BEETHOVEN27: Courage and heroism

Le Concert Olympique is a forty-five-piece European orchestra under the direction of conductor Jan Caeyers. The cornerstones of the repertoire are the well-known and lesser-known works of Beethoven and his contemporaries, such as Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn. The musicians come from and are active throughout Europe and share the ambition to perform at the highest level.
The fact that the orchestra performs within the framework of clearly defined projects ensures the necessary focus on stage, behind the scenes and in the concert hall.

Beethoven's work is at the heart of the Le Concert Olympique program. In his groundbreaking book "Beethoven, a life", Beethoven expert and conductor Jan Caeyers portrays Beethoven as a recognized genius who was able to strike a perfect balance between reason and emotion as well as power and control.
control. For the musicians of Le Concert Olympique, Beethoven is an example of always giving their best and striving for excellence.

Beethoven is not only interesting because of his music. He symbolizes the importance of crossing borders and transforming crises into a positive motivator. Le Concert Olympique consciously invests in research, innovation, education and an intercultural vision of "classical music". To create contemporary music inspired by Beethoven's legacy, Le Concept Olympique collaborates with modern composers such as Jeroen D'hoe and Jens Joneleit.

The theme of the Ninth Symphony is "All men become brothers". Beethoven unites people through the universal language of music and invites them to work for a better world. Le Concert Olympique shares this message with the general public. Beethoven connoisseurs will recognize a profound and refreshing interpretation of the masterpieces in these concerts. Listeners with less affinity for classical music will discover the unique orchestral sound and feel the enormous energy on stage.

The name of the orchestra refers to "Le Concert de la Société Olympique", the most important concert organization in Paris between 1782 and 1789. This organization caused a sensation in 1785 when it commissioned six symphonies from Joseph Haydn. These Parisian sym phonies marked the birth of the modern classical symphony.
Le Concert de la Société Olympique was founded in the Palais-Royal - the birthplace of the progressive, pre-revolutionary and social movement in France. The organization wanted to secure a place for itself vis-à-vis the past and the establishment. This spirit of innovation and room for modernity form the basic philosophy of the orchestra: "the old" does not exclude "the new".

The Belgian conductor and musicologist Jan Caeyers is one of the most important Beethoven specialists in Europe. He lived, studied and worked in Vienna for many years. From 1993 to 1997, he was assistant to Claudio Abbado at the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, where he also worked closely with Bernard Haitink and Pierre Boulez. In October 2010, he made his debut at the deSingel in Antwerp with a new Beethoven orchestra he founded: Le Concert Olympique. He has performed with this orchestra in the most important concert halls in Europe, including the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He has also been a guest conductor with various orchestras, choirs and opera houses in Europe.

Until 2003, Jan Caeyers directed and conducted the Beethoven Academy as Artist in Residence at deSingel in Antwerp, the international art campus of Flanders (Belgium). Jan Caeyers has performed with the Beethoven Academy in the major concert halls of Europe: the Musikverein in Vienna, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Auditorio Nazional in Madrid, etc. As a freelance conductor he has worked at the Stuttgart Opera, with orchestras in Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Florence and Prague as well as with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra in Belgium. He has also conducted leading European choral ensembles such as the Arnold Schönberg Choir in Vienna and the Nederlands Kamerkoor.

Jan Caeyers is professor emeritus at the University of Leuven and a member of the board of the Beethoven-Haus Bonn Foundation. His many years of research into Beethoven and his practical experience as a conductor inspired him to write a much-discussed biography: Beethoven. A Biography (published in 2009). The German translation from 2012 was an instant bestseller. In 2020, to mark the anniversary of Beethoven's birth, an English edition of this authoritative biography was published in close collaboration with the Beethoven-Haus Bonn. Both the Financial Times and the Times Literary Supplement named the biography "Best Book of the Year 2020 - Classical Music". A Chinese translation will be published in fall 2023.

Jan Caeyers played a leading role in the great Beethoven year 2020 both in Germany and worldwide: he worked on several documentaries about Beethoven (for the BBC, ARTE, ZDF and Austrian television, among others) and was a central guest during the Beethoven Week on German radio in Baden-Baden. In spring 2020, he had his own evening radio show on Belgian radio station Klara, which resulted in a highly rated podcast. He also compiled a four-volume CD box set entitled "The Best of Beethoven" on behalf of Klara. He has also given lectures and theater monologues about Beethoven.

Between 2024 and the second Beethoven Year 2027 (the bicentenary of Beethoven's death), Jan Caeyers will focus on the ambitious Beethoven27 project, in which he will perform Beethoven's 27 most important choral and orchestral works in the 27 EU countries together with pianist Kit Armstrong, Le Concert Olympique and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir from Vienna. These works will be recorded in sound and vision as part of the project. Jan Caeyers is also writing a new book about Beethoven's most important compositions.

