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By John Thiessen
Imagine if you could go back to Vienna in April 1800 to hear the premiere of Beethoven’s First Symphony. Well, you can in a sense, by coming to hear the American Classical Orchestra play live at Lincoln Center.
The ACO takes you back in time and gives New York audiences that magical experience of being in the room where it first happened. ACO musicians perform on the type of instruments Beethoven and other Classical composers knew – valveless trumpets and horns, gut strings and wooden flutes – and they do it with energy and commitment.
ACO Artistic Director Thomas Crawford notes that “we play on period instruments because the blend, the timbre and subtlety of the sound are more readily available. As musical instruments evolved, the goal was more amplitude, but often with loss of the original character.”
ACO is New York’s only professional ensemble capable of presenting full-scale performances of orchestral works on period instruments by Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn. Their audiences are fascinated by the sound palette and the expanded possibilities that come with greater transparency and lightness. Hearing those differences of texture on period instruments provides insight into what the composer heard, and brings the music to life for modern listeners.
This season the ACO presents Celebrate Beethoven! a series of three concerts at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on period instruments. It’s the perfect space for the orchestra, with superb acoustics, excellent sight lines and full accessibility.
Celebrate Beethoven! opens Thursday, September 17th at 7:30 with Turning the Key, a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with Bolivian soprano soloist Shelén Hughes Camacho and the ACO Chorus.
Celebrate Beethoven! continues November 12th with Capricious, a performance of Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony alongside works by von Weber and Franz Berwald. ACO’s series concludes May 6th, 2027 with Virtuoso, a blockbuster program featuring Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with virtuoso soloist Shunske Sato and the iconic Fifth Symphony.
ACO’s Celebrate Beethoven! is New York’s only chance to hear these amazing pieces on original instruments this coming season. You won’t want to miss it!
I always love the ACO concerts at Alice Tully Hall. Conductor Crawford is wonderful at his pre-concert chats. He tells the audience some of the interesting points to listen for. I can’t wait for the next one!