Concerts with works by

Antonín Dvořák

Isidore Quartet

The Isidore Quartet, hailing from New York, brings a unique Big Apple sound to Old Europe. Formed in 2019, they won the Banff Competition in 2022 and the Avery Fisher Grant in 2023. Influenced by the Juilliard String Quartet, they perform old and new music with a fresh perspective. They are also involved with "Project: Music Heals Us."

Symphonic Concert

Marzena Diakun, photo: Marco Borggreve Knowing the day or year when a work was composed is the dream of many biographers. Antonín Dvořák was so magnanimous as to record for posterity on the score of his Cello Concerto in B minor not only the date, but also the time (11.30 a.m.) of the work’s completion. Alongside this rather original dating (from the composer’s time in America), there is also an acknowledgement to the Creator. Enthusiasm and gratitude deserted Dvořák, however, when he learned of the death of Josefína Čermáková – his former unrequited love and later sister-in-law. On that occasion, he decided to completely change the ending of the work, adding a coda in the form of a musical epitaph for the deceased actress. In the second movement, written during Josefína’s illness, he quoted his song ‘Kéž duch můj sám’ (‘Leave me alone’), which she particularly loved. As if in keeping with the spirit of the age, unrequited affection lay at the heart of one of the most famous programme symphonies of the Romantic era. The unfulfilled, obsessive passion held by Hector Berlioz towards the English-Irish actress Harriet Smithson permeates the literary and musical content of his Symphonie fantastique. One of the most representative works of the first half of the nineteenth century, it constituted not only an explosion of feelings and fantasies from the author of the Treatise on Instrumentation, but also an explosion of hitherto unknown orchestral colours and motifs harnessed to the service of narrative.

Symphonic Concert

Marzena Diakun, photo: Marco Borggreve Knowing the day or year when a work was composed is the dream of many biographers. Antonín Dvořák was so magnanimous as to record for posterity on the score of his Cello Concerto in B minor not only the date, but also the time (11.30 a.m.) of the work’s completion. Alongside this rather original dating (from the composer’s time in America), there is also an acknowledgement to the Creator. Enthusiasm and gratitude deserted Dvořák, however, when he learned of the death of Josefína Čermáková – his former unrequited love and later sister-in-law. On that occasion, he decided to completely change the ending of the work, adding a coda in the form of a musical epitaph for the deceased actress. In the second movement, written during Josefína’s illness, he quoted his song ‘Kéž duch můj sám’ (‘Leave me alone’), which she particularly loved. As if in keeping with the spirit of the age, unrequited affection lay at the heart of one of the most famous programme symphonies of the Romantic era. The unfulfilled, obsessive passion held by Hector Berlioz towards the English-Irish actress Harriet Smithson permeates the literary and musical content of his Symphonie fantastique. One of the most representative works of the first half of the nineteenth century, it constituted not only an explosion of feelings and fantasies from the author of the Treatise on Instrumentation, but also an explosion of hitherto unknown orchestral colours and motifs harnessed to the service of narrative.

NOSPR / Bleuse / Mossakowski / A concerto for a thousand pipes

The Belgian creator, pedagogue and organ virtuoso, Joseph Jongen, describes his 1926 composition as follows: „The Symphonie c oncertante is not an organ concerto, but rather an orchestral work in which the organ is another orchestra that takes the leading role it rightly deserves. There is no thematic or rhythmic connection between the four movements of this extensive work; the focus is set on the stylistic unity of the different movements.” His friend, Eugène Ysaÿe, also pointed out the richness of the sounds of the organ, which creates an impression of coming into contact with “a second orchestra”. Nevertheless, the beginnings of what became one of the most interesting works in the 20th-century organ repertoire (also recorded by Karol Mossakowski) were not easy: commissioned by Rodman Wanamaker, the owner of a famous department store in Philadelphia, the piece needed to wait two years to be premiered, due to a series of unfortunate events including the death of Jongen’s father.Dramatic in its expression, Antonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7. in D minor was also a result of a commission, this time one from Royal Philharmonic Society in London which had just awarded him with honorary membership. During the 1885 premiere of the work, Dvořák stood at the conductor’s podium himself. The event was described by leading musical magazines and a critic writing for the „Athenaeum” daily noted the following: “We are inclined on a first hearing to place this new symphony even above those of Brahms, which it equals in masterly treatment and exquisite instrumentation while it surpasses them in spontaneity of invention.”Agnieszka Nowok-ZychConcert duration (intermission included): approximately 60 minutes

