Edinburgh is stunned as Philadelphia scraps Beethoven 9th

The festival has been horrified by the loss of one of its highlights.

Here is what patrons are being told in the most diplomatic terms:

Dear Mr [ ]

I am emailing to inform you that unfortunately, as The Philadelphia Orchestra’s COVID-19 protocols differ from current UK guidance, it has become necessary to change the programme for the Thursday 25 August concert to accommodate the orchestra’s preferences.

The orchestra will now perform:

Beethoven Symphony No 5

Rachmaninov Isle of the Dead

This is in replacement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The concert has been renamed Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony on our website to reflect this change.

Regrettably, this means that the Edinburgh Festival Chorus will not take part in this concert. However, they will still perform as planned in our Closing Concert, alongside the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the National Youth Choir of Scotland, on Sunday 28 August. We are confident that we have sufficient measures in place to ensure the safety of the chorus and orchestra to perform on stage together, following standard practice in UK concert performances.

If you no longer wish to attend this concert, please let me know by emailing martina.furlan@eif.co.uk. If you’re happy to attend, your tickets remain valid and we look forward to welcoming you to the Usher Hall.

Best wishes,

The festival chorus are seething. It’s also a major snub to the audience.