Beethoven reframed

Gianandrea Noseda's new symphony cycle reevaluates the composer through the music of George Walker and the art of Mo Willems

- Charlotte Smith

Conquering the Beethoven symphonies is a ‘familiar rite of passage’ for any serious conductor. So says Gianandrea Noseda, currently midway through recording his second cycle of the works. Now in his sixth season as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) in Washington DC, the Italian maestro first recorded the Beethovens live in 2005 as then principal conductor of the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester – interpretations that attracted 1.4 million download requests in a BBC trial, offered as part of Radio 3’s ‘The Beethoven Experience’.

Noseda’s current Beethoven symphony cycle is being released digitally throughout 2023 and ’24 on the National Symphony Orchestra’s own label – launched four years ago in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), of which Noseda also serves as principal guest conductor – and the first album in the set, Symphonies Nos 1 and 3, was released in September 2022. So far, so standard.

Yet, Noseda isn’t content with standard. Instead, he’s found ways to look at Beethoven through the prism of two striking and individual lenses: first, through the musical language of pioneering composer George Walker; and second, through the visual imaginings of Kennedy Center Education artist-in-residence Mo Willems, who has designed nine eyecatching panels – one to represent each of the symphonies. The originals are on display at the Center in Washington, while reproductions grace the covers of each of the digital releases.