Watch on demand: Benedetti plays Beethoven

Artists
Pekka Kuusisto – conductor
Nicola Benedetti – violin
John Suchet – presenter
Programme
Beethoven Violin Concerto
Beethoven Symphony No. 2
In Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year, it seems fitting that the Philharmonia’s return to the Royal Festival Hall should feature an all-Beethoven concert. Beethoven’s Second Symphony is an inspiring example of art created in adversity. In despair at his increasing deafness, Beethoven somehow found the inner strength to write some of his most joyful music, bursting with optimism and vitality, and one of the most tender and serene slow movements of his career.
“[Benedetti and Kuusisto] together… found a whole universe in this concerto, in which shadows met sunlight and foreboding met joy”
Rebecca Frank, The Times
Beethoven’s only Violin Concerto, composed a few years later, grabs our attention with five pianissimo kettledrum strokes, and doesn’t let it go. The violin, never showy, sings expressively through the first movement, seems to dream its way through the second, and skips and dances through the ebullient third.
Pekka Kuusisto, already a favourite with Philharmonia players and audiences as a violinist, takes up the baton. He is joined by Nicola Benedetti, an equally engaging performer and one of today’s foremost exponents of Beethoven’s masterpiece.
This concert is introduced by John Suchet, acclaimed broadcaster and much-loved Classic FM presenter.
Nicola Benedetti appears courtesy of Decca Classics.
Need to know
How to book
Tickets are available via TicketCo. Full details on the Buy Access link above
How long is this available for?
This concert is available until May 2021. You have 28 days to watch after buying access
When was this broadcast?
This concert took place on Monday 30 November 2020 at Royal Festival Hall
Was it produced safely?
Yes. We work with independent health and safety experts and have robust risk assessment procedures in place drawing from Public Health England advice
More about this

5 questions with Pekka Kuusisto
We spoke to Pekka Kussisto ahead of this performance about his approach to Beethoven, conducting in a pandemic and much more
Read more
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