Alan Gilbert & Alisa Weilerstein

Alan Gilbert & Alisa Weilerstein

More Sibelius! What fortune! After the Lemminkäinen Suite, we first take a wild ride through the night and into the liberating sunrise the Finnish composer evokes in his symphonic poem, before finally immersing ourselves in the splendid soundworld of his Fifth Symphony. Sibelius searched for this special sound throughout his life. It took him three attempts and a total of five years to complete this work, which he described as “wrestling with God.” Placed between the ride and the wrestling is a composition by Thomas Larcher, whose music The Times praised as “one of this century’s wonders”: returning into darkness is a work written for cellist Alisa Weilerstein, who recently premiered it with the New York Philharmonic. The European premiere will be performed by the BRSO conducted by Alan Gilbert.

Alan Gilbert & Kirill Gerstein

The Russian-American pianist Kirill Gerstein will launch his BRSO residency, not with a piano concerto, but with two works for piano and orchestra that beggar comparison in their virtuosity, witty playfulness and range of expression. Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (1934) and the 21-year-old Strauss’s Burlesque take listeners through a gigantic panoply of moods and sounds, from diabolical fury to saucy parody, from mighty upsurges to the most delicate of reveries. Just the right milieu for Kirill Gerstein, a straddler of musical eras, of classical music and jazz, and an artist of enormous flexibility and exploratory verve. To enrich the brew, Alan Gilbert, the principal conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, will present Schoenberg’s brilliant orchestration of Brahms’s Piano Quartet in G minor. Schoenberg’s quip, that his arrangement is Brahms’s fifth symphony, is as cogent today as ever before.

Alan Gilbert & Kirill Gerstein

The Russian-American pianist Kirill Gerstein will launch his BRSO residency, not with a piano concerto, but with two works for piano and orchestra that beggar comparison in their virtuosity, witty playfulness and range of expression. Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (1934) and the 21-year-old Strauss’s Burlesque take listeners through a gigantic panoply of moods and sounds, from diabolical fury to saucy parody, from mighty upsurges to the most delicate of reveries. Just the right milieu for Kirill Gerstein, a straddler of musical eras, of classical music and jazz, and an artist of enormous flexibility and exploratory verve. To enrich the brew, Alan Gilbert, the principal conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, will present Schoenberg’s brilliant orchestration of Brahms’s Piano Quartet in G minor. Schoenberg’s quip, that his arrangement is Brahms’s fifth symphony, is as cogent today as ever before.

Watch This Space | Alisa Weilerstein & friends

Consummately skilled, emotionally invested, and of rare interpretive depth – these are just a few of Alisa Weilerstein’s qualities. The American is one of the foremost cellists of her time. “Weilerstein is a throwback to an earlier age of classical performers: not content merely to serve as a vessel for the composer’s wishes, she inhabits a piece fully and turns it to her own ends,” marvelled The New York Times. And the Los Angeles Times added: “Weilerstein’s cello is her id. She doesn’t give the impression that making music involves will at all. She and the cello seem simply to be one and the same.” You can experience her artistry up close in an all-Shostakovich program at this Watch-This-Space concert.

Gewandhausorchester, Alan Gilbert Dirigent

Brahms' Third Symphony, premiered in 1884, is his shortest and focuses on depth. Hans von Bülow liked it so much he played it twice in one concert. Elgar's Violin Concerto, inspired by Fritz Kreisler's praise, took four years to compose. Its premiere shook Queen's Hall, and a year later, Arthur Nikisch led another impactful performance at the Gewandhaus.

Gewandhausorchester, Alan Gilbert Dirigent

Brahms' Third Symphony, premiered in 1884, is his shortest and focuses on depth. Hans von Bülow liked it so much he played it twice in one concert. Elgar's Violin Concerto, inspired by Fritz Kreisler's praise, took four years to compose. Its premiere shook Queen's Hall, and a year later, Arthur Nikisch led another impactful performance at the Gewandhaus.

Joshua Weilerstein & Vilde Frang

Joshua Weilerstein & Vilde Frang

Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra / Alisa Weilerstein / Christoph Eschenbach

Every year, Principal Conductor Christoph Eschenbach conducts the last concerts of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, which is always made up of around 120 young musicians from all over the world for one summer. There is a very special fascination when the 84-year-old maestro, who has around 60 years of life experience ahead of his orchestra members, takes to the podium. The cello concerto by Antonín Dvořák is one of the most popular works in its genre. The solo part will be performed by the American virtuoso Alisa Weilerstein, who is celebrated not only for her outstanding musicality but also for her depth of interpretation. In 2006, she was the first cellist to receive the Leonard Bernstein Award at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and is now at home on the world’s major stages. After more than 30 years with the festival orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach conducts a symphony by Franz Schubert for the first time. The composer’s »Unfinished« Symphony – in B minor, like Dvořák’s Cello Concerto – is certainly not the most demanding work on this year’s Festival Orchestra programme, but the orchestra has the opportunity to demonstrate true mastery here, especially in terms of playing culture and dexterity!