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
RCO: War Requiem
Witnessing a performance of Benjamin Britten’s monumental War Requiem is an experience. Scored for orchestra, large chorus, children’s choir and three soloists, it is certainly a challenge to perform. Gianandrea Noseda makes his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra with a work he has championed and for which he has received critical acclaim in performances and on record. In 1964, the Concertgebouw Orchestra performed Britten’s War Requiem under the direction of Bernard Haitink with the ‘dream team’ Britten had actually envisaged for the world premiere two years earlier: the Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, the English tenor Peter Pears and the German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Now the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has again invited a Russian soprano, an English tenor and a German baritone.
RCO: Kerstmatinee 2018 – Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
A heart-warming Christmas Matinee featuring Tchaikovsky’s Christmas fairy tale The Nutcracker. For many, The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s Christmas Matinee is a fun introduction to classical music – for others, it’s a familiar, festive experience to look forward to each year. The combination of the captivating conductor Semyon Bychkov and Tchaikovsky’s legendary music for the Christmas ballet The Nutcracker makes this programme truly irresistible. People of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy Tchaikovsky’s infectious music and the atmospheric fairy tale about dolls that come to life. A sugarplum fairy, a Mouse King and a return to the Land of Sweets – it’s exactly what we need in the dark, wintry days before Christmas.
Barenboim conducts the Brahms Symphonies
On the occasion of the Festival Barenboim in Buenos Aires, Daniel Barenboim returns to his native city to perform with the Staatskapelle Berlin the entire cycle of Johannes Brahms’s symphonies. In the concert hall of Kirchner Cultural Centre, the former main post office of the city, famous for its magnificent acoustics, Barenboim’s rendition of the Symphonies elicits “bravos and standing ovations in the audience” (Berliner Morgenpost).
Eldbjørg Hemsing rediscovers Hjalmar Borgstrøm’s Violin Concerto
Under the mesmerizing northern lights at the Stormen Concert Hall in Bodo, Norway, Eldbjorg Hemsing rediscovers a forgotten national treasure, Hjalmar Borgstrom’s Violin Concerto, in a splendid performance with the Arctic Philharmonic, conducted by Eivind Gullberg Jensen. The violin concerto has only received a handful of performances in 100 years. Borgstrom, who gained inspiration from Wagner and Beethoven, created this work in 1914. Ist notes were found by conductor Terje Boye Hansen, who forwarded them to Hemsing, one of Norway’s biggest musical talents today. And she demonstrates why Borgstrom’s composition has the potential to achieve the same significance among violin concertos in Norway as Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto, the Norwegian piano concerto par excellence. Hemsing shines “with a brilliant technique, her tone is bright and soft” (RP Online), breathing new life into the virtuosic music “with her vivacious personality and a wonderfully clear and pure lyrical tone” (Rondo).
MSO: Bernstein on Broadway
All his life Leonard Bernstein had a love affair with New York and in his many music theatre works he painted the most vivid picture of life in the ‘City That Never Sleeps’. This performance embraces Bernstein’s New York, offering a rare insight into the composer’s mind with Bernstein devotee Bramwell Tovey at the helm and on the keys. PROGRAM Music from Wonderful Town, On the Town, Candide, Peter Pan, Fancy Free and West Side Story
MSO: Kate Mille-Heidke and the MSO
A recording of a very special one-night-only event, Australian theatre and music sensation Kate Miller-Heidke joins the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, performing songs from her award-winning opera The Rabbits and popular hits featured on her new album ‘The Best of Kate Miller-Heidke: Act One’. Kate Miller-Heidke is a classically trained singer who traverses the worlds of contemporary pop, folk and opera. This is her first collaboration with the MSO. When the singer-songwriter combines her own material with a symphonic sound, you’re in for a special thrill! Featuring extraordinary visuals by Australian artist and film maker Amy Gebhardt, guitar accompaniment by Keir Nuttall and conducted by MSO’s Associate Conductor Benjamin Northey.
MSO: Hector Berlioz ” L’Enfance du Christ”
The 150th anniversary of Hector Berlioz’s death in 1869 will be commemorated in 2019. An ancient story with a modern parallel, Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ tells the story of the Holy Family fleeing their homeland and relying on the kindness of strangers as they journey across the desert to safety. Tender, intimate and intensely evocative, this oratorio is a stark musical contrast to the wild pagan dervishes, choruses of the damned and huge orchestral forces more commonly associated with Hector Berlioz. In almost cinematic style, Berlioz paints the human elements of the story in a series of visual tableaux: an uneasy night in Rome, the world-weariness of Herod, the blind fanaticism of the soothsayers, the joys and griefs of Jesus’ parents, the shepherds’ kindness and the bustling welcome of the Ishmaelite household. Prepare to be moved to tears, Berlioz would be proud! Why it’s a must-see: “This piece is very unusual for Berlioz as most of it is quite intimate. This work has wonderful writing for the chorus, it’s very varied and the narrator (sung by Andrew Staples) is so colourful. The final chorus is to die for!” (Sir Andrew Davis).
MSO: Sir Andrew Davis conducts 20th-Century Classics
Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis with Australia’s violin master Richard Tognetti, this concert features Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending which was placed No. 1 in the ABC’s Swoon Classic 100 countdown in 2015. The work itself remains a glorious evocation of English pastoral life — the solo violin being the evocation of George Meredith’s soaring verse. Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes convey all the scrunchy saltiness of the coast of his beloved East Anglia. The program also includes the Partita for Violin and Orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski, and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s vibrant Symphonic Dances.