano; he will play from Beethoven’s 32 sonatas for solo piano: Concert No. 5 of 8. The next upcoming performance will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church and will feature Beethoven’s 32 sonatas for solo piano: Concert No. 6 of 8. They symphony will return to The Majestic Theatre, Feb. 10, 11 and 12 to perform Beethoven’s symphony No. 8 on Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., while symphony No. 9 will be played on Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
Enjoy the pleasing sounds of classics by Beethoven and support The San Antonio Symphony. Witness the brilliance of these musicians as they replicate Beethoven’s masterpieces. Beethoven was a master of his craft indeed, whom, even with almost complete hearing loss, created unprecedented masterpieces that have spanned and thrived a lifetime. Beethoven is legendary; The San Antonio Symphony captures the grand scope of the artist’s creativity and ability as a composer of music, which Beethoven described as being “more of an expression of emotion than painting.”
Though Beethoven is an artist, his ideal when composing music, was to compose illustrative music, or program. Most of his greater works were composed during a roughly difficult time for him, the last 10 years of his life, when he was almost completely deaf.
Ludwig Van Beethoven is widely known and recognized because of his great ability to create expressive music that can only be described as, invigorating to the senses and innovative; his work is so extensive that a whole month has been dedicated to recreating his long list of sonata, symphony, concerto, and quartet movements. For those of us who have a love for symphony, well, who could ask for anything more?