Iván Fischer & Kirill Gerstein

The genesis of Brahms’ First Piano Concerto proved to be an arduous affair. Originally Brahms wanted to write a sonata for two pianos, and then a symphony, until the work finally became what it is today: a classic of its genre – and a masterpiece of the concerto literature. For keyboard virtuoso Kirill Gerstein, it is an “incredibly noble, introspective piece with wonderfully lyrical motifs that subtly lie beneath the surface like watermarks.” It was a defining work for Brahms, who was 25 years old at the time. Conductor Iván Fischer juxtaposes it with Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony: a work that enabled Dvořák to finally step out of the shadow of his friend and patron Brahms, and probably one of his most famous and most popular due to its lively cheerfulness, easy-going optimism, and unbroken joie de vivre.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Julia Fischer / Vasily Petrenko

»Julia Fischer plays the violin concerto in a fresh, captivating and energetic manner, with a broad palette of tonal colours and a fantastic technique. Her Tchaikovsky sounds soulful and romantic without becoming sentimental.« Julia Fischer’s fantastic recording of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, which is so enthusiastically reviewed here by BR, dates back to 2006. Almost 20 years later, the consistently excellent violinist is still one of the best interpreters of this work, which places the highest demands on the soloist with its breakneck cascades of sound and emotional impact. Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is also characterised by a special intensity of sound – highly virtuosic and full of hope, it offers the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of its chief conductor the best opportunity to present itself as a top-class orchestra.

Iván Fischer & Kirill Gerstein

The genesis of Brahms’ First Piano Concerto proved to be an arduous affair. Originally Brahms wanted to write a sonata for two pianos, and then a symphony, until the work finally became what it is today: a classic of its genre – and a masterpiece of the concerto literature. For keyboard virtuoso Kirill Gerstein, it is an “incredibly noble, introspective piece with wonderfully lyrical motifs that subtly lie beneath the surface like watermarks.” It was a defining work for Brahms, who was 25 years old at the time. Conductor Iván Fischer juxtaposes it with Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony: a work that enabled Dvořák to finally step out of the shadow of his friend and patron Brahms, and probably one of his most famous and most popular due to its lively cheerfulness, easy-going optimism, and unbroken joie de vivre.

Iván Fischer & Kirill Gerstein

The genesis of Brahms’ First Piano Concerto proved to be an arduous affair. Originally Brahms wanted to write a sonata for two pianos, and then a symphony, until the work finally became what it is today: a classic of its genre – and a masterpiece of the concerto literature. For keyboard virtuoso Kirill Gerstein, it is an “incredibly noble, introspective piece with wonderfully lyrical motifs that subtly lie beneath the surface like watermarks.” It was a defining work for Brahms, who was 25 years old at the time. Conductor Iván Fischer juxtaposes it with Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony: a work that enabled Dvořák to finally step out of the shadow of his friend and patron Brahms, and probably one of his most famous and most popular due to its lively cheerfulness, easy-going optimism, and unbroken joie de vivre.

Public moderated rehearsal

»Listen carefully to all folk songs! They are a treasure trove of the most beautiful melodies and open your eyes to the nature of different cultures.« Robert Schumann once noted these wise words in his collection of »Musical House and Life Rules« – and Jakub Hrůša loves to rummage through the various treasure chests of late Romanticism with its manifold folkloristic styles. He constantly includes pieces by his beloved composer Dvořák on the programme – even the lesser-known ones, as he sees him as an artist »who is always interesting, in every work«. And so we now have the rarely performed »Heldenlied« to discover: a tone poem from 1898, which grippingly revolves around different moods from happiness to sorrow. For fans of sophisticated melodic works, we conclude with a large load of these: the Symphony No. 5 by Martinů, one of Jakub Hrůša’s favourite composers, revels in his typical soundscapes – with a rich array of colours, yearning parts, pulsating rhythms and hymn-like pathos.

