Beethoven’s Ninth for the Rai Orchestra Christmas Concert

The most famous of Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies, the Ninth, summa of those ideals of humanity and brotherhood which are the ideological premise of all the composer’s work, to celebrate the arrival of the Christmas holidays. It is the traditional Christmas concert by the Rai National Symphony Orchestra, live on Friday 23 December at 21.15 on Rai 5, and live from 20.30 also on Radio 3 and live streaming on RaiPlay.
Ion Marin is busy on the podium, replacing the indisposed Fabio Luisi. Next to him are the voices of soprano Uliana Alexyuk, contralto Valentina Stadler, tenor Nicky Spence and bass Tómas Tómasson. The Choir is that of the Teatro Regio in Turin, directed by Andrea Secchi.
Born in Romania, Marin studied piano, composition and conducting at the Enescu Academy in Bucharest and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In 1986 he moved to Vienna, where he worked as resident conductor of the Staatsoper, then led by Claudio Abbado. Having settled permanently in Switzerland, in 2012 he promoted the projects “Cantus Mundi” and “Symphonia Mundi” in Romania, to promote the education and social integration of the most disadvantaged children through music. During his career he has recorded more than 40 titles for labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, EMI, Sony and Philips, obtaining many important awards.
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor op. 125 for soloists, chorus and orchestra by Beethoven saw the light in 1824, after eleven years from the completion of the seventh and octave. The gestation was long and tiring and took place in the total deafness of its creator. The installation of monumental size and the overcoming of the instrumental absoluteness of the symphony, with the introduction of the voices for Schiller’s ode An die Freude (To joy) in the last movement, elevate the Ninth to an authentic summit of musical thought and Beethovenian human.