Keywords: Symphony Concert
| Angelika Prokopp Sommerakademie der Wiener Philharmoniker | |
| Sebastian Weigle | Conductor |
| Julia Hagen | Cello |
| Sinfonie Nr. 1 D-Dur op. 25 („Symphonie classique“) | Sergei Prokofiev |
| Konzert für Violoncello und Orchester a-Moll op. 129 | Robert Schumann |
| Sinfonie Nr. 4 A-Dur op. 90 („Italienische“) | Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy |
These events are similar in terms of concept, place, musicians or the program.
28-year-old Klaus Mäkelä, already chief conductor of four orchestras, has been invited by the Vienna Philharmonic. His debut tour with them includes a stop in Cologne, featuring Mahler's 6th Symphony. This powerful masterpiece, while tragic, allows for indulgence in beauty and combines otherworldly devotion with a longing for hymnic transfiguration.
The classical prelude is a symphony by Joseph Haydn, followed by Thomas Adès’ piano concerto, which has already been performed around 60 times since its premiere in 2019 – a remarkable amount for a contemporary work. Given the fame that the multi-talented British composer enjoys, this success is hardly surprising. A New York Times critic wrote about the premiere of the concerto: »As ever, the craft is astounding, the orchestration ceaselessly brilliant. The voice is wholly his own — dissonant, offbeat, whiplash, wry — even as it whispers to musics past. This breathless concerto comes across as zesty and accessible. But don’t be fooled. Just below the surface, the music sizzles. I can’t wait to hear it again.« The classical prelude is a symphony by Joseph Haydn, followed by Thomas Adès’ piano concerto, which has already been performed around 60 times since its premiere in 2019 – a remarkable amount for a contemporary work. Given the fame that the multi-talented British composer enjoys, this success is hardly surprising. A New York Times critic wrote about the premiere of the concerto: »As ever, the craft is astounding, the orchestration ceaselessly brilliant. The voice is wholly his own — dissonant, offbeat, whiplash, wry — even as it whispers to musics past. This breathless concerto comes across as zesty and accessible. But don’t be fooled. Just below the surface, the music sizzles. I can’t wait to hear it again.« Adès, whose music is full of musical echoes from baroque to jazz yet refuses to follow any dogmas, sets the tone for the second half of the concert featuring Leoš Janácek, whose musical language around a century ago was equally undogmatic. His rhapsody »Taras Bulba« sets Nikolai Gogol’s tragic tale of the same name about a father and his two sons to music. So vividly that a film inevitably unfolds in the mind’s eye of the listener. By way of a prelude, two miniatures pay tribute to Pierre Boulez as the spotlighted composer of the International Music Festival.
Klaus Mäkelä, this season's portrait artist at the Essen Philharmonic, will conduct Mahler's Symphony No. 6 with the Vienna Philharmonic. This symphony premiered in Essen in 1906. The 28-year-old conductor from Helsinki is known for pushing boundaries, as evidenced by his performance of the same symphony at the Musikfest Berlin, which garnered praise from the Süddeutsche Zeitung. A pre-concert talk will feature Mäkelä, Daniel Froschauer, and Michael Bladerer.
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