Since Kit Armstrong entered the international music stage twenty years ago, his activities have exerted a lasting fascination on music lovers. Today he continues to be active as a pianist, composer and organist. As a soloist, he performs in major international concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Musikverein, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and the Suntory Hall Tokyo. He also performs with some of the best orchestras in the world, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the
Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

As a passionate chamber musician, Armstrong has close artistic partnerships with other leading instrumental and vocal artists. The complete Mozart sonatas for piano and violin with Renaud Capuçon have already been performed at the Salzburg Mozart Week and in Berlin's Boulez Hall. Armstrong has given recitals with Benjamin Appl, Julian Prégardien and others. Recent European tours with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, one of the world's leading early music ensembles, are an expression of a long-standing collaboration. As an organist, Armstrong has performed in venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Philharmonie de Luxembourg, Weiwuying in Kaohsiung and in cathedrals throughout Europe.

At the age of 5, Armstrong came to classical music through composition and has created a broad oeuvre of solo, vocal, chamber and symphonic works. Edition Peters publishes Armstrong's compositions, which were commissioned by the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Schubertiade, the Bachwoche Ansbach and the Ruhr Piano Festival.

Armstrong has offered a wide range of musical formats as artist-in-residence with institutions such as the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Mozartfest Würzburg, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Musikkollegium Winterthur and from 2023 with the Museumsgesellschaft Frankfurt, in which he combines activities as composer, pianist, conductor and organist.

Armstrong's solo albums for piano include Bach, Ligeti, Armstrong and Liszt: Symphonic Scenes, both released by Sony Classical, as well as various live concerts on DVD, including Bach's "GoldbergVariations and its Predecessors" at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (Unitel, 2017) and "Wagner - Liszt - Mozart" at the Margravial Opera House Bayreuth (C major, 2019). In 2021, Deutsche Grammophon released a double CD dedicated to a panorama of works by William Byrd and John Bull: The Visionaries of Piano
Music.

Born in Los Angeles in 1992, Armstrong first studied composition at Chapman University and physics at California State University, then chemistry and mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania and mathematics at Imperial College London. He earned a bachelor's degree in music at the Royal Academy of Music in London and a master's degree in pure mathematics at the University of Paris VI. Alfred Brendel has accompanied Armstrong as a teacher and mentor since 2005. Their relationship was captured in the film "Set the Piano Stool on Fire" by Mark Kidel.

In 2012, Armstrong bought the Sainte-Thérèse church in Hirson, France, as a venue for concerts and exhibitions. This cultural center he created hosts interdisciplinary projects that appeal to a regional and cosmopolitan audience and has been the subject of reports in the national and international press.

"Poltéra [...] knows how to make his instrument sing. [...] His direct, golden glowing tone and his supple playing flow are in the foreground. There is always the impression of a silken ribbon of gracefully articulated notes."
As one of the most impressive cellists of his generation, Poltéra's playing focuses solely on the music: without grand gestures, he reveals the essence of a work. At the same time, his very individual tone color is characteristic of his interpretations, which he knows how to adapt masterfully to specific epochs and styles.

The Swiss musician Christian Poltéra decided to take up the cello at a young age. He began his studies with Nancy Chumachenco and then continued with Boris Pergamenschikov and Heinrich Schiff in Salzburg and Vienna. In 2004, he received the Borletti-Buitoni Award and was selected as a BBC New Generation Artist. As a Rising Star, he was able to present himself to audiences in all major European concert halls in the season two years later. Invitations from renowned orchestras have taken him all over the world. He has made guest appearances with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Los Angeles and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic. His conducting partners have included Riccardo Chailly, Christoph von Dohnányi, Bernard Haitink, John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Paavo Järvi and Andris Nelsons.

In addition to his solo activities, Christian Poltéra devotes himself with great dedication to chamber music. A series of CDs (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Hindemith, Schönberg) attest to the unique interplay of the unsurpassed Trio Zimmermann with Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin) and Antoine Tamestit (viola). In a trio with Esther Hoppe (violin) and Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano/piano), he plays historical and modern music in European centers such as Edinburgh, Amsterdam, London and Zurich. He has also played with colleagues such as Mitsuko Uchida, Isabelle Faust, Gidon Kremer, Lars Vogt, Leif Ove Andsnes and Kathryn Stott as well as the Hagen, Belcea, Auryn and Zehetmair Quartets. He was Artist in Residence at the Schwetzingen Festival 2023 and performed in chamber music concerts put together especially for the occasion.

He can also be heard time and again at major international festivals such as Salzburg, Lucerne, Schwarzenberg (Schubertiade), Berlin, Vienna, Dresden, Schleswig-Holstein and London (Proms). Christian Poltéra has also presented the cycle of Bach suites for cello solo in Brussels, Vevey and as Artist in Residence at the Schwäbischer Frühling. Christian Poltéra's highly acclaimed recordings reflect his versatile and extensive repertoire. His numerous award-winning CD recordings (including BBC Music Award, Gramophone Choice, Diapason d'Or de l'Année) include the cello concertos by Shostakovich, Martinů, Dvořák, Walton, Ligeti, Barber, Dutilleux, Lutosławski, Honegger, Hindemith and Martin, as well as the sonatas by Mendelssohn, Fauré and Saint-Saëns. His most recent recordings include Haydn's cello concertos with the Munich Chamber Orchestra and Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht op. 4 - a recording with Isabelle Faust and friends.

Christian Poltéra has been artistic director of the Chamber Music Days in the Bergkirche Büsingen since 2013. He is also a lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and regularly gives masterclasses. He plays a violoncello by Antonio Casini from 1675 and the legendary Mara 1711 violoncello by Antonio Stradivari.