About the Concert

The works of the Hungarian György Ligeti not only revolutionized the classical music world, but were also extremely attractive to film directors. No less a figure than Stanley Kubrick used music from "Atmosphères" in his film "2001 - A Space Odyssey." When Ligeti saw the film, he is said to have been fascinated by the effect of his composition. He was less fascinated by how little he was paid for it When Beethoven wrote his Seventh, there was a tremendous storm in the political sky: Napoleon went to war against Russia and was defeated. "Love of country" moved the composer to set a monument to the anti-Napoleonic fighters. Nevertheless, the Seventh is not a continuation of the Eroica. Rather, it refers to the Fifth. There, Beethoven's fate was at the center; here, it is man himself.