The highlight of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra’s 2023 European tour was its emotionally charged performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No 9, with Schiller’s great poem “Ode to Joy”, his cry of freedom, resistance and progress against the forces of oppression, memorably sung by the soloists and chorus in Ukrainian. The Warsaw concert, captured in this recording, was the first time the symphony’s text had been presented in translation outside of Ukraine. Schiller’s poem was rendered in a new performance version prepared by UFO founder and conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson working with her Ukrainian musical colleague Ievgeniia Iermachkova. This new singing translation followed the precedent set by Leonard Bernstein, who conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Berlin on Christmas Day 1989, just weeks after the fall of the Wall, in that it made one important change. Bernstein famously altered Schiller’s opening word “Freude” (Joy) to “Freiheit” (Freedom) and in so doing defined a moment of hope in German, and world, history. In making her performance version Wilson followed Bernstein’s lead and the opening word of the piece in Ukrainian was “Slava”, from the phrase that has become familiar around the world as the rallying call of Ukrainian resistance in the face of ruthless Russian aggression, Slava Ukraini! (“Glory to Ukraine!").