One of the coolest things about Beethoven -- there's like millions of them, obviously -- is the totally off tha hook metronome markings that make us lawl with joy and make conductors kinda go all like, "whatevs let's pretend it sez somethin else k rite thx".
But still, even if Opera Chic is an avid jogger, "Beethoven 5K Run", a Kentucky institution, leaves us kind of baffled.
Inaugurated in June 1997, the event is pure KSO, mixing great music - in this case, Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 - with an outdoor activity that appeals to a wide-ranging, contemporary audience.
At 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the band shell in Covington's Devou Park, KSO music director James R. Cassidy's downbeat will signal simultaneously the opening of the world's best known symphony and the beginning of a 5-kilometer (3.2 mile) run through the park. The object is to beat Beethoven by crossing the finish line back at the band shell before Cassidy and the KSO reach the work's majestic C-major conclusion. If there are any stragglers, Cassidy can have fun by drawing out Beethoven's already drawn-out ending.
