Ludwig van BeethovenIF YOU GO• What: Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Masterworks concert, Beethoven's 9th Symphony• When: 7:30 p.m. today, Sept. 11• Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St.• Admission: $21-$81 adults; $15 students with ID; free for ages 17 and younger with paid adult• Phone: 423-267-8583• Website: www.ChattanoogaSymphony.orgTHE PROGRAM• Charles Ives' "The Unanswered Question"• Ola Gjeilo's "Across the Vast, Eternal Sky"• Ludwig von Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, "Choral"GUEST PERFORMERS• Pamela Hinchman, soprano• Rosella Ewing, mezzo-soprano• Daniel Weeks, tenor• Peter Volpe, baritone• CSO Chorus• Lee University Chorale
MASTERWORKS SEASONConcerts start at 7:30 p.m. the following Thursdays at the Tivoli Theatre.• Oct. 9: "Shakespeare in Love"• Nov. 6: Schubert's 4th• Jan. 29: Mendelssohn's 4th• March 12: Tchaikovsky's 6th• April 9: Schumann's 2nd• April 30: Rachmaninoff's 2ndSTILL TO COME• Bob's Bootcamps: Lecture series by principal conductor Bob Bernhardt opens Sept. 20 with "The Mastery of Yo-Yo Ma"• Yo-Yo Ma Gala: Set for Oct. 2 at the Tivoli Theatre• Chamber Series: Opens Oct. 19 with "Around the World" in the Read House Silver Ballroom• Pops Series: Opens Oct. 25 with "Boston Pops Tribute: A Salute to Arthur Fiedler and John Williams" at Tivoli Theatre• Volkswagen Series: Opens Nov. 9 with "Classical's Top Hits" at VW Conference Center• "Pirates of Penzance": Featuring the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players, Nov. 15 at Tivoli Theater
Your eyes will fill with happy tears at one point during this music. Resistance is futile.
Even in the war-ravaged Congo, musicians walk for miles, navigating constant danger, to perform Beethoven's 9th Symphony for cheering, weeping audiences.
The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, led by conductor Kayoko Dan, will perform Beethoven's 9th tonight, Sept. 11, in the Tivoli Theatre, to open its 2014-15 season. Also performing will be the CSO Chorus, directed by Darrin Hassevoort, the Lee University Chorale, directed by William Green; and soloists Pamela Hinchman (soprano), Rosella Ewing (mezzo-soprano), Daniel Weeks (tenor) and Peter Volpe (baritone).
Charles Ives' "The Unanswered Question" also will be performed. "Question" offers the flip side of the irresistible idealism of Beethoven's 9th. The title refers big-picture questions humans demand from God or life; why bad things happen and so on. Renowned conductor Leonard Bernstein said the melody played by the strings represent God or fate, whoever has all the answers, and the urgent woodwinds represent humans asking questions.
Finally, the program includes Ola Gjeilo's "Across the Vast, Eternal Sky," a modern ode to hopefulness. Gjeilo says the music and lyrics were inspired from the image of a phoenix soaring skyward from the ashes.
According to legend, flowers sprouting from war rubble were an image on Beethoven's mind as he wrote the 9th. Most Americans know the part of the symphony, the 4th movement, "The Ode to Joy," for its vocal fireworks. Europe had been wracked by religious and economic disputes and the threat of war seemed constant. But the Ode singers call for the good-hearted in every nation, "Whoever has been lucky enough to become a friend to a friend," to join them.
Bernstein conducted the 9th in Berlin after the Wall had fallen and Russians, Germans and Americans hoped the Cold War was deemed over. Maybe in the Putin-era world, that seems like a hopeless dream. But the 9th retains a magical power of inspiring hope.
Postlude, a casual meet-and-greet with Maestro Dan and the guest soloists, will immediately follow the concert in the Tivoli lobby.
Contact Lynda Edwards at ledwards@timesfreepress.com at 423-757-6391 or ledwards@timesfreepress.com.