Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and Anastasia Kobekina plays Rococo Variations

Beethoven's grandiose Seventh Symphony played a starring role in the Oscar-winning film The King's Speech. In the Amsterdam Concertgebouw's Great Hall this morning, this music sounds at least as moving and compelling. Anastasia Kobekina lets her beautiful Stradivarius cello shine in Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations.

Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is all about movement. From the highly rhythmic and dancing first movement to the energetic finale. The second movement, a poignant funeral march, is of an unlikely beauty. It is one of the most beloved slow movements in Beethoven's oeuvre and is the highlight of the film classic The King's Speech.

Anastasia Kobekina is one of those musicians who immediately winds everyone who hears her play around her finger. Not for nothing did she win the prestigious Leonard Bernstein Award 2024. Ironing is singing for Kobekina. You can hear it in her fluid timing and gliding to a note. She plays expressively squared, but bypasses sentiment,' wrote the Volkskrant in early 2024 in response to her album Venice. Kobekina studied in Paris and Berlin but still has a strong connection to the music of her compatriot Tchaikovsky. Her beautiful Stradivarius cello allows his Rococo variations to shine as never before.