BEETHOVEN AND BEYOND

Can there possibly be much left to say about Beethoven at this late date? The answer’s an emphatic yes for the players and scholars gathering at the Bard Music Festival for three upcoming weekends devoted to his work and to exploring recent scholarship. “One result of such explorations has been a radical revision of the notion of Beethoven as an Olympian figure removed from daily life, writing quintessentially absolute music, almost wholly abstract in its meanings.” – New York Times