Beethovenfest 2024 will have around one hundred events until its conclusion on October 3rd.

This year the opening of the famous Bonn music festival had as its central theme a topical issue: Democracy.

The message of the festival, after the sweeping results of the AfD in Saxony and Thuringia, is that the political developments are a warning sign that the demands of the people must be listened to more. How we should discuss more with each other, even strongly, accept the opposite point of view and ideally find solutions together.

Opera houses as meeting places

Civic participation, democracy and cultural events were an issue as early as the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, opera houses mostly had glass facades, with rows of multiple windows, to make them feel more accessible – the art had to be at the center of society, reflecting the principles of democracy.

Of course, the people standing outside and looking into the shining opera house very often did not have the money to buy a ticket. On the contrary, those who watched the performances enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine during the breaks, gazing at the illuminated city from the high balconies. That’s how things are even today.

“Democratic participation is not only about those who are an active part of it, but especially those who are outside,” emphasizes Stephen Walter, director of Beethovenfest. “Those who feel that no one listens to them, does not notice them, does not understand them.” This year’s motto of the festival is one word: “Together”.

A concert for everyone

In the spirit of this year’s festival, Walter managed to offer the audience an opening concert “for everyone”. The concert held at the Bonn Opera House was of course not free. At the same time, however, the people who gathered in the square in the center of the city had the opportunity to watch almost the same concert as the one taking place in the opera, and for free – the only difference was that the pieces were presented in reverse order!

While the techno group MEUTE from Hamburg, for example, entered the opera with a mournful march, the Kammerakademie Potsdam played Beethoven’s 5th Symphony in the city center under the direction of the Chinese Elim Chan. Later the ensemble played the Symphony again in the opera house, in an equally impressive performance, while MEUTE played in the square.

The band’s mournful journey from Hamburg quickly turned into a fun track with saxophone, xylophone and of course drums and trumpets. On the band’s drum there was also a paper that said “Peace”.

But how does a well-established band participate in a classical concert? The reason is none other than Steffen Walter: in the last three years that he has been the director of the festival, Walter loves to mix foreign and traditional sounds in one concert, in a completely different approach to classical music.

Beethoven… otherwise

Several musicians at the festival interpreted Beethoven’s pieces in new, different ways. Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili, for example, played Beethoven’s Eroica Variations in his own way – with longer pauses, sharp accelerations, quite different from what a classical music listener is used to.

The Kammerakademie Potsdam also interpreted the 5th Symphony differently, with Elim Chan deciding to highlight instruments that are “hidden” in the classical performances of the Symphony. Also, the orchestra performance is faster, without many flourishes. “Our orchestra speaks a very simple and direct language,” Peter Reiner, first violin of the Kammerakademie Potsdam, explains to DW.

To save the world and the climate

Music is also one of the best means to convey a message. This is exactly what the climate activist Louisa Neubauer, known for her collaboration with Greta Thunberg in the context of Fridays for Future, did at the opening concert. At the concert, Neubauer delivered a text about the state of the world today to the accompaniment of Beethoven’s Cavatina from String Quartet No. 13 (op. 130) – chosen for a specific reason.

In 1977, two gold-plated copper 12-inch vinyl records containing humanity’s greatest achievements were sent into space for possible extraterrestrials to find. Among them was Beethoven’s Cavatina from the String Quartet No 13.

The goal was to show the beautiful elements of the world, as Neubauer said. But now there is “an increasingly unpredictable progress, increasingly dangerous technologies, and machines that break more than they build.” The activist’s appeal: let’s all try together to save the planet and not give up hope.

The World Youth Choir performed Beethoven

The first weekend of the festival also featured DW and Beethovenfest’s Campus Project, with singers from around the world participating with the World Youth Choir and performing with the German Federal Youth Orchestra Beethoven’s 9th Symphony – a Symphony for peace, joy and coexistence.

The conductor Tan Dun, originally from China and the USA, was the one who conducted Beethoven’s 9th, as well as the Choral Concerto: Nine, a composition of his own in which he “marries the 9th Symphony with sounds from his homeland. After the performance, which was broadcast live by DW and uploaded to DW’s classical music YouTube channel, the audience adored the conductor and the young musicians.

Edited by: Giorgos Passas