The opening of Copenhagen’s new concert hall, the spectacular Koncerthuset, was celebrated with a very special project: to present their new home to a broad public the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Thomas Dausgaard performed four popular works within the classical symphonic tradition, Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 (Length: 39’), Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9 (Length: 45’), Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 (Length: 49’) and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 (Length: 35’). Additionally, the performances were filmed on highest standards and with an extensive setup of cameras.
Danish National Symphony Orchestra Nielsen – Dvorak – Brahms – Sibelius
The opening of Copenhagen’s new concert hall, the spectacular Koncerthuset, was celebrated with a very special project: to present their new home to a broad public the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Thomas Dausgaard performed four popular works within the classical symphonic tradition, Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 (Length: 39’), Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (Length: 45’), Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 (Length: 49’) and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 (Length: 35’). Additionally, the performances were filmed on highest standards and with an extensive setup of cameras.
Dvorák, Symphony No.9 in E minor, op.95 “From the New World”
The opening of Copenhagen’s new concert hall, the spectacular Koncerthuset, was celebrated with a very special project: to present their new home to a broad public the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Thomas Dausgaard performed four popular works within the classical symphonic tradition, Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 (Length: 39’), Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9 (Length: 45’), Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 (Length: 49’) and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 (Length: 35’). Additionally, the performances were filmed on highest standards and with an extensive setup of cameras.
The Carl Nielsen Gala
Carl Nielsen was unquestionably Denmark’s most important composer, commanding great respect already during his lifetime in Denmark and throughout Scandinavia. The Koncerthuset in Copenhagen marked the composer’s 150th anniversary with a grand gala under the musical direction of Juanjo Mena, in the presence of Queen Margarethe herself. The programme features the Clarinet Concerto, Nielsen’s last and one of his most famous orchestra works, which soloist Olli Leppäniemi executes with verve and virtuosity, his Fourth Symphony, “The Inextinguishable”, and also “Hymnus amoris”.
RCO: Gatti conducts Beethoven & Brahms
Outstanding German violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann, who has been performing regularly with the RCO since 1990, collaborates once more with Daniele Gatti to great acclaim. Within the lush, energetic melodies of Beethoven’s immensely popular Violin Concerto the solo violinist showcases his artistry. Under Gatti’s guidance, “the coordination between orchestra and soloist is especially fine” (Bachtrack). It is followed by Brahms’ First Symphony. It took Brahms at least 14 years to complete it, as he battled self-doubt, when comparing it to Beethoven’s symphonies. The audience, however, gave the work the highest praise by dubbing it “Beethoven’s Tenth”. Gatti gives the score a reading of high drama, leading the RCO to a most convincing finale. “In an onslaught of inspiration, all musicians climbed to a level you rarely hear … An unforgettable evening!” (Het Parool). PROGRAM: Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Brahms: Symphony No. 1
RCO: Gatti conducts Bruch & Mahler
Chief conductor Daniele Gatti and star violinist Janine Jansen unite in Max Bruch’s First Violin Concerto, a warm-blooded work which fits Jansen like a glove. Listening to the concerto, with its sweetly flowing melodies and blazing solo passages, one would never know that it took Bruch four years of frustration to write. Almost immediately after it was premiered, it was considered one of the most popular violin concertos in the repertoire. Daniele Gatti and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra are pursuing their Mahler series with the First Symphony. At the premiere in 1889, the audience was ill-prepared for Mahler’s bold orchestration, but the symphony gradually gained in popularity. The Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by the composer himself, gave the Dutch premiere in 1903. Mahler was absolutely delighted, exclaiming, ‘The musical culture in this country is stupendous! The way the people can just listen!’ PROGRAM: Bruch: Violin Concerto; Mahler: Symphony No. 1
RCO Opening Night 2018: Thomas Hengelbrock & Evgeny Kissin
RCO Opening Night is the festive opening of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s new season in the company of loyal audience members and new friends. The fourth RCO Opening Night in the history of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is led by Thomas Hengelbrock. Pianist Evgeny Kissin, without a doubt one of the biggest piano players of our time – some say a living legend – is returning to the Concertgebouw Orchestra for the first time since 1994. He is playing the solo in Liszt’s First Piano Concerto. This concert, suffused with the spirit of Romanticism, opens with Berlioz’s concert overture Le Carnaval Romain with its beautiful English horn solo. Mendelssohn’s passionate ‘Italian’ symphony is flanked by works from beloved Italian operas, with several more musical surprises to follow.
RCO: Herreweghe conducts Beethoven & Brahms
With Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2, Philippe Herreweghe is highlighting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s most important function since ist founding, namely to perform the best works from the Classical and Romantic periods. Herreweghe joins forces here with star pianist Yefim Bronfman, the Russian-Israeli-American master who is known as a heavyweight, excelling in tumultuous works. Remarkably enough, Bronfman now turns to the subtlest and most tender of piano concertos that Beethoven composed.
RCO: Haitink conducts Mozart & Bruckner
Conductor laureate Bernard Haitink conducts Bruckner and Mozart. For the first time in almost 35 years he will be leading the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony. The composer himself considered this die keckste (the boldest) of all his symphonies. More than his other ones this symphony emphasises the rhythm and dynamics instead of the monumental construction. At the premiere conducted by Gustav Mahler, three years after Bruckner’s death, the Sixth left its audience in a state of confusion, and is still not performed often today. This must be some kind of mistake as it is a brilliant symphony full of insights into the human existence – earning it the nickname The Philosopher – and offers much to enjoy. Pianist Mitsuko Uchida, back since seven years, performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23. In this work the woodwinds play a significant role and Mozart allows several melodies from the operas he was working on in the same time period to seep in. PROGRAM: Bruckner: Symphony No 6; Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23
Lahav Shani conducts the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
In his inaugural performance as the new Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Lahav Shani leads the orchestra in Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, a work from 1937 that returned the composer into Stalin’s good political graces after being denounced by the Soviet regime. And a renowned Beethoven interpreter with hundreds of recordings of the composer’s music to his name, Daniel Barenboim performs Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, a startlingly dramatic work inspired by Mozart’s own in C Minor (K. 491). PROGRAM Shostakovich No. 5; Beethoven: Third Piano Concerto; Orthel, Scherzo No. 2 for Orchestra