Friday
January 1 at 3:00 PM
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Thursday
December 31 at 7:30 PM
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2026-27 Season > New Year’s Celebration
Ring in the New Year with Boston Baroque at our annual celebration of music and new beginnings!
Last year, Marc Minkowski made an unforgettable Boston Baroque debut with Handel’s Water Music. The evening culminated in an unexpected encore: an arrangement of ABBA’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” that brought Sanders Theatre to its feet.
Minkowski now returns as Boston Baroque’s Music Director to lead a program devoted entirely to Beethoven. Over nearly a decade, Beethoven repeatedly revised Fidelio, his only opera, composing four overtures as the work evolved. This program brings together the three known as the Leonore overtures, offering a rare opportunity to hear them in a single concert. Also featured are the Romance No. 2 for violin and orchestra and the Choral Fantasy for fortepiano, vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra. The program will also include a few musical surprises.
In 2027, orchestras and audiences around the world will mark the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death. Join Boston Baroque in welcoming this commemorative year with a celebration of his revolutionary legacy and a toast to the year ahead.
Dates/Times
Thursday, December 31, 2026 | 7:30 PM
Friday, January 01, 2027 | 3:00 PM
Location
Harvard’s Sanders Theatre | 45 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Ticket Prices
$25 - $125 | 10% off for subscriptions
PROGRAM
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)
Leonore Overtures No. 1-3
(composed for Beethoven’s opera Fidelio)
Leonore Overture No. 1 in C major, Op. 138
Leonore Overture No. 2 in C major, Op. 72a
Leonore Overture No. 3 in C major, Op. 72b
Romance No. 2 in F major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 50
Adagio cantabile
Fantasia in C minor for Piano, Chorus, and Orchestra, Op. 80, Choral Fantasy
I. Adagio
II. Finale
Estimated Run Time
2.5 HRS | One 20-Minute Intermission
Sung In | Supertitles
German | English
ARTISTS
COMPOSER
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
One of the most transformative figures in the history of Western music, Ludwig van Beethoven bridged the Classical and Romantic eras with works of unprecedented emotional depth, power, and innovation. Born in Bonn, Germany, and later settling in Vienna, Beethoven studied with some of the leading musicians of his day before forging a singular artistic voice that would influence generations of composers.
Renowned for his symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and piano sonatas, Beethoven expanded the expressive possibilities of every genre he touched. His music combines formal mastery with profound humanity, ranging from moments of intimate lyricism to passages of immense drama and triumph. Even as progressive hearing loss isolated him from the world around him, he continued to create works of remarkable imagination and emotional intensity.
Throughout his career, Beethoven challenged conventions and redefined what music could communicate. His compositions embody ideals of freedom, heroism, and the resilience of the human spirit, and they remain among the most beloved and frequently performed works in the classical repertoire. Nearly two centuries after his death, Beethoven’s music continues to captivate audiences and stands as a testament to the enduring power of artistic genius.
The works on this program date from a formative decade in Beethoven’s career. The Romance No. 2, composed around 1798, is one of his earliest works for violin and orchestra. Between 1805 and 1807, he wrote three Leonore overtures while repeatedly revising Fidelio, his only opera. The first version performed in 1805 used the overture now known as Leonore No. 2; Leonore No. 3 followed for the opera’s 1806 revision, while Leonore No. 1 was written for a planned 1807 production in Prague.
Beethoven composed the Choral Fantasy in 1808 as the finale of a major concert devoted to his own music in Vienna. Beethoven himself played the piano part at its premiere, which also included the first performances of his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies and Fourth Piano Concerto. Bringing piano, orchestra, vocal soloists, and chorus together in a single work, the Choral Fantasy anticipated the combination of instrumental and vocal forces he would later use in his Ninth Symphony.