MISCELLANEOUS POSTINGS

This folder includes miscellaneous articles on jazz and other musical subjects, including performance and album reviews, written by Eric Myers, which may or may not have been published elsewhere. Readers can click on the INDEX button to peruse a list of contents in this folder.

SIMONE YOUNG CONDUCTS BEETHOVEN’S CHORAL SYMPHONY

Reviewed by Eric Myers

Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, November 29, 2025

 I felt that this performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No 9, was a historic occasion. A number of milestones were in play. First, this was the last of five performances of the Choral Symphony which closed the SSO’s 2025 season. Second, this particular Beethoven symphony was the first orchestral work that conductor Simone Young performed – long ago in 1991 in Cologne - and third, moreover, these 2025 performances were the first time that Young has presented this Beethoven masterpiece in Sydney. Still, this sense of occasion was, for me, stymied to some extent by a reality that always is potentially present for the unsuspecting reviewer. After decades of reviewing musical performances, I’ve learnt that much depends on where one sits in a particular venue…