Ode to joy and to the genius behind it

After the Sept 2 concert Li decided to perform more of the composer's works with a marathon-like concert. He called Xu Jian, general manager of the Forbidden City Concert Hall, right after he performed with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra at the venue on Sept 6.

That night, Li led the Beijing Symphony Orchestra as it performed Symphony No 5 in C minor Op 67. With audiences' raucous cheers and applause, the musicians' performed the fourth and final movement of the piece again.

"When Li told me about his ideas I was very excited," Xu says."I could imagine the moment when the marathon concert ends with musicians and audiences singing Ode to Joy together."

Xu's team soon started to get in touch with musicians and prepare programs for the 12-hour-long event. The veteran music critic Wang Jiyan has been invited to talk about Beethoven's music works between each concert.

"Chinese classical music lovers are very familiar with Beethoven," says Wang, who has worked with Chinese symphony orchestras such as the China National Symphony Orchestra and the China Philharmonic Orchestra.

"His nine symphonies cover pretty much every facet of human existence in one way or another."

The pandemic has made 2020 a very different and unforgettable year, he says. People's lives have been heavily affected, with social distancing changing the way people interact.

"We go through similar emotions, such as fear, anxiety and depression, because of the viral outbreak. When you listen to Beethoven's music again under such circumstances his music brings you strength and comfort more than ever before."

One of the musicians who will play in the marathon concert is the pianist Zou Xiang, who teaches at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Zou, 40, chose to play Piano Sonata No 32, Op 111, the last of the composer's piano sonatas, written between 1821 and 1822. It was dedicated to his friend, pupil and patron Archduke Rudolf of Austria.

"The piece means a lot to me," says Zou, who started learning to play when he was 5 and gave his first solo recital when he was 13.

"I've played the piece over the past 20 years of my career, including the entrance examination when I applied to the Juilliard School in New York in 1999."

He studied at the school on a full scholarship.

"Even today when I play the same piece I derive different kinds of strength from it,"Zou says.