Hear the story. Experience the music.

Leif Bjaland, conductor and narrator
Saturday, October 18, 8 p.m., Sarasota Opera House

The Sarasota Orchestra will explore new artistic ground as it performs a 200-year-old masterpiece in a 21^st century format. In the first of its Journeys to Genius series, Sarasota Orchestra Artistic Director Leif Bjaland takes on Beethoven’s titanic Fifth Symphony in a way that offers new perspective.

The concert entitled “Beethoven: The Angry Revolutionary,” tells the story behind the Fifth Symphony through narration, video clips and musical excerpts as Maestro Bjaland spins the true story of Beethoven’s life and times.An abused child who loses his hearing at the peak of his career, during an era in which Napoleon ravaged Europe, Beethoven rose above anger, chaos and fear to compose one of the most triumphant pieces of music of all time.

The program culminates with a grand performance of the Fifth Symphony with the Orchestra projected onto a big screen.