Krivine, La Chambre Philharmonique & Chamayou: Mendelssohn

About the Event

Written in E‐flat major (the same key as his Third Symphony), the editing of Beethoven’s last piano concerto (hyperbolically nicknamed “The Emperor”) was frequently interrupted by the bombardment and subsequent occupation of Vienna by the French in 1809. In the margins of a draft of the first movement, composed before Austria’s defeat, Beethoven wrote: “Triumphant cry to fight! Attack! Victory!”

Rather than heroism, it was the three hundredth anniversary of the founding text of Lutheranism (the Confession of Augsburg, published in 1530) that Mendelssohn wished to celebrate in his Fifth Symphony. Austerely beautiful, the work integrates liturgical elements such as the choral theme borrowed from Bach in the last movement, A Mighty Fortress is our God.