To mark Beethoven's 255th anniversary, Mahler's version of the "Eroica Symphony" will be performed.

The Russian National Youth Symphony Orchestra will perform two concerts to commemorate the 255th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven's birth. Alexander Sladkovsky will conduct the orchestra on December 14 at the Tchaikovsky Hall, and Fyodor Beznosikov will conduct the orchestra on December 17 at the Rachmaninoff Hall of Philharmonic Hall-2. Gustav Mahler's version of the great Viennese composer's "Eroica Symphony" will be performed. The program also includes the Double Concerto by Johannes Brahms, one of Beethoven's greatest admirers. The soloists will be violinist Pavel Milyukov and cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, both laureates of the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Beethoven's Third Symphony, known as the "Eroica," was one of Mahler's most important works as a conductor. Large concert halls and modern orchestral compositions offered new interpretive possibilities, prompting Mahler to make additions to the score. He developed Beethoven's ideas, increasing the composition from doubles to quadruples, sharpening the contrasts, and adding a small clarinet in E, which was added after the composer's death. The new version was used by the greatest conductors of the 20th century, including Evgeny Mravinsky, Kurt Sanderling, and Karl Eliasberg.

On December 14, at the Tchaikovsky Hall, Alexander Sladkovsky will perform Mahler's version for the first time. "Mahler adapted the music to his time, because Beethoven's 'Eroica' symphony is one of the most energetic and dense," the conductor says. "I think a performance with this composition will be closer to what Beethoven himself would have wanted to hear."

Three days later, Fyodor Beznosikov will replace Alexander Sladkovsky at the RNMSO podium. "Beethoven's symphonies orchestrated by Mahler are a document of the era, a clear demonstration of how the greatest symphony composer of the early 20th century understood and loved the music of another genius," Fyodor believes. "It is a bridge between two, perhaps the most important composers of their eras, which has no parallel in the history of music."

Brahms drew heavily on Beethoven's ideas. Johannes found the formal rigor and rebellious spirit of his music appealing; Brahms enriched the rationality of the classical era with a romantic aesthetic, characterized by individualism and a palette of expressed emotions. Brahms's Double Concerto was written as a gesture of truce with the violinist Joseph Joachim, a close friend of the composer's, after a dispute with him for several years.