Mahler’s unusually expansive five-movement Symphony No. 7 is among the composer’s most ambiguous and enigmatic works, often regarded as his most challenging to perform. As part of the Wiener Philharmoniker’s acclaimed Subscription Concert Series, Andris Nelsons leads the orchestra in a new chapter of their Mahler cycle, reaffirming his stature as “one of the most celebrated conductors of our time” (Salzburger Nachrichten). Under his baton, the Seventh becomes “magic in the Golden Hall. […] Rarely has one heard this work so finely chiselled, so dynamically balanced. An event.” (Kurier)
Andris Nelsons conducts Mahler and Bartok
Andris Nelsons and the Wiener Philharmoniker explore the brilliance of Béla Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and the emotional depths of Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. Passionate but restrained, Andris Nelsons conducts both masterpieces with superb clarity and precision: Mahler’s famous Adagietto unfolds with “unreal shimmer and dark glow” (BR Klassik). Yefim Bronfman is the soloist in one of the most difficult piano concertos ever written and impresses with “impeccable technique, expressive power, and a touch of swing” (Der Standard). The concert is part of the Wiener Philharmoniker’s Mahler cycle with Andris Nelsons.
The Exclusive Subscription Concert Series – Christian Thielemann
The Subscription Concert Series of the Wiener Philharmoniker from the Golden Hall of the famous Musikverein are special concerts reserved for subscribers. Due to the exceptional quality of the concerts and the limited offer, the average waiting time for subscribers is more than 10 years. With this series, these very special concerts are made available for the first time audiovisually to a wider audience worldwide. For this subscription concert, the Wiener Philharmoniker asked a long-time artistic companion to take the podium: more than 140 concerts and a multitude of celebrated recordings connect Christian Thielemann with the traditional Viennese orchestra. The live recording of his debut on the podium at the Vienna Musikverein almost 23 years ago promptly became a reference recording. On the programme then as now: Richard Strauss’ monumental Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony). This work, often regarded as the final and climax of the “symphonic poem” genre, is juxtaposed with Arnold Schönberg’s probably most famous tonal composition, the orchestral version of the string sextet Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night). Composed in 1899, this highly expressive work by the 25-year-old Schönberg reads, in retrospect, like a swan song to the 19th century. “Schönberg and Strauss rarely sound so grandiose.“ (Kurier) “A truly persuasive performance.”(The New York Times)
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg – Grand Opening Concert
The Elbphilharmonie, the “hall of wonders” (The Guardian), is undoubtedly the new landmark of Hamburg, a monumental synthesis of breath-taking architecture, a unique location and a world-class concert hall. In varying instrumentation the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under the baton of Principal Conductor Thomas Hengelbrock and several top-class soloists explores in the opening concert the possibilities of the Elbphilharmonie’s Grand Hall and ist acoustics with an exciting programme that spans across all musical eras, from the Renaissance to the present. It culminates in a brand-new commissioned work, created especially for this occasion by the most important living German composer, Wolfgang Rihm.
“A striking building, a scintillating concert!” (The New York Times). BONUS: This documentary accompanies the formation process of this grand building, from the first sketch plans to the rehearsals before it´s festive inauguration and includes statements by the architects Pierre de Meuron and Jacques Herzog, the acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, Christoph Lieben-Seutter, Thomas Hengelbrock and more.
Bruckner Symphony No. 3
Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden already released the Bruckner symphonies Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 and continue their Bruckner Cycle at the Philharmonie in Munich with a “radiant and majestic” (The Guardian) performance of Symphony No. 3, also known as “Wagner Symphony”. Thielemann, a more than experienced Bruckner interpreter, has once again proven himself as the top of his class, with masterly control over a shining wind section, which “pushed the audience deeply into their seats”. With “moments of disruptive suspense and intense audio density he displays the full musical maelstrom of Bruckners Symphony No. 3” (Münchner Merkur). „Thielemann and the Dresdeners played the Third Symphony … here radiant and majestic, clean ensemble giving a welcome illusion of structural clarity.” (The Guardian about the performance at the Proms) „… the orchestra unfolds from the beginning in fullest splendor“. (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
Brahms The Complete Symphonies
Before moving into the Elbphilharmonie, chief conductor Thomas Hengelbrock and his NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester performed a “Brahms Marathon” with all four symphonies of the Hamburg-born composer in the historic Laeiszhalle. Brahms’ music has always played an important role in the history of the orchestra, whose defining interpretations of the symphonies by Brahms and Bruckner have become the ensemble’s artistic hallmark. The orchestra, founded in 1945, was led by outstanding conductors such as Günter Wand, Christoph Eschenbach and Christoph von Dohnanyi. Since 2011, chief conductor Thomas Hengelbrock is in charge of continuing the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester’s history. In the bonus program Discovering Brahms, Thomas Hengelbrock offers interesting background information on all four symphonies. “The evening was more than worth it” (Hamburger Abendblatt).
Buchbinder plays Mozart
The Austrian piano virtuoso Rudolf Buchbinder, a known expert of Mozart plays and conducts three of Mozart’s most beloved piano concertos together with the Staatskapelle Dresden, where he was the first pianist to hold the title of “Capell-Virtous”. In advance to an extensive tour to Germany, Europe and Asia the concert was recorded in Dresden in an unique setting, being the first ultra-high definition recording of this work: especially for this purpose a stage was set up right inside the Gläserne Manufaktur, a luxury car manufacturer in the heart of the city of Dresden.
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4
After the release of the Bruckner Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 and 9 with Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Bruckner cycle is continued with Symphony No. 4, “Romantic”, one of Bruckner’s most popular work. It is played here in the presumed original version recovered by Robert Haas, which differs considerably from the first published score, accepted by Bruckner as a stopgap only so that the work could easily be performed. The press cheered the performance: “Tone paintings of the finest quality.”
Andris Nelsons, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Bruckner Symphony No. 8
Bruckner’s Eighth is one of the most powerful works in music and the symphony that Bruckner himself regarded as his “opus summum”. This recording by the acknowledged Bruckner master Christian Thielemann and “his” orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, marks the beginning of a cycle of the Austrian composer’s complete symphonies that is to be produced over the course of several years – a living monument of musical architecture! Thielemann’s Bruckner “is so mighty, and with such a depth of sound … that one would have to be hard-hearted not to be touched by this heartfelt music” (Der Tagesspiegel).