»Fantastique!«

Ludwig van Beethoven
, Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21

Hector Berlioz
Symphonie fantastique, Op . 14

Following the performance of Beethoven’s final symphony in the special concert, the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of its principal conductor Vassilis Christopoulos, will conclude the current season with the composer’s Symphony No. 1. Premiered in Vienna on April 2, 1800, the work was a success, thanks in no small part to a very special idea: it begins with a long seventh chord, an expression of Beethoven’s individuality, a freedom he took for himself, even as he drew on the examples of Haydn and Mozart.
The wild Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz, a great admirer of Beethoven, tells the story in the form of a musical drama of an artist who, suffering from unrequited love, flees in utter despair into a confused opium dream. Over the course of five movements, the audience is led through the protagonist’s increasingly deteriorating mental states. It is no coincidence that the “plot” recalls Goethe’s Faust and reflects the composer’s admiration for the great German poet. Thus, the closing concert draws a broad connection—
—to the opening production of this season.