BY JASMINE MIDDLETON
Have you ever liked the idea of a doing a marathon, but your couch remains awfully and conveniently enticing?
Fear not, for the 3MBS Beethoven Marathon is bringing you six back-to-back concerts featuring an impressive line-up of Australia’s top professional forces. And you can always tune in at home from the comfort of your couch – but you can also go all-out, grab a ticket, and prepare for a deep dive into recognisable classics and unearthed gems of one of the giants of classical music.
Expect to travel through exciting musical terrain with the Australian String Quartet, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Liaison, Flinders Quartet, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir, and the Goldner String Quartet – to name a few.
(As far as full-blown marathons go, a continuous line-up of performances from the country’s best musicians certainly sounds enjoyable to us.)
With such a prolific output and lasting impact across many facets of society (how else will we know of impending doom without that motive?), it comes as no surprise that Beethoven’s 250-year anniversary has inspired Melbourne’s fine music marathon program.
While this marathon is certainly large in duration and scope, it is deliberately intimate in genre. Artistic director and cellist Chris Howlett aims to highlight the legacy left through Beethoven’s chamber works.
“His advancement of genres – such as the string quartet, the piano trio, duo sonatas, and lieder – changed Western music forever,” Chris muses.
“I wanted to make sure that these works were represented throughout the marathon, with a particular focus on the quartets.”
Chris also attributes the intricacies and powerful simplicity of Beethoven’s music to its inherent popularity.
“Beethoven wasn’t like Mozart or Haydn, where the long melodies endlessly danced from composer to parchment. Instead, he built his music with small motives.
“Through these motives, however, amazing emotion and humanity flowed; emotion that is immediately apparent and connects with the musicians and the audience.
“For me, this is why Beethoven’s music has had such a strong appeal.”
As influential as Beethoven was, this event is not solely a showcase of compositional accomplishment; it brings power to today’s musicians.
“One of the joyous elements of our art is that there are always two elements of creativity – the composer and the performer,” Chris explains.
“We, as performers, continue to learn, explore technique, and challenge ‘norms’ in performance practice, which results in new discoveries within the score.
“As a listener of music, this interpretation and discovery is fascinating, active, and exciting.”
For such a well-known composer, Chris believes it is this invigoration of and active engagement with the music that helps keep it relevant.
“[This is] the reason why people will have three different recordings of three different artists of the same work – or even two recordings of the same work from different periods in an artist’s life.”
Entering its eighth year, Chris hopes for 3MBS’ larger-than-life marathon to continue promoting collaborations in the future.
“In an arts fabric like Australia, which is vibrant but relatively small in comparison to other countries and regions, I think working together is vital.
“The more people that we excite about chamber music, community radio, or classical music, the stronger the sector is – which benefits everyone.”
Experience the 3MBS Beethoven Marathon live at the Melbourne Recital Hall this 23 February 2020. Tickets are now available, and you can see the full line-up including its six major back-to-back concerts on the website.
We joined forces with 3MBS to bring you this story! Stay tuned for more arts coverage showcasing Australia’s brightest performing artists 🙂
Images supplied.
