The 250 years of Beethoven, the jubilee in Bonn starts

Eight hundred concerts at home, to show that "Beethoven is with us". Unreachable giant, yet part of our everyday life. But the music performed in the last two days between apartments, churches, breweries, rest homes, stations and yoga centers in Germany was just the prologue. Two hundred and fifty years ago, on December 16, 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven, the most played music composer in the world, was born in Bonn. And on December 16, in the former capital of the west, a jubilee year opened up with over 700 events dedicated to this absolute myth of the classical repertoire.

"Discovering Beethoven again" is the motto chosen by the promoters of the series of initiatives, not only German, which will end on December 17th 2020. The scope of the symbol is clear from the fact that a passage of the contract was written Merkel IV government, on the political commitment at stake for this birthday. And therefore a thousand concerts, conferences, exhibitions. There is even an attempt to listen to his tenth symphony: completed for the occasion by some musicologists, with artificial intelligence. The result of the project (supported by Deutsche Telekom) will be presented on April 28th, again in the city of his birth.

"Beethoven meets the human being in his deepest core. He meets our humanity, our ability to feel joy and pain. The responsibility we have in protecting the creation," said Monika Gruetters, Undersecretary of Culture, speaking in the digital magazine which is the voice of the anniversary, on the official website. "He is not only the most performed musician in the world, but also the most important ambassador of German culture in the world". Tonight, in Beethoven's house, he praised "that aura of authenticity that brings us closer to him", between the four walls with the two hammer pianos. After the 800 concerts at home, between December 14th and 15th, on December 16th at 8 pm the Festakt was held at the Bonn Opera House, which opens Beethoven's year. And an exhibition is available to the public that explores and revises the classic itinerary in the composer's home, exposing manuscripts taken from the public for a long time, for maintenance reasons. Like the sketch of the ode to the Joy, today European anthem, of 1812.

Also announced two Emoti chairs that try to make fans understand how Beethoven perceived music when he was deaf; condition that struck him from the age of 32 and with which he had to live and continue to compose, challenging his genius. That game won that led him to go far beyond the aesthetic horizon of his time. Until April 26th it will also be possible to follow an exhibition dedicated to the famous portrait of Josef Karl Stieler. The Fidelio, his only opera, will be presented in Vienna, from March 16th, in the theater where it was staged for the first time in 1805. While on April 25th and 26th there will be a 24-hour "Beethoven Marathon", edited by the Philharmonic, in Berlin. The program closes with a concert in the Bonn parliament on December 17th, in a year's time.