Top 10 classical music performances at the Olympic Games

7 August 2024, 18:24

From Mr Bean to mystic Berlioz – here are the top musical moments that brought occasion and spectacle to the world’s biggest sporting stage.

As the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics enters its final days, we look back at the times when classical music has left a lasting impact on Olympic celebrations.

1. A silver for Jospeh Suk

   Art competitions were a major part of the modern Olympic Games from 1912 to 1948. Medals were awarded for architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture, with all works having the theme of sport.

   And at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics the composition silver medal was won by none other than Czech composer Josef Suk for his march Towards a new life. Arts competitions were abolished two decades later, due to the feeling that it favoured professionals who were already established in their creative fields. Classical music as an Olympic sport? We’d be up for its return...

   

   Josef Suk - Towards a New Life, Op. 35c (1931)

2. Richard Strauss at the propaganda games

   The 1936 Summer Games in Berlin were the darkest days of the Olympics, with the tradition coopted to promote the Nazi ideals of racial supremacy and antisemitism.

   Though he was very critical of the Third Reich in private, composer Richard Strauss did conduct the Berlin Philharmonic in a performance of his ‘Olympische Hymne’ at the opening ceremony of the games.

   Strauss’ actions drew fierce criticism from other musical figures. It is argued that his motivation was to protect his Jewish daughter-in-law and Jewish grandchildren from persecution and use his musical standing to save them from concentration camps.

   

3. Gershwin X 84

   The 1984 Summer Olympics saw music brought to Hollywood levels of spectacle. Not only did it include John Williams conducting his own piece for a new Olympic era, but it also featured a mammoth tribute to George Gershwin.

   In a celebration of the occasion and year, the American composer’s 1924 jazz concerto, Rhapsody in Blue – played by 84 pianists at the same time. The whole event won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Special.

   Read more: When Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ reverberated on 84 pianos in the 1984 Summer Olympics

   

   Los Angeles 1984 || American classic "Rhapsody in Blue"

4. Barcelona!

   It was the iconic song that brought rock and opera together to soundtrack the 1992 Olympics. Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and legendary soprano Montserrat Caballé’s duet was first conceived around the 1988 Seoul Olympics, to soundtrack the imminent arrival of the Olympic flag to the Catalan city.

   Mercury not only processed a tenor voice worthy of any operatic stage, but also had a deep love of the genre. In 1986, he mentioned on Spanish television how much he would love to meet Caballé. Their moment arrived, and they created an epic piece of music for a moment of Olympic history.

   Read more: The iconic time Freddie Mercury and soprano Montserrat Caballé’s duet initiated the 1992 Barcelona Olympics

   

   Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé - Barcelona (Live at La Nit, 1988 Remastered)

5. Youth Orchestras at Atlanta

   Olympic ceremonies are often seen as a title to showcase youngsters and the future of the host country. At the closing ceremony of the Atlanta 1996 games, composer Michael Kamen conducted the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, which featured the city’s finest young players.

   Following the Symphonic finale to the event, the stadium erupted into the jazz and blues-fueled celebration of American music, starring Stevie Wonder, B.B. King and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.

   

6. Berlioz at Sydney 2000

   The new millennium saw new levels of Olympic spectacle as the game took place in Sydney. Their opening ceremony was filled with optimism and reached its climatic moment when Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman took the iconic flame and lit the Olympic cauldron.

   It’s an incredible moment, which was accompanied by the ‘Tibi omnes’ from Hector Berlioz’s Te Deum performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Philharmonia Choir, and members of Sing 2001 children’s choir. Berlioz’s incredible music perfectly soundtracked the moment of fire, water, togetherness, and hope.

   

   Sydney 2000 Opening Ceremony - Full Length | Sydney 2000 Replays

7. A Pavarotti farewell

   When the 2006 Winter Olympics concluded in Turin, they wanted to sign off in style. Organisers chose to showcase opera and Italy’s proudest cultural export, and there was only one singer to call on. The world looked on as Luciano Pavarotti stepped out onto the stage of the Stadio Olimpico and sang a ‘Nessun dorma’ for the ages.

   The great tenor reportedly took months of persuading. This incredible aria was his final public performance, with the singer passing away the following September. It was some finale.

   Read more: When Pavarotti sang his final ‘Nessun dorma’ to close Italy’s Olympics Opening Ceremony

   

   Luciano Pavarotti's Last Public Performance - Torino 2006 Opening Ceremony | Music Monday

8. When Lang Lang played piano for 2 billion people

   At the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the world stood still for a beautiful new piano concerto, featuring 26-year-old pianist Lang Lang. It was a spectacular moment.

   In a ceremony that sought to showcase China’s past, present and future, the virtuoso played next to five-year-old Li Muzi. The music was a new, eight-minute-long concerto by Chinese composer Xiaogang Ye, and was accompanied by hundreds of dancers creating a striking animation surrounding the instrument.

   Read more: Watch Lang Lang play at the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony.

   

9. Star soloist... Mr Bean

   Who could forget this iconic moment? Our partner orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle, and the comic genius of Rowan Atkinson starred in the London 2012 Opening Ceremony.

   Vangelis’ music for Chariots of Fire met Mr Bean in a sketch that will go down as the finest moment of musical comedy ever to take the Olympic stage.

   Read more: Mr Bean plays iconic ‘Chariots of Fire’ with London Symphony Orchestra at 2012 Olympics Ceremony

   

   Mr. Bean Live Performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games

10. Ravel in the Parisian rain

    French piano rang out around a sodden Paris for the opening of the 2024 Summer Olympic games. It was a ceremony that featured many striking moments of music.

    Young pianist Alexandre Kantorow, who was a Classic FM Rising star from 2022, played Maurice Ravel’s Jeux d’eau – which translates as 'Water Games' – all rather apt given he was playing a rain drop-adorned Steinway.