Beethoven’s 5th Symphony

Behold the brilliance in this program featuring Beethoven’s groundbreaking Fifth Symphony, Florence Price’s formerly hidden gem Ethiopia’s Shadow in America, and the incredible prize-winning pianist Geoge Li performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The highly accomplished JoAnn Falletta, acclaimed by American Public Media as “a mighty figure on the global music scene,” returns to conduct the CSO.

Beethoven’s 5th Symphony with Conductor JoAnn Falletta

Franz Liszt performed and toured as a professional pianist for 27 years, accumulating and honing skills as a player that enabled him to become a talented composer, especially of works that challenge soloists. His First Piano Concerto, which he began concepting before his solo career halted, is a prime example. But it is not purely a virtuosic showpiece; it is a complex and powerful exchange between the piano and the entire orchestra.

Those four notes that open Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 have become the most iconic in the history of music. The symphony in its entirety transcends time, withstands across generations, and remains a favorite of concertgoers — so much that it seems it always existed.

Beethoven’s Fifth is engrained in popular culture and it is relentlessly studied by musicians and scholars alike. At the time of its premiere in 1808, however, it broke the mold that had been cast by all symphonies before it; it was, like many of Beethoven’s compositions, revolutionary and trailblazing. It was an important work of its time, and its power and emotion survive with each listen. Whether you’ve heard it once or 1,000 times, this performance by your CSO is not to be missed!

MORE ON THE MUSIC & ARTISTS:

• Florence Price’s three-movement tone poem Ethiopia’s Shadow in America pairs African American folk music with traditional classical sounds to tell the story of an enslaved African’s journey.
• Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 premiered on February 17, 1855, in Germany, with Hector Berlioz conducting and the composer as soloist.
• Did you know? Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, First Movement was included on the “Golden Record” of NASA’s Voyager space probe? The recording, by the Philharmonia Orchestra with Otto Klemperer, conductor, remains a traveler through the depths of space!
• In 2019, JoAnn Falletta was named Performance Today’s first Classical Woman of The Year, calling her a “tireless champion,” and lauding her “unique combination of artistic authority and compassion, compelling musicianship and humanity.”
• George Li, who gave his first public performance at Boston’s Steinway Hall at the age of ten, was praised by the Washington Post for combining “staggering technical prowess, a sense of command and depth of expression.”

PROGRAM

Florence Price
Ethiopia’s Shadow in America   

Franz Liszt
Piano Concerto No. 1

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 5

ARTISTS

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
George Li, piano
Charleston Symphony Youth Orchestras (CSYO & CSYS)