Ensemble 4.1 | Quirine Viersen cello | Enrico Pace piano | Simply Quartet | First Prize Winner Dutch Violin Competition

This concert will be broadcast live by NTR Radio 4

Listening to Beethoven's chamber music for string players one of the things you can't help but notice is how modern he was as a composer. For Beethoven, this idiom lent itself perfectly to experimentation with timbres and textures. His quest for innovative harmonies largely determined the way these works progressed, and sometimes even their form. There is, however, one thing they share: an unprecedented wealth of expression!

Pieter van Loenen violin | Tobias Borsboom piano | Alexander Glücksmann clarinet | Christoph Knitt bassoon | Thomas Hoppe piano | Stephanie Desjardins soprano | Peter Nilsson piano | Ishay Shaer piano | Simply Quartet | Aidan Mikdad piano | Nikola Meeuwsen piano | Antje Weithaas violin | Isabelle van Keulen viola | Hannah Strijbos viola | Quirine Viersen cello

Making use of unprecedented resources, Beethoven is able to astonish us not only by pleasing his listeners, but also by grabbing their attention and keeping them at the edge of their seats. A trivial little theme challenged him to compose a brilliant variation. Here, we encounter Beethoven in a cheerful mood, precisely at the turn of the century, looking back at the musical achievements of this period but with one foot already planted firmly in the turbulent early Romantic era.

Enrico Pace & Nikola Meeuwsen piano

Beethoven wrote for eternity, for everyone yet for nobody. The fact that he was able to write such powerful and exceptionally revolutionary music despite the atrocious handicap of his deafness is simply astonishing.

Alexander Warenberg cello | Nikola Meeuwsen piano | Alon Sariel mandolin | Ishay Shaer piano | Peter Gijsbertsen tenor | Jozef De Beenhouwer piano | Silvia Careddu flute | Alexander Glücksmann clarinet | Simply Quartet | Tim Brackman violin | Elise Karen Tavenier viola | Pieter de Koe cello | Nicholas Schwartz double bass | Antje Weithaas violin | Quirine Viersen cello | Thomas Hoppe piano

Beethoven is bursting with life. With a proud, rhythmic gait and contentious harmonies Beethoven shows his audience how he is coping with his impending deafness. His music evokes, above all, strong emotions.

Simply Quartet | Alon Sariel mandolin | Ishay Shaer piano | Antje Weithaas violin | Symfonieorkest Koninklijk Conservatorium | Silvia Careddu flute | Ensemble 4.1 | Peter Nilsson piano | Stephanie Desjardins soprano | Pieter de Koe cello

Beethoven’s imagination knows no bounds. As a composer, he is in his element: playful and immensely skilled, with a turbulent energy and depth of feeling. Continually striving to write the perfect chamber music work; the great Bach as his ultimate teacher always looking over his shoulder.

Silvia Careddu flute | Jörg Schneider oboe | Alexander Glücksmann clarinet | Christoph Knitt bassoon | Sebastian Schindler French horn | Ishay Shaer piano | Antje Weithaas violin | Isabelle van Keulen viola | Gideon den Herder cello | Peter Nilsson piano | Stephanie Desjardins soprano | Gijsbert Kok organ

This concert will be broadcast in the evening on 16 February by NTR Radio 4

Beethoven’s works stand out through their original form, emotionally charged content, astonishing musical variation and inspiration, highly unusual harmonies and a spiritual dimension. Immerse yourself once again in the depths of Beethoven’s soul.