Beethoven – Symphony No. 5 – Aurora Orchestra - Bristol, London, Heidelberg & Munich

28 March 2023, 21:00
I enjoyed an action-packed week with the Aurora Orchestra and their conductor, Nicholas Collon, in the week beginning 20th March 2023. We performed Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony from memory six times in several different venues and settings in England and Germany. It was a pleasure to revisit this symphony, having memorised it for performances, including at the BBC Proms, in 2022.

After two days of rehearsals in London we played this famous symphony for care home residents in Bristol Cathedral on 22nd March 2023. The musicians were spread out all around the cathedral, bathing the audience in a natural surround sound. The world premiere of Héloïse Werner’s For Mira also took place in this grand and historic venue; the composer was present for this and all of the subsequent performances of the tour. Her piece featured spooky vocalisations from the players, two prominent bassoons, and the players performed from memory—a true Aurora hallmark. It was great to engage with the audience after the performance; for many of these care home residents it was the first trip of this kind since before the pandemic. This was a brilliant collaboration with a mutual feel-good factor. 

I was so early arriving in Bristol that I had time to visit SS Great Britain, an attraction I haven't visited since I was very young!


The second and third performances took place at the Printworks in London on 23rd March 2023. We performed Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony here last year, and once again the audience had the opportunity to meander between the sections of this vastly expanded and atmospherically lit orchestra. The trumpet section ended up on this eye-catching image taken by Classic FM. 

Revellers even sang bits of the symphony on the tube on the way home! 

After a day rehearsing with the incredible pianist Jan Lisiecki, we performed the first two movements of the Beethoven symphony in the lobby of the Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) for a combination of audiences: one leaving the Purcell Room after a performance, the other arriving in anticipation of a concert in the QEH. The pop-up performance was exciting and low-key. My wife and our friends, Andrew and Vicky, took a seat at a table in the centre of the room, and were later surrounded by Aurora Orchestra. Nicholas Collon said: 'Some Beethoven', and so it began. They absolutely loved it! 

The fourth performance took place in the QEH on Saturday 25th March 2023. It began with Jan Lisiecki’s debut with the Aurora Orchestra: he performed Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto (op. 58) and a scintillating encore; the andante from Chopin’s Nocturne (op. 9) no. 2 in E-flat major. Héloïse Werner's piece followed, by lantern light, and the Beethoven symphony provided a rousing finale. The orchestra spread out into the auditorium and played a widely-spaced encore of the last section of the fourth movement of the symphony. Jan Lisiecki was an absolute delight to listen to, and a charming person to talk to. It was great that we played Beethoven's fourth piano concerto in the same programme as his fifth symphony, since both were premiered at the same original performance.

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'Of all the concerts I wish I could have attended, the Beethoven marathon of December 1808 in Vienna would surely top the list.... In one of his surviving sketchbooks, we get a glimpse into the intimate connection between the two pieces. Whilst mulling over possible themes for his new symphony, Beethoven copied out the opening bars of the Fourth Piano Concerto; the lilting - 'da-da-da-da' rhythm of the piano's opening statement is transformed into the blistering salvo that has become one of the most famous of all musical motifs; 'da'da'da'dum; Beethoven, as ever, brilliantly manipulated a germ of an idea, until it became the rhythmic rod that drives through the entire symphony.' – Nicholas Collon, Principal Conductor

The next morning we arrived at Heathrow airport to travel to Frankfurt. Having experienced significant delays on route, we arrived in Heidelberg just in time to do a brief soundcheck and eat some pizza before performing in the Neue Aule as part of the wonderful Heidelberger Frühling Musikfestival (Heidelberg Spring Music Festival). It was a fantastic concert, and Jan Lisiecki performed Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp Minor as his encore this evening. What an amazing performer! I took this candid trumpeter's-eye photo just before the rehearsal began. 

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We travelled by coach (on account of train strikes in Germany) to Munich on Monday 27th March 2023. The travel was straightforward and we arrived at the Isar Philharmonie in Munich with plenty of time to rehearse. This concert hall is apparently a temporary measure while Munich's main concert hall is refurbished. It was well-equipped, the orchestra sounded great in this acoustic, and the concert was well-attended. It was also a brilliant concert, and a great way to round off a fantastic week with this orchestra. Our esteemed pianist played Chopin's Nocturne (op. 48) no. 1 in C minor (Lento) as his encore—apparently this piece was a request from our very own orchestral assistant! 

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It's always a pleasure to perform with the Aurora Orchestra.

It was an all-too-brief visit to Munich, and the train strikes unfortunately made it difficult to do any sightseeing. I had a 03:40 alarm the following morning (which took some discipline) and a taxi to Munich airport. I flew from Munich to Paris, to join Les Talens Lyriques in rehearsal for an upcoming performance in Krakow.


Russell Gilmour
Russell Gilmour Blog
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