Keywords: Subscription Concert
| Daniel Harding | Conductor |
| Kirill Gerstein | Piano |
| Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks |
| “Manfred”, Op. 115: Overture | Robert Schumann |
| “The Wild Dove”, Op. 110 Symphonic Poem | Antonín Dvořák |
| Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83 | Johannes Brahms |
These events are similar in terms of concept, place, musicians or the program.
Daniel Harding is a welcome guest at the helm of the BRSO. This time he will conduct a programme fully deserving of the title “from adversity to the stars”. Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel Symphony of 2020 was commissioned by several orchestras, including the BRSO. Here he takes up important passages from his like-named opera, premièred at the Salzburg Festival in 2016, and combines them into a four-movement symphony. The starting point was a surrealist film by Luis Buñuel, in which a group of high-bred socialites gather together for a party and are condemned to a nightmarish journey. Adès has supplied music at once exciting and weirdly grotesque. Following this surrealistic vision of Hell there begins a very real heaven-assailing ascent to the heights with Richard Strauss’s Alpine Symphony.
Daniel Harding is a welcome guest at the helm of the BRSO. This time he will conduct a programme fully deserving of the title “from adversity to the stars”. Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel Symphony of 2020 was commissioned by several orchestras, including the BRSO. Here he takes up important passages from his like-named opera, premièred at the Salzburg Festival in 2016, and combines them into a four-movement symphony. The starting point was a surrealist film by Luis Buñuel, in which a group of high-bred socialites gather together for a party and are condemned to a nightmarish journey. Adès has supplied music at once exciting and weirdly grotesque. Following this surrealistic vision of Hell there begins a very real heaven-assailing ascent to the heights with Richard Strauss’s Alpine Symphony.
Night walk with Daniel Harding: in the somber Funeral March, Gustav Mahler’s shadowy, gloomy Seventh Symphony emerges as “the psychogram of a compulsive existence” (Wolfgang Stähr). Nachtmusik I, characterized by a horn duet, casts a wistful glance into bygone times; the Scherzo acquires a restless, spooky character; and Nachtmusik II becomes a nocturnal serenade especially through the presence of a guitar and a mandolin, instruments rarely found in an orchestra. After the eerie nocturnal atmosphere of the previous movements, the work’s gigantic finale transports the listener towards the light – a change of mood that left the audience attending the work’s premiere somewhat perplexed. Today, Mahler’s Seventh is considered a masterpiece of symphonic form, as will be exemplified in Mahler specialist Daniel Harding’s performance.
Night walk with Daniel Harding: in the somber Funeral March, Gustav Mahler’s shadowy, gloomy Seventh Symphony emerges as “the psychogram of a compulsive existence” (Wolfgang Stähr). Nachtmusik I, characterized by a horn duet, casts a wistful glance into bygone times; the Scherzo acquires a restless, spooky character; and Nachtmusik II becomes a nocturnal serenade especially through the presence of a guitar and a mandolin, instruments rarely found in an orchestra. After the eerie nocturnal atmosphere of the previous movements, the work’s gigantic finale transports the listener towards the light – a change of mood that left the audience attending the work’s premiere somewhat perplexed. Today, Mahler’s Seventh is considered a masterpiece of symphonic form, as will be exemplified in Mahler specialist Daniel Harding’s performance.
Night walk with Daniel Harding: in the somber Funeral March, Gustav Mahler’s shadowy, gloomy Seventh Symphony emerges as “the psychogram of a compulsive existence” (Wolfgang Stähr). Nachtmusik I, characterized by a horn duet, casts a wistful glance into bygone times; the Scherzo acquires a restless, spooky character; and Nachtmusik II becomes a nocturnal serenade especially through the presence of a guitar and a mandolin, instruments rarely found in an orchestra. After the eerie nocturnal atmosphere of the previous movements, the work’s gigantic finale transports the listener towards the light – a change of mood that left the audience attending the work’s premiere somewhat perplexed. Today, Mahler’s Seventh is considered a masterpiece of symphonic form, as will be exemplified in Mahler specialist Daniel Harding’s performance.
For German audiences, the music of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius is not always easily accessible. Unlike Beethoven, Sibelius preferred to compose in accordance with natural, cyclic principles rather than rely on traditional formal schemes. His Fourth Symphony, with its tragic, sombre tone that sometimes weighs heavily on the soul, is often considered an avant-garde work. The former BRSO conductor Sir Colin Davis aptly described it as “a unique piece that nobody loves.” In Sibelius’ Oceanides, the mysterious rumbling of the sea gives way to a dramatic storm that causes the waves and everything in their path to roar, pile up, tumble, and break – an ideal repertory for the conqueror of waves Daniel Harding, who frames these truly unique and spiritual symphonic images with works by Beethoven.
For German audiences, the music of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius is not always easily accessible. Unlike Beethoven, Sibelius preferred to compose in accordance with natural, cyclic principles rather than rely on traditional formal schemes. His Fourth Symphony, with its tragic, sombre tone that sometimes weighs heavily on the soul, is often considered an avant-garde work. The former BRSO conductor Sir Colin Davis aptly described it as “a unique piece that nobody loves.” In Sibelius’ Oceanides, the mysterious rumbling of the sea gives way to a dramatic storm that causes the waves and everything in their path to roar, pile up, tumble, and break – an ideal repertory for the conqueror of waves Daniel Harding, who frames these truly unique and spiritual symphonic images with works by Beethoven.
“I only program music I love, because otherwise what’s the point?” Fleur Barron recently told The Times, which praised the Singaporean-British mezzo-soprano as “a knockout performer.” The young, exciting, and passionate singer (whose mentor, incidentally, is Barbara Hannigan) will make her debut with the BRSO in Mahler’s Lied von der Erde. She will be joined by tenor Andrew Staples, who has performed many times with the BRSO, as well as guest conductor Daniel Harding. Mendelssohn’s Fifth Symphony – written in honor of Martin Luther – has not been performed by the BRSO in a long time. The composer would have actually liked to burn the work, whose first movement he described as a “fat, bristly animal.” Fortunately, his intention was never realized.
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