Salle: Beethovenhalle, Bonn

Selbst in den technisch-räumlichen Gegebenheiten der Beethovenhalle erlebten die Zuhörer ein Festival- und Zyklusfinale wie man es sich nur wünschen kann.

Kämpferisch, feierlich, merkwürdig: von französischer Politik und österreichischer Überraschung am Beginn Europas des 19. Jahrhunderts

Jos van Immerseel und Anima Eterna zeichnen ein reichhaltiges Programm mit viel Farbenpracht und Transparenz.

At first sight the choice of programme and musicians for this pre-Beethoven Festival concert was a bit odd. Music by Verdi, Richard Strauss and Dvořák played by La Scala's Filarmonica, under the direction of Oxford-born Daniel Harding.The title of the evening – "La Scala on the Rhine" – gave a hint. The Milanese orchestra was on a short tour – to Bonn on Saturday and Dresden on Sunday.

Bonn is all about Beethoven. His image is everywhere – on one of the first statues built in Germany for a musician in 1845 in the main Munsterplatz by the cathedral, in the tourist office regalia, in directions to the house where he was born in 1770 (now a museum), in the month-long, annual Beethoven Festival, in the 2,000-seat Beethovenhalle, and, most especially, in the orchestra.