Beethoven: I Shall Hear in Heaven arrives at Opera Holland Park
The Nest Company is delighted to announce that Beethoven – I Shall Hear in Heaven, a powerful fusion of drama and music that brings the life and genius of Ludwig van Beethoven to vivid, visceral life is set to be performed at the Opera Holland Park on 6th and 8th August.
This production is written and performed by award-winning theatre-maker Tama Matheson, directed musically by acclaimed pianist and 2024 Limelight Artist of the Year Jayson Gillham, and features Robert Maskell, Muireann Gallen and Quartet Concrète.
Read more: London Theatre Doc Interviews Tama Matheson on bringing Beethoven to Life at Opera Holland Park
Originally, Beethoven – I Shall Hear in Heaven was performed at the Wimbledon International Music Festival in 2021 and was nominated for the 2022 Royal Philharmonic Society Storytelling Award. The production has since toured to critical acclaim across the UK, Malta and Australia. In this new iteration at Opera Holland Park, the play returns to London in a semi-staged open-air setting.
Rather than following a conventional biographical structure, Beethoven – I Shall Hear in Heaven blends theatre with curated musical performance. The work is described by its creators as “half music, half drama,” where Beethoven’s compositions emerge from—and respond to—the emotional and narrative structure of the play. The aim is to provide both musical and psychological insight into Beethoven’s life, particularly his experience with hearing loss, personal isolation, and artistic ambition.
By turns devastating, thrilling, heartbreaking, funny, and triumphant, Beethoven – I Shall Hear in Heaven is a deeply moving tribute to human perseverance: The play follows Beethoven as he grapples with the onset of deafness, a devastating diagnosis for a composer – and yet, his creative drive never falters. Deaf but defiant, he continues to compose through silence, producing some of the most celebrated and emotionally complex music of his career. At the heart of the piece is not just a struggle against hearing loss, but a portrait of an artist determined to create, no matter the odds – and the result is some of the most profound music ever written.
A tale of loss, defiance, hope, and triumph, I Shall Hear in Heaven shows the indomitable human will spurning the obstacles thrown before it in order to rise to greatness. Intertwined with a live concert of Beethoven’s most transcendent works, it’s a moving blend of drama and music that brings the composer’s legacy vividly to life.
“This production fuses music and drama into a seamless new form that we believe offers something truly new to British theatre,” says Tama Matheson, Artistic Director of NEST (The Not Entirely Serious Take). “Jayson Gillham and I are absolutely thrilled to be bringing I Shall Hear in Heaven to Opera Holland Park this August. We can’t wait to share it with audiences in such a magical venue.”
Show: Beethoven – I Shall Hear In Heaven
Dates: 6th and 8th August
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Opera Holland Park
Address: Opera Holland Park Theatre, Ilchester Place, London W8 6LU
Price: £35-£85 (non members) / £30-£70 (members)