A First for the Concertgebouworkest

For their first post-lockdown concert, Gustavo Gimeno returned to the podium at Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam to conduct the Concertgebouworkest in two performances. In front of an empty hall, they played Beethoven’s Seventh and Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony. Ludwig van Beethoven personally led the premiere of his Seventh Symphony on a benefit concert given on 8 December 1813 for the wounded soldiers who had fought in the Battle of Hanau. An instant success, the symphony is still a firm favourite today, thanks particularly to its rhythmic drive, lust for life and vitality. The Bohemian Antonín Dvořak wrote his vibrant, optimistic Eighth Symphony inspired by the landscapes and folk music of his homeland.