DW-TV’s documentary (2010) follows the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen as they go through an intensive three months of rehearsals in the lead up to their performance at the Beethovenfest in Bonn. The annual festival, begun in 1845, centers around the titanic composer of the 18th and 19th centuries: the man who ushered in musical forces the likes of which had never been heard. And the dedicated orchestra, based in Bremen, will be playing all of Beethoven’s nine symphonies — in just four days. An enormous honor, but a feat which will require absolute dedication.
A 4-part series, The Beethoven Project gives us a taste for what it’s like to live and breath classical music as a professional musician. (Europhic but exhausting, might be one way to describe it. The conductor is away from home 240 days a year.) These are people consumed by music and who have have risked even their financial well-being, as we come to learn. But they’re also down to earth and eager to turn others, especially kids, to the joys of classical music.
There are all kinds of little gems to be found in this documentary. It features the likable Estonian-born composer, Paavo Jarvi, but it also, smartly, gets up close with a few of the musicians, providing brief portals into their world. Additionally, the scenes in which they feature — a violinist, timpanist, and others — frequently break away into a brief one-on-one lesson, where we pick up some insights about a particular moment in one of the symphonies.
It’s fun to watch — indeed partly because every member is having fun themselves. They’ve been playing together for years (often under the direction of Parvi), and they’ve grown and developed as a unity — enabling them to create a sound which suits both their personalities and interpretation of, not least, Beethoven.
But The Beethoven Project is also a reminder — to us who exist outside of that rather rarefied world — that life as a concert musician comes with considerable risks, not just prestige.
This is especially true for the unconventionally run Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Originating in Frankfurt, in 1980, it began as student-composed orchestra. Twelve years later, it moved to Bremen, where it changed to its current name. Unlike the operations of the vast majority of orchestras, these members are true shareholders, which means that if it flounders (low concert attendance, or bites the dust altogether), they personally suffer the financial consequences.
Fortunately, however, their immense success has kept those problems at bay. They’ve filled seats at concerts, made acclaimed recordings, and garnered the respect of many in the musical world, including critics.
Spectatio 