Bamberger Symphoniker

Experience a guaranteed sound rush when the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and Ray Chen tackle Tchaikovsky's luscious Violin Concerto. The top violinist presents himself as always both virtuosic and approachable. Ray Chen, also a social media star, believes musicians should be ambassadors for their art, making classical music accessible through entertaining videos and flawless performances.

The Sunday Morning Concert: Mozart's Clarinet Concerto

The Sunday Morning Concert brings you wonderful and much-loved compositions, performed by top musicians from the Netherlands and abroad. Enjoy the most beautiful music in the morning! You can make your Sunday complete by enjoying a delicious post-concert lunch in restaurant LIER.The Royal Concertgebouw is one of the best concert halls in the world, famous for its exceptional acoustics and varied programme. Attend a concert and have an experience you will never forget. Come and enjoy inspiring music in the beautiful surroundings of the Main Hall or the intimate Recital Hall.

Symphoniker Hamburg / Diana Adamyan / Sylvain Cambreling

The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, also known as the Symphoniker Hamburg, is a German orchestra based in Hamburg. It was founded in 1957.

Jakub Hrůša, Ray Chen

»Listen carefully to all folk songs! They are a treasure trove of the most beautiful melodies and open your eyes to the nature of different cultures.« Robert Schumann once noted these wise words in his collection of »Musical House and Life Rules« – and Jakub Hrůša loves to rummage through the various treasure chests of late Romanticism with its manifold folkloristic styles. He constantly includes pieces by his beloved composer Dvořák on the programme – even the lesser-known ones, as he sees him as an artist »who is always interesting, in every work«. And so we now have the rarely performed »Heldenlied« to discover: a tone poem from 1898, which grippingly revolves around different moods from happiness to sorrow. For one of the most famous violin concertos from 1878, which we have long had on our wish list, we welcome Ray Chen, a gifted virtuoso: he loves playing with us and can now immerse himself in the emotions alongside our orchestra – because the often emotionally fragile Tchaikovsky always wanted to express »all the agony and ecstasy of love« in his music. For fans of sophisticated melodic works, we conclude with a large load of these: the Symphony No. 5 by Martinů, one of Jakub Hrůša’s favourite composers, revels in his typical soundscapes – with a rich array of colours, yearning parts, pulsating rhythms and hymn-like pathos.

Blüthner Trio Leipzig

Elena Bashkirova & Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival Ensemble

Elena Bashkirova piano

Gewandhausorchester, Andris Nelsons Dirigent

Three good reasons to go to a concert: Love for music, emotional escape, and feeling inspired. Three secret reasons: alibi for mother-in-law's birthday, wrong Valentine's Day gift, and cheaper alternative to Beethoven. Three reasons for this concert: sentimental trumpet solos, family preferences (Mendelssohn, Nelsons, Jussen brothers), and the rarity of Mendelssohn's and Mahler's pieces.

Jerusalem Quartet Schostakowitsch Streichquartette

In 2025, the 50th anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich's death, his music is remembered as an emotional shield against the Soviet regime. This concert contrasts his first string quartet's dreamlike world with the existential density of his ninth, framing a Dvorák masterpiece. The Jerusalem Quartet, praised for their passion, precision, and warmth, performs these works.

Gewandhausorchester, Andris Nelsons Dirigent

Three good reasons to go to a concert: Love for music, emotional escape, and feeling inspired. Three secret reasons: alibi for mother-in-law's birthday, wrong Valentine's Day gift, and cheaper alternative to Beethoven. Three reasons for this concert: sentimental trumpet solos, family preferences (Mendelssohn, Nelsons, Jussen brothers), and the rarity of Mendelssohn's and Mahler's pieces.

