BEETHOVEN TRIBUTE
NAC to celebrate composer
This month marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, a composer still so influential that violinist James Ehnes believes his music should be studied in school.
“It's always surprised me that if you're a student in the Western world, you pretty much have to read a Shakespeare play but no one has to listen to a Beethoven symphony,” the 44-year-old Grammy-winning musician mused in a recent interview. “I never quite understood that. It's music that resonates with everybody.”
That's particularly true with the Brandon, Man.-born violinist, who's in Ottawa this week to celebrate Beethoven's birthday by performing in two free, livestreamed concerts at the National Arts Centre. He said he can't imagine what music would sound like today without the influence of the German composer.
“His music is so central to our art form,” Ehnes said. “The breadth of what he did and the vision throughout his career as a composer (means) we can be presenting some very different pieces but each one of them is a masterpiece in its own right.”
Consider the first of this week's two Beethoven birthday concerts, the one that will be livestreamed from the NAC's Fourth Stage tonight. The program showcases the range of the great composer, starting with String Quintet in C major, featuring Ehnes on viola. It's described in the program notes as “tranquil, rich and voluptuous,” while the next piece, Septet in E-flat major, is “cheery, optimistic, playful,” and notable for its unusual configuration of instruments: violin, viola, cello, double bass, clarinet, bassoon and horn.
Adds Ehnes: “Many people think of Beethoven as this scowling old guy, but the Septet that we're playing is a piece so full of optimism and joy and humour. It's very much the product of a young man coming to Vienna to conquer the musical capital of Europe, which of course he did.”
The second concert on Saturday finds Ehnes in Southam Hall performing Beethoven's landmark Violin Concerto in D major with his friends in the NAC Orchestra, conducted by maestro Alexander Shelley. The program notes call the 44-minute piece a “turning point for the concerto … that pushed the limits of the form in length, complexity and structure.”
Also on Saturday's program is the lively Symphony No. 7, once described as one of the “most perfect symphonies ever written.”
For Ehnes, who's a regular guest of the NAC Orchestra and accompanied them on last year's European tour, it's also the start of his two-season tenure as the NAC's first artist-in-residence. His duties will include giving master classes, helping to design outreach programs and conjuring up some projects with a national scope that have not yet been unveiled.
“This is something we'd been planning before the whole world imploded, so it's taken on a different meaning than we had originally intended, but it's been great,” Ehnes said. “It's a tremendous honour to be involved in these larger projects.”
Meanwhile, the pandemic has cleared Ehnes's usual schedule of travelling the world to play with international orchestras. While sequestered at home with his wife and two young children, he's had time to practise his instrument and finish off a plethora of new recordings. No fewer than seven new albums are ready to be released in the coming months, not including the one that came out Nov. 19: Bach & Brahms Reimagined features Ehnes with fellow Canadians Jon Kimura Parker (piano) and Jens Lindemann (trumpet).
Also due this month is the final instalment of Ehnes's four-CD package of Beethoven sonatas. Another four CDs of Beethoven string quartets were recorded with Ehnes's string quartet over the summer.
After all, he figures he can't go wrong with Beethoven.
“I think that Beethoven's music has a truly universal appeal, and I think the greatness of what he did really can't be overstated,” Ehnes said. “As a celebration of human achievement, how lucky we are that this person existed, and that he left us with art that is not static but art that can be reborn and recreated in every performance. It's a great gift.”