Adventurous Journeys Beethoven, Wagner

Bristol Beacon, Bristol

It seems fitting that Beethoven composed his First Symphony at the dawn of a new century. Despite its homages to the older generation, it is very much a forward-looking work with its use of sudden and unexpected shifts in tonality, the inclusion of the not-yet-standard clarinets, and the more prominent use of the woodwind section at large that foreshadow Beethoven’s innovation to come. Henk de Vlieger’s orchestral arrangement of Wagner’s Ring Cycle ingeniously boils down this monumental music-drama in such a way as to create a unified, single symphonic work. The most important orchestral passages are seamlessly bolted together following the chronology of the operas so that the irrevocable process towards the twilight of the gods is clearly signposted. All of the best-known passages are included, among which are the Prelude, the Descent into Nibelheim, and the Entry into Valhalla from Das Rheingold, the Ride of the Valkyries and the Magic Fire Music from Die Walküre, Forest Murmurs and Brünnhilde’s Awakening from Siegfried, and Siegfried’s Rhine Journey and Siegfried’s Funeral Music from Götterdämmerung.