Beethoven's Fifth Symphony | Live from The Glasshouse: Royal Northern Sinfonia & Nil Venditti

It’s obvious that every piece of music had a first performance. But at the same time some pieces just seem to have been around forever, and it’s hard to imagine the excitement that must have surrounded their first-ever outing.

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (you know it: da da da daaaa) would likely have been pretty shocking for its first audience.

Music that was this radical, this unrelenting, this euphoric, just hadn’t been heard before. There’s no one like the charismatic Nil Venditti to make it seem like new either.

Who’s on stage
The ball of energy that is Nil Venditti, the Principal Guest Conductor of our home band, Royal Northern Sinfonia. Plus very special guest, international pianist Boris Giltburg.

What they’re playing
Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto. Somewhat confusingly written before his First. Go figure. Anyway, a critic at the time described it as having an ‘abundance of original ideas of which the type is nowhere to be discovered’. Plus, Beethoven’s iconic Symphony No. 5.

What you'll hear
Gabriela Ortiz Clara
Frédéric Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 5

Who's playing it
Nil Venditti conductor
Boris Giltburg piano
Royal Northern Sinfonia

Live from The Glasshouse International Centre for Music on Friday 3 October 2025 at 7.30pm.