Beethoven: I Shall Hear in Heaven

Opera Holland Park, London

6th and 8th August 2025

Starring:
Tama Matheson
Robert Maskell
Muireann Gallen

Music performed by:
Jayson Gillham
Quartet Concrète

A play by Tama Matheson
A NEST production

Artistic Director: Tama Matheson
Music Director: Jayson Gillham

Plunge into the soul of genius in this electrifying and award-nominated play about the life of Ludwig Van Beethoven – the artist whose story epitomises our ideas of courage, overcoming, triumph, and wonder.

Written by multi-award-winning theatre-maker, Tama Matheson, this uniquely-riveting drama takes you on a dazzling journey from Beethoven’s troubled youth to his elevation as one of the most celebrated artists in history.

Performed within a frame of Beethoven’s exquisite music – directed by 2024 Limelight Artist of the Year, Jayson Gillham – I Shall Hear in Heaven melds drama and music into a powerful theatrical alloy that plumbs the depths of creativity and the passions that fuel greatness.

Premiering at the Wimbledon International Music Festival in 2021, I Shall Hear in Heaven was nominated for the 2022 RPS Storytelling Award, earning widespread acclaim in Australia, Malta, and across the UK. This year, it brings its magic to Opera Holland Park.

Through the poignant twists and turns of Beethoven’s life – artistic challenges, lost loves, and the tragedy of encroaching deafness – I Shall Hear in Heaven offers a powerful evocation of the development of genius, and a theatrical production that truly “overwhelms.” (Adelaide Reviews)

At once hilarious, touching, inspiring, and devastating, I Shall Hear in Heaven is a haunting odyssey into the heart of what it means to be human.