BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Monday, March 17, 1823

The London Philharmonic Society gives its third concert of the 1823 season this evening, conducted by Sir George Smart (1776-1867). The first act (of two) of the concert concludes with Beethoven’s Overture to Coriolan, op.62. “The overture to Coriolan, is a specimen of Beethoven’s wildest and most original flights; his mind must have been full of uncommon imagery when he wrote it. It always brings to our view Blake’s illumination of Blair’s poem The Grave; or some of Fuseli’s designs from Paradise Lost. But it ever will please those who have acquired a taste for the highest branches of instrumental music; though there are few orchestras in which it would be prudent to attempt a work of so unusual a character, and so difficult to perform well.” The Harmonicon, Nr.IV, April, 1823 at 58.

The Coriolan Overture is here performed live by Philippe Herreweghe conducting the Frankfurt Radio Symphony: