✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Classical Music

Beethoven 250, Wigmore Hall

14 Sep 19 – 31 Dec 20, events over 15 months, times vary

Curtain-raiser for the 2020 celebrations of the birth of Beethoven features world-class artists in chamber works by the German master

By Claudia Pritchard on 22/8/2019

Steven Isserlis is among artists opening Beethoven 250 at Wigmore Hall. Photo: Satoshi Aoyagi
Steven Isserlis is among artists opening Beethoven 250 at Wigmore Hall. Photo: Satoshi Aoyagi
Beethoven 250, Wigmore Hall Beethoven 250, Wigmore Hall Claudia Pritchard
Political turmoil, social unrest ... the world into which Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 may seem remote, but today's audiences recognise many of the emotions and much of the background that run through his vast output.


At London's leading chamber music venue, Wigmore Hall, 10 concerts over two days (14 an 15 Sept) open a year's exploration of the composer’s timeless art. In the ensuing months, all his instrumental and chamber works will be played, among them the composer’s piano, violin, and cello sonatas; the complete string quartets; the complete piano trios; and the complete string trios.


A two-season series of Beethoven’s piano variations and other highlights further demonstrates the composer's unceasing invention and innovation.


Artists at the opening Beethoven Festival Weekend include cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Cédric Tiberghien (14 & 15 September). Later come complete cycles by artists including piano sonatas with Jonathan Biss, violin sonatas with James Ehnes, string quartets with the Belcea Quartet, and cello sonatas with Miklós Perényi & Dénes Várjon.




Freya Waley-Cohen talks about Beethoven's influence on today's composers (2 Nov). Photo: Patrick Allen


Over the coming months Beethoven’s three great piano sonatas will be discussed and played by Sir András Schiff, and composer Freya Waley-Cohen will talk about the master's enduring influence on successive generations of composers between lunch-time concerts given by her sister Tamsin Waley-Cohen and the Albion Quartet (2 Nov).

A particular highlight of the Beethoven Festival Weekend promises to be a varied programme of Beethoven’s works conceived for unusual combinations of instruments presented by a glittering line-up of prominent musicians including Michael Collins (clarinet), Janne Thomson (flute), Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Amy Harman (bassoon), Alec Frank-Gemmil (horn), Benjamin Baker (violin), Timothy Ridout (viola), Isang Enders (cello), Jordi Carrasco-Hjelm (double bass) and Aleksander Madžar (piano).


Most 2019/20 Beethoven concerts will be live-streamed for free on its website, alongside broadcast of talks and insight events, bringing a global audience to this landmark celebration. Selected Beethoven 250 concerts will also have discounted tickets available for younger audience members through Wigmore Hall’s Under 35s Scheme, in partnership with Classic FM.


While the big symphonies and concertos take much of the limelight, the intense and personal world of Beethoven's chamber music is a wonderful place to explore, and Wigmore Hall's Beethoven 250 is the perfect route map.

by Claudia Pritchard

What Beethoven 250, Wigmore Hall
Where Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP | MAP
Nearest tube Bond Street (underground)
When 14 Sep 19 – 31 Dec 20, events over 15 months, times vary
Price £5-£30
Website https://wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/beethoven-festival-weekend



Most popular

Queen’s Jubilee 2022: where to celebrate
Queen’s Jubilee 2022: where to celebrate
Things to do in London this weekend: 27 - 29 May
Things to do in London this weekend: 27 - 29 May
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London (Photograph: Peter Lewicki)
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London, 2022

Editor's Picks

The BBC Proms is the biggest music festival in the world. Photo: Chris Christodoulou
The Best BBC Proms 2019: the top artists and works
Vladimir Jurowski conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in music from his native Russia
Best Classical Music and Opera 2019
The Royal Ballet, Federico Bonelli and Marianela Nuñez in Manon (c) ROH 2014 Alice Pennefather
Royal Opera House Autumn Highlights
Sought-after soprano Natalya Romaniw takes three leading roles in as many months. Photo: Patrick Allen/Omnia Opera
Soprano Natalya Romaniw interview: 'My mum liked the chorus best!'
South African-born Jacques Imbrailo trained in London. Photo: Sim Canetty-Clarke
Jacques Imbrailo interview: 'I like things that are beautiful'
Bryn Terfel is singing two roles back to back at Covent Garden. Photo: Nigel Hughes
Bryn Terfel interview: 'I have broken my own rule'
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

We recommend nearby

  • Market Hall West End
    Read more...
    Map
  • Social Wine & Tapas

    Just off Oxford Street, Social Wine and Tapas is a haven for wine lovers. With all its staff trained sommeliers, and excellent tapas mad with locally sourced ingredients, it's not somewhere to be missed.

    Read more...
    Book Map
  • The Golden Hind
    Book Map

Wigmore Hall

Beethoven

You might like

  • Sheku Kanneh-Mason's Prom is screened on 25 Aug. Photo: Lars Borges

    BBC Proms on Television: weekend screen musical highlights

  • Freddie Fox is the guest narrator when the Britten-Shostakovich Orchestra makes its debut on 25 Sept

    Freddie Fox & Britten-Shostakovich Festival Orchestra, Cadogan Hall

  • Chineke! orchestra plays at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 7 Nov, 23 Feb and 12 May 2020

    Classical Season 2019/20, Southbank Centre

  • Charismatic conductor Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra's Barbican residency in November. Photo: Mark Allen

    Barbican Classical Music 2019/20

  • Gerald Barry's frenzied Georgian Dublin stops for tea. Photo: Clive Barda

    The Intelligence Park, Royal Opera House, Linbury Theatre review ★★★★★



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×