The 2027 Easter concert will be a kind of Good Friday magic. An Orthodox Easter composition and a Maundy Thursday oratorio are performed on Good Friday, on the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death.

Rimsky-Korsakov's work is often referred to as an overture, but in fact it is a symphonic poem divided into four parts, passing from the mourning of death on the cross to the glory of the resurrection. Beethoven's oratorio is unique because he wasn't known for composing in this genre. Besides, the piece's theme is also quite rare, as the oratorios related to the Easter feast tend to depict the events of Good Friday or Easter. The drama and the struggle in Jesus' prayer, who already feels the approach of his death, are deeply human and almost cry out for music; among the non-church-going Beethoven's heroes, we can also find Jesus, who offered himself to suffer for humanity.