Bamberger Symphoniker

The second concert in the Bamberg Symphony Beethoven marathon is all about dramatic contrast as we are introduced to a “slender Greek maiden“ and a “Norse giant“. Robert Schumann once described Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony as a “slender Greek maiden between two Norse giants”. His reasoning was that this particular symphony is unusually light and graceful compared to the monumental Third and the weighty Fifth. As it happens, Beethoven was actually in love when he wrote his B-flat major symphony, and feeling uncharacteristically optimistic. We can assume this mood was short-lived, for his Fifth Symphony is much more typical and was described by Schumann as a journey “over rough paths to the stars”. Despite the fact that Beethoven himself was not destined for domestic bliss, the Fourth and Fifth symphonies do make a good match for an enjoyable concert evening.