To celebrate her 30th stage jubilee acclaimed Japanese violinist Midori chose a very special partner, conductor Zubin Mehta, who also conducted her concert debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1983 when she was eleven years old. In this concert with the Münchner Philharmoniker she performs a milestone of violin literature: BRAHMS’ Violin Concerto in D major. The concert is accompanied by Brahms’ Tragic Overture and Hindemith’s symphony “Mathis der Maler”. HINDEMITH, once the “bad boy” of the German music scene (New York Musical Courier) composed the symphony – using melodies from his opera of the same name – in commission for Wilhelm Furtwängler and the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1934. Its first performance was a huge success but also caused a hate campaign that made Hindemith emigrate from Germany.
Franz Welser-Möst conducts Schönberg, Strauss and Ravel
In this subscription concert, Franz Welser-Möst and the Wiener Philharmoniker whisk the audience away to the early 20th century and its variety of styles, from preserving tradition to embracing modernity. Starting with Hindemith’s Konzertmusik for wind orchestra, the superb wind section shows what they are made of: “From the very first fanfare sounds of the opening movement you could feel the fun they had” (Die Presse). With the rarely performed Strauss fantasy on Die Frau ohne Schatten, Ravel’s La Valse and Schönberg’s Variations for orchestra, Welser-Möst shows top form at the podium: “It’s impressive how Welser-Möst gives each piece its own aura. How he leads the perfectly studied musicians to snappy steps and artfully stylised dance forms, or how he revels in the splendour of sound in Strauss and Ravel” (Kronenzeitung).