Delicate to weighty were the sounds from the stage as Sir John Eliot Gardiner led the festival opening on Saturday, September 6, yet not a note of Beethoven in the sold-out Beethoven Hall; instead, Schumann and Mendelssohn. The latter's "Reformation Symphony" had a notable difference, with the string players of the London Symphony Orchestras standing during the performance.

The results - unusual for a symphony concert nowadays - were both visually and audibly effective. Orchestral playing with standing violins and violas were, in fact, common practice well into the 20th century. This conductor should know: He's an expert in historic performance practice, author of several books on music and president of the Bach Archive in Leipzig.

Gardiner is one of many stars on the classical music scene appearing at this year's Beethovenfest. For four weeks, Bonn is musically on a par with New York, Berlin, London and Vienna. The Munich Philharmonic, Rotterdam's Philharmonisch Orkest, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and in-demand conductors like Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the brothers Paavo and Kristjan Järvi are on the program.

Conspicuous absence

A Beethovenfest in Germany beginning without Beethoven and with an English orchestra? "We have a strong connection to Bonn," explained Garreth Davis, flute chair in the London Symphony Orchestra. "This is the fifth time I've been here with the orchestra. It feels like coming home. Playing in Bonn is always special, and the audiences are knowledgeable."

Visitors missing their Beethoven on opening night received compensation on day two by another top formation from Great Britain - the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - performing his first three symphonies. Transmitted live on a mild summery evening from the Beethoven Hall to Bonn's Market Square, the performance was followed reverently by hundreds of spectators, standing or seated in rented lawn stools chairs with refreshments in hand.

The open air broadcast at the festival is an eight-year-old tradition of the Beethovenfest in collaboration with Deutsche Welle. That performance was in the hands of a maestro who's just as enjoyable to watch as to hear. Thirty-five-year-old Latvian Andris Nelsons' extremely fluid gestures and evident joy in music making are well suited to the camera. Nelsons was assigned the Herculean task of conducting all nine Beethoven symphonies on four consecutive evenings.

Cyclical program

It's the year of cycles at the Beethovenfest, which is taking an almost encyclopedic approach up to the finale on October 3. To be heard this month are the composer's complete symphonies, piano concertos, violin sonatas and - wrapping up a three-year project - string quartets, the latter performed by Russia's renowned Borodin Quartet.

Since Ludwig van Beethoven influenced music history like hardly any other composer, the festival planners have little difficulty combining his works with others ranging from baroque to classical, romantic and contemporary - even jazz and electronic sounds are in the mix.

One-third of the total budget of approximately five million euros is publically funded, with the city of Bonn contributing the lion's share. It's a matter of course for Mayor Jürgen Nimptsch, as he explained to DW: "There's no shortage of classical music, theater and opera in Germany. But we have only one Beethoven, and he is probably the world's most famous composer. For us, he's number one. And the local citizens strongly support that."