Ludwig van Beethoven
The Symphony No. 5 in C minor Op. 67

Change of performer

Barbora Seidlová – moderator
Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava
Marko Ivanović – conductor
Risto Joost – conductor

Da-Da-Da-DUM – this should be enough for most listeners to recognize the piece. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which presents the motif of fate knocking on the door, is one of the author’s masterpieces. No melody, no wide theme, but an urgent pounding of three eights and one-half note with the crown. And then again, one tone lower. Even these first four bars show Beethoven’s genius. The finale of the Fifth Symphony proves that the foundation of a symphony really is the rhythm. The final chords full of energy are interpreted as a triumphal victory against adversity and triumph over defiant material. The defiance we feel in the music was perfectly described by Gustav Mahler. When the Vienna orchestra was about to riot against Mahler’s demanding practice of Beethoven’s Fifth, he said: “If the defiance lasts until the evening, then the execution will be right.”