Ludwig van Beethoven

The 9 Symphonies

Sleeve notes and interview with Robert Trevino in English. Lyrics of Symphony No. 9 in original German and in English translation.

This new Beethoven symphony cycle with Malmö Symphony Orchestra is conductor Robert Trevino’s debut release on Ondine. Trevino is one of the fastest rising young conductors and known for his fresh and vivid interpretations of both standard repertoire as well as contemporary works. Currently Trevino is holding the tenure as chief conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and as music director of the Basque National Orchestra. After studies with conductors David Zinman, Seiji Ozawa and Michael Tilson Thomas, Trevino worked closely as Leif Segerstam’s assistant before making his debuts with a number of leading symphony orchestras worldwide. These Beethoven symphonies were recorded in connection with a Beethoven festival which was arranged in Malmö, Sweden in October, 2019.

Beethoven’s symphonies, premiered within a span of 24 years, from 1800 to 1824, are among the landmarks of Western civilization. More than any other composer’s orchestral output, Beethoven’s symphonies are a journey into an unanticipated, uncharted and altogether unknown destination. The first two symphonies are solidly and often charmingly rooted in the previous generation dominated by Franz Joseph Haydn. Symphony No. 3 (‘Eroica’) explodes into being with movements that come from four different worlds but somehow belong together. In Symphony No. 4 it is as if the composer was gathering strength for the onslaught that is heard in Symphony No. 5. The congenial nature studies in the Symphony No. 6 (‘Pastoral’) can be initially puzzling to performers and listeners, the simple chord progressions and graphic depictions of birdsong hardly come from the same composer as the previous symphony. In some ways, this is Beethoven’s most innovative symphony before the 9^th. The Symphony No. 7 is back to the unfiltered world of the 5th but with far higher spirits and more classical proportions. Symphony No. 8 retreats to the past, but tries out ideas that would return in more gargantuan form in the 9^th, which climbs and reaches a musical summit that nobody previous knew it existed.

Robert Trevino’s star has risen rapidly among American conductors. The past three years have seen his appointments as Music Director of the Basque National Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra. Trevino burst into the international spotlight at the Bolshoi Theater in December 2013, leading a new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo. He was nominated for a Golden Mask award, and one reviewer wrote, “There has not been an American success of this magnitude in Moscow since Van Cliburn.” Recent seasons have seen an ever-growing number of major debuts – among them the London Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Tonhalle Zurich, San Francisco Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Sao Paulo Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre Nationale de France, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and Helsinki Philharmonic. The 2019/20 season sees Robert Trevino lead European tours with the Basque National Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. Debuts include the Orchestre de Paris, the Royal Philharmonic, the Oregon Symphony and, in an emotional visit to his hometown, the Fort Worth Symphony. Return appearances include the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Sao Paulo Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Bamberg Symphony, SWR Symphony, RAI Torino. On the opera front, he follows the previous season’s Evgeny Onegin in Washington DC, with a much-anticipated Carmen in Zurich.