Gewandhausorchester, Andris Nelsons Dirigent

Three good reasons to go to a concert: Love for music, emotional escape, and feeling inspired. Three secret reasons: alibi for mother-in-law's birthday, wrong Valentine's Day gift, and cheaper alternative to Beethoven. Three reasons for this concert: sentimental trumpet solos, family preferences (Mendelssohn, Nelsons, Jussen brothers), and the rarity of Mendelssohn's and Mahler's pieces.

Chamber Music in the Brahms-Saal

4th Soirée

Guest performance

Gewandhausorchester, Andris Nelsons Dirigent

A lively hunting king scares away the game with his boastful pelvic roar, but demands a solitary violin beauty, beginning a tale of murder, percussion-slaying, grave desecration, miraculous revival through brass chorales, gruesome revenge, and a pompous wedding. Dvořák's music expresses the full spectrum of emotions from thrilling rhythms and orchestral colors to tender harp-woodwind love episodes, dramatic fortissimo fury, dark bass abysses, and uplifting melodies. Mahler's 4th Symphony leads into a hellish heaven three years later, with diabolical otherworldly scenarios humorously conjured by the Wunderhorn song "Das himmlische Leben". While hypocritical saints merrily slaughter, Death grabs a detuned violin from the fiddle-filled sky. After experiencing these fable purgatories and hellish heavens, you might conclude Earth is quite comfortable, especially as it's blessed with Mahler and Dvořák's music.

Gewandhausorchester, Andris Nelsons Dirigent

A lively hunting king scares away the game with his boastful pelvic roar, but demands a solitary violin beauty, beginning a tale of murder, percussion-slaying, grave desecration, miraculous revival through brass chorales, gruesome revenge, and a pompous wedding. Dvořák's music expresses the full spectrum of emotions from thrilling rhythms and orchestral colors to tender harp-woodwind love episodes, dramatic fortissimo fury, dark bass abysses, and uplifting melodies. Mahler's 4th Symphony leads into a hellish heaven three years later, with diabolical otherworldly scenarios humorously conjured by the Wunderhorn song "Das himmlische Leben". While hypocritical saints merrily slaughter, Death grabs a detuned violin from the fiddle-filled sky. After experiencing these fable purgatories and hellish heavens, you might conclude Earth is quite comfortable, especially as it's blessed with Mahler and Dvořák's music.

Altonaer Singakademie / Hamburger Camerata

Antonín Dvorák wrote his Mass in D major op. 86 for the consecration of a village castle chapel in 1887, so it can be seen as a kind of occasional composition, with the occasion acting as a most welcome trigger of ready forces. Sacred compositions had always played a role in Dvořák’s oeuvre, even if they seem to have taken a back seat to his symphonic works. Nevertheless, it was the Stabat Mater of 1877 that laid the foundation for the international reception of his music. The Mass in D major is much more modestly conceived, in keeping with the village setting and the possibilities of the chapel. Nevertheless, even in the original organ version, Dvorák shows his full mastery. In the compositional simplicity, the proximity to classical music, especially to Schubert as a role model, can be felt at all times. At the same time, Dvořák succeeds in capturing the cheerful, carefree atmosphere of the lovely Bohemian countryside and the simplicity of a deeply religiously rooted country folk with his own folkloristic originality of melody. Dvorák created the rarely performed orchestral version heard in this concerto in 1892, in which he remains very close to the original conception, but skilfully uses the possibilities of the orchestra to differentiate the dynamics more finely and realise a richer harmony. The »Mass of the Children«, written by John Rutter in 2002 in memory of his son Christopher, who died at the age of 19, is much more than a mass with an obbligato children’s choir part. Rutter counterpoints the mass text of the Latin Missa brevis with poetic texts in English, including verses from the pen of Bishop Thomas Ken (1637–1711), who wrote them for the scholars of Winchester College. They set the Mass in the context of a daily routine, from waking (»Awake, my soul...«) to going to sleep (»Glory to thee, my God, this night...«) and are mainly sung by the children’s choir. In this way, Rutter focuses on the Mass text from a child’s perspective, while the large choir illuminates the adult perspective. The »Mass of the Children« also sheds light on different musical perspectives. Coming from the English choral tradition himself, Rutter enriches his style in general and the Mass in particular with elements from jazz and pop by integrating them into a multi-layered harmony and rhythm. Rutter’s melodic inventiveness in the Kyrie may evoke musical associations for some, while the unusual rhythms in the Gloria are reminiscent of South American dances. In Dona nobis, Rutter quotes a canon by Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505–1585) and thus draws a line back to his own musical roots.

Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 & Fazil Say plays Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue

The Concertgebouw’s famous Main Hall is one of the best concert halls in the world, well-known for its exceptional acoustics and special atmosphere. In the Main Hall, you will feel history. Here, Gustav Mahler conducted his own compositions, as did Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky. Sergei Rachmaninoff played his own piano concertos in the Main Hall. This is also where musicians such as Leonard Bernstein, Vladimir Horowitz and Yehudi Menuhin gave legendary performances. Right up to now, the Main Hall offers a stage to the world’s best orchestras and musicians. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Main Hall for yourself!

Dvořák's Serenade for Strings and Haydn's Symphony no. 85

The Sunday Morning Concert brings you wonderful and much-loved compositions, performed by top musicians from the Netherlands and abroad. Enjoy the most beautiful music in the morning! You can make your Sunday complete by enjoying a delicious post-concert lunch in restaurant LIER.The Royal Concertgebouw is one of the best concert halls in the world, famous for its exceptional acoustics and varied programme. Attend a concert and have an experience you will never forget. Come and enjoy inspiring music in the beautiful surroundings of the Main Hall or the intimate Recital Hall.

Ein Hoch auf die Leidenschaft

The Austrian press praised cellist Jeremias Fliedl as a true poet and refined musician. He will perform Dvořák's Cello Concerto alongside Sibelius's Symphony No. 1 with the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Emmanuel Tjeknavorian. Both composers significantly shaped their respective national music identities. The pre-concert talk starts 30 minutes before the concert.

NOSPR / Webster / The Fun-Fair and the Moonrise Kingdom

If Dvořák, Kisielewski and Britten could meet – would they find a common language? Certainly so, only that would be neither Czech, nor Polish, nor English, but the language of humour and classical proportions.The Carnival Overture is its composer’s declaration of faith in the vital power of ethnic music. Remarkably, it is the central part of the “Nature – Life – Love” trilogy. Dvořák did not approach folk themes with a scholarly studiosity. Instead, seeking inspiration in their rhythms and melodies, he created an exuberant vision of his homeland’s folklore. The Slavic pulse in Dvořák’s work was so strong that it forced its way into scores, even when, having crossed the Atlantic, the composer decided to write national music for the Americans – this might be the reason why the Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” seems to resonate with Prague nostalgia more than with echoes of the prairies. Humour is probably the most important aesthetic value in music composed by the erudite, author and politician, Stefan Kisielewski. Similarly to Dvořák, while drawing from ethnic traditions, the Polish composer also carefully listened to town life: both the sounds of its fairs and its everyday rhythm. The Fun-Fair, self-identifying in its subtitle as a single-act ballet with prologue, paints a sonic cityscape within a neoclassical framework.Benjamin Britten’s works also show an unshakable faith in the power of musical tradition. There is no dearth of tributes to the Englishman’s excellent predecessors in his oeuvre, one of the most beautiful testimonies to his faith in the heritage of British culture being The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. The piece is a cycle of variations on a very short theme from Abdelazer by the Baroque master Henry Purcell. The promise made in the title of the work is fulfilled in a pedantic presentation of each section of the orchestra and every family of instruments. The whole is intricate enough to have proven worthy of a prologue to one of Wes Anderson’s films (Moonrise Kingdom, 2012).Krzysztof SiwońConcert duration: approximately 60 minutes