(Rain date: Sunday, 5 July)

Egmont – incidental music, Op. 84, excerpts
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Eroica”), Op. 55

Adrienn Miksch soprano
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor: Levente Török

The Flemish Count Lamoral van Egmont (1522–1568) was a martyr of the 16th-century struggles for freedom in the Low Countries. Beethoven composed incidental music for Goethe’s drama about him between October 1809 and June 1810. The creation of the work gained contemporary relevance from the fact that French troops occupied Vienna at that time as part of the Napoleonic Wars; thus, Beethoven was able to personally experience what it meant to yearn for liberation from foreign oppression as he composed the music. The genesis of his Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (“Eroica”) is also linked to Napoleon: the four-movement work – which represents a paradigm shift in the symphonic repertoire due to its sound and scope – was originally intended by the composer to be dedicated to Napoleon. However, upon learning that the First Consul had crowned himself Emperor, Beethoven, in his disappointment, settled on the subtitle of “heroic” instead. Adrienn Miksch, a member of the Hungarian State Opera, delivers outstanding performances both in the operatic and concert repertoires. The conductor for the evening, Levente Török, completed his higher education at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts and is currently artistic director of the Miskolc Symphony Orchestra. Music director of the City of Aachen since August 2026.