Page 10 - November2026LifeInNaples

2026-27 Season

Artis—Naples' Beethoven Festival

To Light

ven two hundred years after his death, “As we planned the 2026-27 Artis—Naples
Ludwig van Beethoven cannot be consigned season, I kept returning to the idea that so many of
Eto the past. Attempting to separate his the great musical journeys begin in struggle and move
influence from the music that followed would be toward illumination,” says Alexander Shelley, Sharon
something like trying to remove salt from seawater. and Timothy Ubben Artistic and Music Director.
His symphonies, concertos and chamber works “Beethoven stands at the center of that tradition.”
altered expectations of what music could express, Naturally, a season connected to a figure of
while some of his melodies have become part of Beethoven’s stature takes many forms, from chamber
a cultural vocabulary that extends far beyond the music and orchestral performances to discussions,
concert hall. theatrical programs and visual arts. At The Baker
In 2027, Artis—Naples joins orchestras and Museum, Linling Lu: Fugue in 3 Voices, open through
cultural institutions around the world in marking the January 3, moves the conversation into the visual
bicentenary of Beethoven’s death with a season-long realm through new paintings inspired by composers
multidisciplinary tribute to his music, life and legacy, heard in the Naples Philharmonic Masterworks
culminating in a special Beethoven Festival: To Light, series, including Beethoven. A December 11 artist
March 2-20, featuring the Naples Philharmonic talk with Lu, Shelley and The Baker Museum
performing all nine symphonies in sequence. Director and Chief Curator Courtney McNeil further
Rather than approaching Beethoven solely considers the relationship between sound and color.
through a collection of familiar masterworks, Visiting orchestras add their own perspectives as The
the 2026-27 season follows the path of an artist, Cleveland Orchestra performs the Fifth Symphony
composer, innovator and human being who never on January 26 and the London Symphony Orchestra
stopped evolving: an ambitious young composer performs the Violin Concerto with violinist Maxim
stretching the constraints of existing forms, a Vengerov on March 9. In addition to the symphony
maturing mind reinventing them and, eventually, a cycle, the Naples Philharmonic collaborates with
musician confronting profound personal challenges eminent soprano Renée Fleming and baritone
while continuing to imagine music of extraordinary Thomas Hampson in a Masterworks program on
vitality. January 7 and 9, and in special performances on
In a season guided by the theme To Light: The March 10-12 with actor and playwright Tama
Eminent soprano Art of Hope, Beethoven’s growth is a natural central Matheson in his award-winning music-play,
Renée Fleming
thread. Beethoven: I Shall Hear in Heaven. Encountered in

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