Beethovenfest
Every year in the autumn, between the end of August and the beginning of October, Beethoven’s native city of Bonn celebrates the Beethovenfest, welcoming top international orchestras, well-known soloists, major ensembles and promising young performers. The Beethovenfest has seen renowned Beethoven interpreters and big stars like Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Colin Davis, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Hélène Grimaud, Paavo Järvi, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Hope and Martin Grubinger. These and many other musicians return regularly to Bonn in order to present at the Beethovenfest programmes which have been specially compiled for this festival.
History
The tradition of the Beethovenfest Bonn stretches back to 1845, when a three-day music festival was held on the occasion of the dedication of the Beethoven Monument on the city’s Münsterplatz to mark the 75th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Both Franz Liszt and Louis Spohr conducted, and international guests in the audiences included King Frederick William IV of Prussia, Queen Victoria of Great Britain, the explorer Alexander von Humboldt and the composer Hector Berlioz. In a record time of just eleven days, a first Beethovenhalle was built to provide an appropriate venue for this first Beethoven celebration.
It has existed in its current form since 1998.
