Sunday 11 October at 11 am | Sala Mehta, Teatro del Maggio

The new event in C’è Musica & Musica 3.0, the series dedicated to families, young people and younger audiences.

Conductor Rotem Nir leads the Orchestra del Maggio, with Lorenzo Baglioni as narrator.

The programme features a rich selection of works by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Breakfasts for children are kindly provided by Unicoop Firenze.

Single ticket: €15

Florence, 8 October 2026 – On Sunday 11 October at 11 am, C’è Musica & Musica 3.0 returns to the Sala Mehta at Teatro del Maggio. The series invites children, young people and families to discover music, theatre and the magic of live performance in a fresh, entertaining and engaging way.

Taking centre stage this morning is Lorenzo Baglioni, who returns to the Maggio to tell the story of Ludwig van Beethoven, alongside the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, conducted by Rotem Nir, who makes his debut on the podium at the theatre. A singer, songwriter, actor, presenter and science communicator, Lorenzo Baglioni has become a much-loved figure among Maggio audiences. The concert programme features a selection of some of the best-known works by the musical genius from Bonn.

“When we think of Beethoven, we immediately think of genius. We think of the great composer, his deafness, the Fifth Symphony, those four notes everyone recognises, even if they don't quite know where they come from. But before becoming a monument in the history of music, Beethoven was a man: stubborn, restless, passionate, capable of getting incredibly angry and feeling emotions even more intensely. That's where I wanted to begin.

“I believe that, to introduce children to great music, we don't need to make it smaller. Instead, we need to find a doorway close enough to them for them to step inside. And Beethoven offers us so many doorways. There's the challenge. There's the desire to be heard. There's the anger we feel when things don't go the way we want them to. Above all, there's the extraordinary determination of a man who, even as he was losing his hearing, continued to imagine ever greater sounds.

“During the performance, we set out to get to know Beethoven in this way: through his life, of course, but above all through his music. Music that sometimes races, sometimes erupts, sometimes whispers; music that seems to ask questions and then answer them itself. And perhaps something curious happens: children listen without knowing that they're supposed to think of it as ‘classical music’. They simply listen. They follow a story, recognise an emotion and wait to find out what happens next.

“Perhaps that's the greatest gift we can give them: the chance to encounter Beethoven before anyone tells them that Beethoven is difficult. And for us adults, sitting alongside them, it's an opportunity to discover him all over again.”

The lively concert opens with Für Elise, Bagatelle in A minor, WoO 59, followed by some of the most engaging excerpts from Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, the celebrated Eroica; Symphony No. 5 in C minor; Symphony No. 6 in F major, the Pastoral; and Symphony No. 8 in F major.

The concert concludes with the world-famous Ode to Joy, from Symphony No. 9 in D minor.

The C’è Musica & Musica series returns on Saturday 24 October at 4 pm. Lorenzo Baglioni will once again take to the stage of the Sala Mehta, this time to tell the story of Giuseppe Verdi, alongside conductor Jacopo Brusa and soloists Suji Kwon and Vivien Georgiev.