Since his time as chief conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester between 1998 and 2005, Herbert Blomstedt – now its honorary conductor – has returned to Leipzig every year to conduct one or more always celebrated concerts. In 2015, he conducted Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No.7 in three sold-out concerts at the Gewandhaus. The combination of these two symphonies was also one of the first concerts Blomstedt conducted during his time in Leipzig, even then bringing the people in the audience to their feet and making them discover the music of Danish composer Carl Nielsen, whose works – until then – had only been rarely played in German concert halls. In 2015, 150 years after Nielsen’s birth, the combination and juxtaposition of his Third with Beethoven’s Seventh was again a big success.
Lucerne Festival 2013: Daniel Barenboim & West Eastern Divan Orchestra at Lucerne Festival
Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra performing works by the Jordanian composer Saed Haddad (*1972) and the Israel-based “composer-in-residence” of Lucerne Festival 2013, Chaya Czernowin (*1957). The two world premieres were contrasted by works of the two great composers celebrating their 200th anniversary: Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner. —– PROGRAM: G. Verdi: Overture to Les Vêpres siciliennes; S. Haddad (*1972): Que la lumière soit (world premiere); G. Verdi: La traviata, preludes to act 1 and 3, Overture to La forza del destino; R. Wagner: Prelude to Parsifal; Ch. Czernowin (*1957): At the Fringe of Our Gaze (world premiere); R. Wagner: Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Andris Nelsons and Yefim Bronfman at the Lucerne Festival
For his tone poem ‘Scheherazade’ Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov chose four episodes from the famous 1001 nights tales collection to set, using glowing instrumental colors and exotically tinged ornaments. Andris Nelsons, the young and charismatic star conductor from Latvia, will be sure to inspire a veritable sonic intoxication with the wonderful
Concertgebouw Orchestra. In contrast, the first part of the concert will strike a heroic note when Yefim Bronfman, whose virtuosity knows no limits, plays Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto.
Andris Nelsons at the Lucerne Festival
Dmitri Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony, which was written in the pivotal months after the Battle of Stalingrad, follows the principle of triumph through adversity – ‘per aspera ad astra’ – not just musically, but also conceptually: Everything that is dark and shameful will perish; everything that is beautiful will triumph.’ This ‘triumph,’ though, is restrained. The Eighth is a large-scale work that ends in something like a pastoral mood, played pianissimo; poses of jubilation were not in Shostakovich’s nature. The concert opens with the delightful, lively Overture to ‘Rienzi.’ And the ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ from ‘Salome’ shows the fin-de-siècle’s enigmatic penchant for decadence.
Riccardo Chailly and Nicolaj Znaider: Mendelssohn, Mahler
Italian conductor Riccardo Chailly – a “long-time respected Mahlerian” (Financial Times) – and “his” Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig prove once again their exceptional grasp of the Mahler Symphonies. In this concert at the Gewandhaus Leipzig Mahler’s “Tragic Symphony” is combined with a piece of music that has its origin in that very place: Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto that Mendelssohn composed for his friend Ferdinand David, at that time concertmaster of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, and that was given his first performance at the Gewandhaus in 1845. In this concert, it is performed by young Danish star violinist Nikolaj Znaider. —– Program: Felix MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY, Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64; Gustav MAHLER, Symphony No. 6 in A minor; Johann Sebastian BACH (Encore), Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 – Sarabande
Britten: War Requiem
Fifty years to the day after its premiere, Andris Nelsons celebrated with his orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (which also gave that first performance), Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem through a special anniversary performance given at Coventry Cathedral, the site of its first performance, starring Erin Wall, Mark Padmore and Hanno Müller-Brachmann.
Blomstedt conducts Reger and Beethoven
Max Reger’s Piano Concerto was created in the summer of 1910 in Leipzig and was there brought into the world by pianist Frieda Kwast-Hodapp and the Gewandhausorchester under Arthur Nikisch. To date, few other artists have dared to undertake this pianistic challenge: The American Peter Serkin, however, is one of those few whose repertoire includes this rare piece. In the second part of the concert, Herbert Blomstedt approached Beethoven’s evocative impressions of nature in the Symphony No 6, the “Pastoral”. PROGRAM: Reger: Piano Concerto in F minor; Beethoven: Symphony No. 6
Nelsons conducts Gewandhausorchester Leipzig: Webern, Wagner and Stravinsky
When Andris Nelsons made his debut with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in 2011, the conductor and the orchestra are said to have felt a magical connection, which only a few years later resulted in his appointment as the 21st principal conductor of the world-renowned orchestra, beginning in 2018. In 2016, one of his concerts with the Gewandhausorchester featured three works by three composers, each of whom revolutionized the musical traditions of their times. Anton Webern, Richard Wagner and Igor Stravinsky. PROGRAM: Webern: Six Pieces for Orchestra; Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps
Lucerne Festival 2016: Rattle conducts Berliner Philharmoniker
Even if the music world is often dominated by rivalry, examples of genuine friendships can certainly be found. Take Johannes Brahms and Antonín Dvorák: a pair whose friendship was free of self-interest. And sure enough, his first publication, the spirited Slavonic Dances, enjoyed a sensational success. The Berlin Philharmonic paid homage to this musical friendship by pairing Dvorák’s bravura Slavonic Dances with the Second Symphony of Brahms, also composed in 1877. And as an “appetizer” Sir Simon Rattle has commissioned a new work from his compatriot Julian Anderson. PROGRAM: Julian Anderson: Incantesimi for Orchestra; Dvorák: Slavonic Dances, Op. 46; Brahms: Symphony No. 2
Chailly conducts Mahler No. 1
Gustav Mahler was 28 when he wrote his First Symphony in Leipzig in 1888. For a long time, he was uncertain whether the work was a symphonic poem or a symphony and finally abandoned the first version and later also the work’s subtitle, Titan. A few years later, Mahler went on to revise the symphony into the four-movement work we know today, which was premiered in 1896. Riccardo Chailly and the Gewandhausorchester continue their Leipzig Mahler cycle by bringing Mahler’s First Symphony to life in a riveting performance, paying homage to the composer.