Classically Speaking

Beethoven’s beloved Symphony No. 9 (the “Ode to Joy”) will be performed several times in West Virginia this month – in Charleston, Morgantown, and Parkersburg.  It’s one of those pieces that you definitely should go out and experience live.

This Friday and Saturday in Charleston, the WV Symphony Orchestra and the WV Symphony Chorus, with singers from WVU and Marshall will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, led by Maestro Grant Cooper. They will also present this program on Sunday in Parkersburg.

Then next week, the WVU Symphony and WVU Symphony Chorus will feature Beethoven’s Ninth on their April 22nd concert in Morgantown, led by Maestro Mitchell Arnold. 

No two performances are alike.  And it’s the conductor who makes many of the decisions that affect how each performance sounds.  To find out more about Beethoven’s music and how it will be interpreted here in West Virginia, I went to the two conductors that will be leading their ensembles in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. 

Spend a half hour in good company with these due maestri -- Grant Cooper and Mitchell Arnold -- discussing Beethoven and his music.  You can stream the audio below, or download it as a podcast. 

* WV Symphony Orchestra 
* WVU Music Division 
* Meet the Maestro: Mitchell Arnold (interview) 
* Interviews with Grant Cooper on Classically Speaking:
      - Love and Loss at the Symphony 
      - Music for All Seasons