Repertoire

Arnold Schönberg: Erwartung (Expectation), Op. 17 (1909) 33′
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 (1811-1812) 36′

ARTISTS

Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC
Heidi Melton, soprano
Eun Sun Kim, conductor

Programme

This concert brings together two radically different masterpieces written by two of the most important composers in history.

Arnold Schönberg’s opera Erwartung (Expectation), written in 1909 for soprano and orchestra, narrates “in slow motion” the anguished feelings that the protagonist experiences while awaiting her lover’s arrival. With this work, the composer set Romanticism aside and began to explore a new path: atonality.

In contrast, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, premiered in 1813, has been associated with dance, thanks to Wagner. But it has also been noted that along with his Third – and possibly his Fifth – it is charged with political content, specifically, the composer’s response to Napoleon’s tyranny. In fact, at the same concert he also premiered The Battle of Wellington, a piece commemorating the British victory over Joseph Bonaparte at Vitoria just a few months earlier.