Turku Po/Segerstam - Ludwig van Beethoven: K?nig Stephan, Leonore Prohaska, Opferlied, Germania

Aside from his only opera Fidelio, Beethoven�s general link with the theatre in Vienna came about largely with incidental music or songs to be inserted into the works of other composers � insertion arias. K�nig Stephan was written to celebrate the politically significant opening of a new theatre in Pest, its triumphant mood honouring the ruling Austrian Emperor. Standardbearer of female heroism, Leonore Prohaska, is commemorated with a Soldier�s Chorus and a Romance with harp accompaniment. In Friedrich von Matthisson�s poem Opferlied (�Sacrificial Song�), a young man prays to Zeus to bestow upon him beauty and goodness in youth and old age. Two of Beethoven�s four settings are heard on this wide-ranging programme.