Beethoven & Tchaikovsky

The evening

A no-holds-barred autobiography, told in some music's greatest melodies.

‘Suddenly, with force!’ It’s 200 years since the death of Ludwig van Beethoven, but a spirit as unstoppable as his simply can’t be kept down. Unsuk Chin’s personal tribute to Beethoven is a brilliant upbeat to the First Piano Concerto by the man himself, and with the remarkable Lukas Sternath as soloist, music doesn’t get much more joyful. Then guest conductor Nikolai Szeps-Znaider conducts Tchaikovsky’s ‘Pathétique’ Symphony, and don’t be misled by the name. It means ‘full of feeling’, and from exultant heights to anguished depths, this is music as no-holds-barred autobiography, told in some of the greatest melodies of all time.

<img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-32477" src="https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events-300x169.png?strip=all&quality=92&webp=92&avif=80" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events-300x169.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80 300w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events-1024x576.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80 1024w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events-768x432.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80 768w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events-1536x864.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80 1536w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events-400x225.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80 400w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events-800x450.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80 800w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events-640x360.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80 640w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events-1280x720.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80 1280w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80 1920w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80&amp;w=192 192w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80&amp;w=576 576w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80&amp;w=960 960w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80&amp;w=1152 1152w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80&amp;w=1344 1344w, https://eun9nr6wow6.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/In-Search-of-Purpose-crop-for-web-events.png?strip=all&amp;quality=92&amp;webp=92&amp;avif=80&amp;w=1728 1728w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-eio="l" />