Beethoven Turns 250
Iof us were forced to cancel birthday parties due to COVID-19, which feels especially frustrating when you’d planned to celebrate a milestone. I mean, you only turn 250 once.
So while Dec. 17 birthday celebrations for composer Ludwig van Beethoven were shuttered – including Beethovenfest, an annual tribute that dates back to 1845 in his birthplace of Bonn, Germany – online streaming and radio events will allow fans to mark the occasion at home. The Windsor Symphony Orchestra, for example, will stream various new Beethoven performances through November as part of their Re-Imagine 2020 digital concert series on Vimeo. And don’t worry if you’ve missed any – subscribers to the series can access the performances online anytime through the end of the year. Meanwhile, Sinfonia Toronto streams its own Beethoven birthday tribute on its website Dec. 5. Or, go international with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, which offers an online season dedicated to Beethoven through to February 2021. And don’t forget The New Classical FM (a ZoomerMedia property), which wraps up its year-long 250th celebration with a steady stream of Beethoven’s music all December, including a full-day Beethoven rotation on Dec. 17.