Sakari Oramo conducts Mahler’s playful Fourth Symphony – and plays the violin too, as Kurt Weill retells the myth of Orpheus in his own, utterly original style.
Keywords: Symphony Concert, Vocal Music, Young Musicians
| BBC Symphony Orchestra | |
| Sakari Oramo | Conductor |
| Anu Komsi | Soprano |
| Lamia | Dorothy Howell |
| Der neue Orpheus, Op 15 | Kurt Weill |
| Symphony No 4 | Gustav Mahler |
These events are similar in terms of concept, place, musicians or the program.
An evening-long meditation on life and the hereafter, devised by Sakari Oramo and featuring the UK premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s astonishing final masterpiece Hush.
England’s dreaming: Sakari Oramo rediscovers rare and wonderful British masterpieces by Vaughan Williams, Doreen Carwithen and Malcolm Arnold.
Conductor Elim Chan and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor: a dream-team joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Shostakovich, Britten and the UK premiere of Elizabeth Ogonek’s ravishing Moondog.
This concert sees the return of our former principal conductor Jonathan Nott. Under his baton, our orchestra will immerse itself in the works of composers who created their very own musical universes, seeking to capture their thoughts and sorrows. Arvo Pärt, born in Estonia in 1935, achieves this with his contemplative "tintinnabuli style”, which often reflects the era of Gregorian chant, which Pärt describes as "music with soul". His popular work "Fratres" celebrates brotherly harmony and conjures up the image of a candlelit procession of medieval monks. This "ceaseless prayer" is followed by a powerful work in which the Hungarian György Kurtág sought to overcome personal tragedy. His dark and obsessive "Grabstein für Stephan was created in 1989 as a musical memorial for the husband of a psychologist who had once helped Kurtág get over of a creative block in which he felt, "to the point of despair”, that "there was nothing true in the world" and was "unable to find a foothold in reality". Mahler likewise often struggled with what was happening around him, seeking an answer to "questions about God, about the meaning and purpose of our existence" as well as to the "why in all of creation”. In this concert, we will perform his Fifth Symphony of 1902, a multifaceted work in which numerous storms are weathered – but the ethereal Adagietto provides a respite in the midst of all this turbulence. This movement became particularly famous through its use in Visconti's classic film "Death in Venice" – and its achingly nostalgic harmonies reveal a closeness to the transcendence of Mahler’s Rückert setting "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen".
This concert sees the return of our former principal conductor Jonathan Nott. Under his baton, our orchestra will immerse itself in the works of composers who created their very own musical universes, seeking to capture their thoughts and sorrows. Arvo Pärt, born in Estonia in 1935, achieves this with his contemplative "tintinnabuli style”, which often reflects the era of Gregorian chant, which Pärt describes as "music with soul". His popular work "Fratres" celebrates brotherly harmony and conjures up the image of a candlelit procession of medieval monks. This "ceaseless prayer" is followed by a powerful work in which the Hungarian György Kurtág sought to overcome personal tragedy. His dark and obsessive "Grabstein für Stephan was created in 1989 as a musical memorial for the husband of a psychologist who had once helped Kurtág get over of a creative block in which he felt, "to the point of despair”, that "there was nothing true in the world" and was "unable to find a foothold in reality". Mahler likewise often struggled with what was happening around him, seeking an answer to "questions about God, about the meaning and purpose of our existence" as well as to the "why in all of creation”. In this concert, we will perform his Fifth Symphony of 1902, a multifaceted work in which numerous storms are weathered – but the ethereal Adagietto provides a respite in the midst of all this turbulence. This movement became particularly famous through its use in Visconti's classic film "Death in Venice" – and its achingly nostalgic harmonies reveal a closeness to the transcendence of Mahler’s Rückert setting "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen".
For sheer sonic splendour, it’s hard to top Janáček’s Sinfonietta – but when Dalia Stasevska and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet perform Bartók and Ravel with the BBC SO, they’ll give it their best shot.
Goodnight, Vienna: Sir Mark Elder conducts Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, as the BBC Symphony Orchestra brings its season to an unforgettable close.
The most joyous one among Gustav Mahler’s symphonies does not, by any means, renounce either the grotesque irony that is so typical for the composer or eschatological threads. Yet again, it deals with the subject of death. This time, however, it is first represented by the grotesque Ländler played by the violin in the scherzo, later to introduce us to the realm of paradise in the finale. But is this true paradise, or rather an image, ironical in its effect, that arises from the naive folk poetry of The Boy’s Magic Horn collection, which the composer uses in his symphonies for the last time?Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 will be preceded by a concert overture, beethovenian in its style, by a Dutch colleague of the Bonn genius, one who introduced both Beethoven’s and Mozart’s music to his fatherland’s stages. No wonder, then, that it was that style exactly that Johann Wilhelm Wilms found inspirational not only for his Overture in D major, but for his symphonies as well. The exceptionally graciously led woodwind instruments remind us of the fact that the composer was also… a professional flutist.Jakub PuchalskiConcert duration: approximately 80 minutes
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!
Albert Roussel and Maurice Ravel paint vivid portraits of the animal kingdom, Benjamin Britten conjures up a savage parade, and Joseph Haydn takes a trip to London for his final symphony.
ConcertPulse