Nézet-Séguin & the COE perform Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 8, 4 & 5

Beethoven’s imagination contained worlds. This concert – recorded live in Baden-Baden in July 2021 – brings together his shortest symphony (the Eighth) and his most classical symphony (the Fourth) with the symphony that changed the world: the Fifth. The emotions they contain are infinite: playful humour and deep tenderness; epic struggle and explosive force. But if any living artists can express Beethoven’s whole, teeming vision, it’s the pairing of Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. The COE’s 1991 symphony cycle changed the way we listen to Beethoven. 30 years on, these electrifying, critically-admired performances redefine him for a new century.