San Francisco Symphony - Beethoven's Eroica

Conductor Laureate Hebert Blomstedt Leads Beethoven's Eroica

Serving as the San Francisco Symphony's Music Director for a decade from 1985 to 1995, Herbert Blomstedt returns to conduct Beethoven's epic Eroica Symphony. The conductor laureate, an honorary title bestowed upon him by the SSFO, has worked with the world's leading orchestras as well as Russian composer Igor Markevitch and American icon Leonard Bernstein.

Perhaps one of his most popular works, Beethoven originally dedicated his grand symphony to historical leader Napolean Bonaparte as a memorial to his initial achievements, hoping it would inspire an egalitarian revolution in the rest of Europe. Yet when Bonaparte turned out to be a dictator, the composer renamed the symphony. Comprised of three movements, the large-scale work is filled with an incredibly expressive range of emotions, from terror to tragedy and lyrical joy.