This remarkable concert led by designated Chief Conductor Daniele Gatti marks the return of master cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s (after twenty years) to the Concertgebouw Orchestra. In this season opening night they perform Shostakovich’s intense First Cello Concerto, which bears witness to the strained relationship between the composer and the Soviet authorities. Maestro Gatti juxtaposes the concerto with two successful works from the great Russian dance tradition: The three-part suite from Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” being enormously popular, partly as a result of the Disney film “Fantasia” and Stravinsky’s “Firebird”, which, with his phenomenal orchestration, is evoking an exotic and often brooding atmosphere. “After twenty years, this is a unique opportunity to work together with the wonderful RCO again – very special indeed!” (Yo-Yo Ma)
Nelsons conducts Shostakovich & Bartók
In this concert evening the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Andris Nelsons turn their attention to the Seventh Symphony of Shostakovich. The work, which Shostakovich wrote during the Germans’ siege of Leningrad, is a symbol of resistance against the Nazi regime and a musical testament to the millions of Soviet citizens who died during the Great Patriotic War. Furthermore, star violinist Janine Jansen performs Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 1, a work which had to wait fifty years after it was written, in 1958, for its first performance.
RCO: Bach: Christmas Oratorio; Cantatas I – III (Kerstmatinee 2015)
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s annual Kerstmatinee (Christmas Day matinee) has become a beloved holiday tradition, yet this concert was the first matinee the occasion has been dedicated entirely to Bach’s inspirational Christmas Oratorio. In presenting this historically informed performance of the first three parts, Baroque specialist Jan Willem de Vriend adopts suitably buoyant tempi and opts for the jubilant opening chorus’s original and more apt text, “Tönet, ihr Pauken” (Timpani resound! Trumpets ring out!). The elite orchestra’s players are joined by a superb 28-voice chamber choir, Cappella Amsterdam, and international soloists. As the Evangelist, Swiss tenor Fabio Trümpy “was a fabulously beautiful story-teller” (Het Parool).
RCO: John Adams conducts John Adams
European premiere of his new “dramatic symphony for violin and orchestra”, Scheherazade.2, with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Leila Josefowicz as soloist. Composer–conductor John Adams is known the world over as a pioneering composer of operas based on current and recent historical events. Adams has distilled a turbulent symphony from his opera Doctor Atomic, in which Robert Oppenheimer, the ‘father of the atomic bomb’, filled with excitement and doubt, anticipates the very first atomic bomb test in 1945. He also draws inspiration from current events in his instrumental works, as in his new violin concerto Scheherazade.2, written for Leila Josefowicz. Moved by TV footage of oppressed and abused women, Adams juxtaposes the masculine power of the orchestra with a strong woman, an empowered Scheherazade: ‘This one hits back!’ Tromba Lontana is a short, gentle fanfare marking the 150th anniversary of the declaration of independence with which Texas seceded from Mexico in 1836.
Star-studded Anniversary: 125 Years of the Concertgebouw and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Th e Concertgebouw was officially inaugurated on 11 April 1888. Public interest was so great that Amsterdam experienced its very first traffic jam (of carriages). Now, 125 years later, the RCO and the Concertgebouw are organising an anniversary concert together. Under the baton of its chief conductor Mariss Jansons, the orchestra is welcoming three popular guest soloists: Janine Jansen, Thomas Hampson and Lang Lang. This festive programme features Mahler and Strauss, both of whom conducted the orchestra on several occasions. Musicians from the RCO, the Vienna and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras are joining forces for a performance of the Elégie from Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. —— WAGNER: Prelude to ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’ // MAHLER: ‘Ging heut’ morgens über Feld’, ‘Rheinlegendchen’, ‘Lob des hohen Verstandes’ // PROKOFIEV: Piano concerto Nr 3 in C major, op. 26, 3rd movement // TCHAIKOVSKY: Serenade for strings: Élégie // SAINT-SAËNS: Introduction et Rondo capriccioso // R. STRAUSS: Suite from ‘Der Rosenkavalier’. (75′ / 90′ / 102′) (A865500020000)
RCO: 125 Years of the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam: Birthday Concert
On 3 November 1888, the Concertgebouw Orchestra officially presented itself to the public when it gave the opening concert of the first subscription year of Het Concertgebouw N.V.. Exactly 125 years later, the orchestra is giving its Anniversary Concert, featuring a new work – a gift from the Concertgebouw to the RCO – Mysteriën (Mysteries) by Louis Andriessen, the Netherlands’ most famous living composer. Also on the programme is Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben, dedicated in 1898 to the orchestra, which celebrated its tenth anniversary that year, and to Willem Mengelberg, its chief conductor at the time (Unitel Cat. A865500040000).