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An evening brimming with Beethoven at The Concertgebouw

An evening brimming with Beethoven at The Concertgebouw

Jul 18, 2023
8pm-9.50pm
Concertgebouw Main Hall, Concertgebouwplein 10, 1071 LN
Amsterdam
From 25 euros

Get ready for the SummerConcerts at The Concertgebouw. The concert on July 18, featuring pianist Bertrand Chamayou, is set to be gripping and captivating! Get your tickets online in advance and get ready for a memorable summer evening at The Concertgebouw.

Listen to Beethoven's unforgettable music at The Concertgebouw

Of the five piano concertos Beethoven wrote, the fifth is perhaps the most popular, partly due to its evocative nickname, the Emperor Concerto. After this heroic piano concerto, performed at The Concertgebouw with Bertrand Chamayou as soloist, Beethoven's Fourth Symphony sounds remarkably friendly.

About the Emperor Concerto

As always, there is much that is ahead of its time in the Emperor Concerto, the very last of Beethoven’s piano concertos. Its virtuosic style and wide dynamic range is perfectly suited to the kind of concert piano which Beethoven can only have dreamed of, and which wasn’t developed until the mid 1820s. He also gave precise instructions to the soloist: he wrote out all the solo passages.

The nickname Emperor Concerto, referring to Napoleon, is not by Beethoven himself, but fits well with the grand design and heroic character of the concerto. Imposing, compelling music with a beautiful meditative middle section, performed at The Concertgebouw by soloist Bertrand Chamayou. It is the beauty and serenity of the hymn-like slow section which makes this Beethoven’s best.

About Beethoven's Symphony No. 4

Beethoven's Fourth Symphony, completed in 1806, is somewhat overshadowed by the monumental symphonies he wrote before and after: the Third Symphony, "Eroica" and the Fifth Symphony with the well-known ta-ta-ta-taaa at the beginning. His lyrical Fourth is like "a slender Greek virgin between two Norwegian giants". 

It is perhaps the least-often heard of all his nine symphonies. So treat yourself, enjoy the gallop of the first movement, wonder at the harsh chords of descent into despair in the second movement, the syncopated rhythms of the third movement, and try to keep your hands and feet still in the impossibly lively fourth movement. 

And because the Orchestre de chambre de Paris plays Beethoven's imposing Fifth Piano Concerto before the interval, the Fourth Symphony sounds extra friendly and optimistic.

Concert programme and musicians

Here is an overview of the concert programme:

  • Mayer - Overture No. 2 in D major
  • Beethoven - Piano concerto No. 5 in E flat major, op. 73, Emperor Concerto
  • Beethoven - Symphony No. 4. 4 in B-flat major

And the eminent performers are:

  • Orchestre de chambre de Paris
  • Lionel Bringuier, conductor
  • Bertrand Chamayou, piano

SummerConcerts, a series of 80 concerts at the Concertgebouw

This concert is part of the SummerConcerts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Throughout July and August you can enjoy beautiful classical concerts, swinging jazz and pop, and legendary film music at Amsterdam's most famous concert hall. Feeling the summer vibes? With these lively and captivating concerts on the horizon, you will be!

All tickets come with a free drink. Not only that, but for 11,50 euros you can sip on a delicious limoncello and lime cocktail during the interval. Several of the SummerConcerts have a Meet & Greet with the artists afterwards, and a few of the concerts are rounded off with a DJ set. The SummerConcerts are powered by VriendenLoterij.

Buy your tickets

Buy your tickets in advance on the Concertgebouw website and get to experience one of the top orchestras in the Netherlands playing in the acoustical wonder that is The Concertgebouw. Plus, drinks are included in the ticket price - book your tickets today!