BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH

March 24-26, 2023 | Music Hall

Out of silence, Beethoven’s Fifth depicts an unrelenting struggle and ultimately, triumphant glory.

Program

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK: Cello Concerto

RICHARD AYRES: No. 52 I. Saying Goodbye

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5

Artists

Anna Rakitina, conductor

Sterling Elliott, cello

Venue

Music Hall

Series

Series 1

What's Interesting

Russian conductor Anna Rakitina leads works by two composers who have lived with hearing loss—Beethoven, whose hearing struggle began a decade before the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, and British composer Richard Ayres, whose No. 52 explores, in the composer’s words, “one specific subject: Ludwig van Beethoven’s hearing loss and its effect on him.” Soloist Sterling Elliott, in his CSO debut, brings “impeccable technique and musicality” to Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.

View Digital Program

We believe that great music is for everyone, regardless of your budget. This concert is eligible for Pay What You Wish Pricing, as well as other discounts. To learn more visit Music for All.

What Critics Are Saying:

"[Rakitina’s] concerts ought to be high on any music-lover's agenda."
—The Boston Globe

"Elliott's impeccable musicianship, as well as his discernible love for the music won over the audience."
—Classics Today

“The anguish was palpable, contrasted later with the sweetness of a violin and astringency of a viola. As the movement steers towards its climax, the music is pulled in increasingly different harmonic directions until the ear becomes aware of deliberately distorting sounds – grating, screeching, hissing and buzzing – as the melodic fragments struggle to assert themselves. This is an extraordinarily effective representation of one composer’s reaction to growing hearing loss.”
—Classical Source review of Ayres No. 52 I. “Saying Goodbye”