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BBC Arts plans Beethoven series for 2027 anniversary

BBC Arts has commissioned Beethoven: Rise of a Genius, a three-part mix of documentary and drama for BBC Two and iPlayer. The series is being made to mark 200 years since the composer's death, which falls in spring 2027.

72 Films is producing the show, which continues the strand's earlier series on Mozart, Shakespeare and Jane Austen. It traces Ludwig van Beethoven from a driven young virtuoso to a visionary composer, setting his artistic achievements beside his personal battles: a fiery temper, his hunt for a treatment for his hearing loss, and his unhappy love for the woman he called his "Immortal Beloved."

Beethoven's hearing began to fail when he was 27, and he was deaf by the time he died in Vienna on 26 March 1827. The production pairs his own writings, letters and conversation books with inventive sound design to convey what that loss meant.

Deaf people and organisations helped shape the series, among them the sign-language broadcaster LumoTV and the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID). Those appearing on screen include Jon Batiste, Sir Simon Russell Beale, Dame Evelyn Glennie and Sir George Benjamin. His music, from the Moonlight Sonata to the Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, is performed by players such as Jeremy Denk, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Jonathan Biss and Nicky Spence.

Suzy Klein, Head of BBC Arts and Classical Music TV, said Beethoven is the musician who speaks most directly to the human soul. She explained that the aim was to cast fresh light on his remarkable creativity and on the loss of his hearing, at a time when deafness was poorly understood.

David Glover, co-founder and CEO of 72 Films, said the composer turns his deafness into music and uses that music to give voice to his deepest feelings.

The anniversary will also bring other BBC programmes, including a special edition of You're Dead to Me recorded at Southbank Centre and a Horrible Histories: Banging Beethoven Special on CBBC.

Photo: Music-News
Source: Muzland
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