For classical music fans and musicians, it's a fun game to play: If you could have dinner with any composer dead or alive, who would it be?
"I always say Beethoven, but I would always preface that by saying I don't think he would be a very pleasant dinner conversationalist! Everything you hear about him, he was a gruff, unpleasant man," said Akiko Fujimoto, music director of the Mid-Texas Symphony.
"But something about the stubbornness of his music always spoke to me," Fujimoto continued.
Last year, after studying Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for years, conducting parts of it, and even singing in the chorus, Fujimoto took on the whole piece in performance with the Mid-Texas Symphony and the San Antonio Mastersingers.
"I did have to step back and think, 'what is the larger message?'" Fujimoto said.
She remembered an answer, of sorts. That same program featuring the mammoth Ninth Symphony opened with a short piece by Robert Schumann, chosen by Nina Mavrinac, who passed away last October. The piece quoted "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem.
"I'm pretty sure she did that on purpose to somehow get it connected to the Beethoven," Fujimoto said, referencing the historic use of Beethoven's music in revolutionary movements.
Listen to the concert using the audio player at the top of this page.
PROGRAM:
- Robert Schumann: The Two Grenadiers
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Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, feat. San Antonio Mastersingers, plus:
- Suzanne Ramo, soprano
- Jacquelyn Matava, mezzo-soprano
- Rick Novak, tenor
- Christopher Besch, bass-baritone
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