Danish National Symphony Orchestra / Khatia Buniatishvili / Fabio Luisi

Dallas Symphony Orchestra / Anne-Sophie Mutter / Fabio Luisi

This was essentially an artists’ friendship that was highly improbable: Anne-Sophie Mutter, international classical music star from Germany, and the legendary American soundtrack composer John Williams. But that’s only one side of the story. On the other hand, Anne-Sophie Mutter loves cinema, and is a great fan of John Williams, about whom she says that he has a genius for »building bridges between different musical languages«. John Williams wrote his jazz-inspired Second Violin Concerto especially for Anne-Sophie Mutter, whom he in turn admires greatly. She has already recorded it on CD, and now presents it to the German public in a series of top-class live concerts.

Mahler Festival: Fabio Luisi and NHK Symphony Orchestra - Mahler's Symphony No. 3

Born in Italy, Fabio Luisi is currently chief conductor on two continents. In Texas, he is the successor to Jaap van Zweden at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. And in Tokyo, he leads the NHK Symphony Orchestra, which today performs Mahler's Third Symphony, one of Mahler's signature orchestral works with a major role for voice. The NHK Symphony Orchestra is joined by both the women of the National Radio Choir and the National Children's Choir.Initially, Mahler gave his Third Symphony a programme: a summer morning dream. In the six movements, he featured animals, flowers and angels. He later removed all these titles, but the Third remains a declaration of love to nature and the universe. Including Bavarian folk music and sleigh bells, and children stepping into the roles of angels.

Mahler Festival: Fabio Luisi and NHK Symphony Orchestra - Mahler's Symphony No. 4

Born in Italy, Fabio Luisi is currently chief conductor on two continents. In Texas, he succeeded Jaap van Zweden at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. And in Tokyo, he leads the NHK Symphony Orchestra, with which he will give two concerts during the Mahler Festival. Yesterday the Third Symphony was performed, today it is the Fourth Symphony's turn. Luisi's interpretation was called 'enchanting' by Dallas Morning News. In the fourth movement, soprano Ying Fang sings of the idyll of the afterlife.While walking through Austria, writing book in hand, Mahler got his Fourth Symphony in his mind. Consequently, it sounds remarkably scenic, light and lyrical. The Fourth Symphony initially met with resistance and incomprehension, and was slammed by the press. Later, however, the work grew to become perhaps Mahler's best-loved symphony. In this respect, Bruno Walter, Mahler's colleague and friend, was proved right when, after the first performance in Vienna, he lashed out at the boomer press that 'Mahler and his immortal work will be alive long after you are dead and buried'.

Khatia Buniatishvili Rachmaninow Klavierkonzert

Khatia Buniatishvili performs Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, led by Fabio Luisi. The orchestra also plays Nielsen's Symphony No. 2 and Sørensen's "Evening Land." A special children's program is available during the first half.

Khatia Buniatishvili & Leopold Hager

At the tender age of five Mikko Franck (b. Helsinki, 1979) knew that he wanted to become a conductor, and by 17 he had already launched his professional career. Like many of his famous colleagues from Finland, he honed his skills with the great conducting teacher Jorma Panula. Currently he heads the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Alongside Franck, the young Franco-Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili – known for her passionate and extroverted readings – will give her BRSO début in a work thoroughly in keeping with her emotional delivery: Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. Composed after a severe crisis, it is perhaps the most personal and rapturous of his four piano concertos. Bruckner’s Seventh is likewise associated with a personal turning point: it was with this symphony that the 60-year-old composer finally gained widespread recognition. The Seventh has retained its popularity to the present day.

Khatia Buniatishvili & Leopold Hager

At the tender age of five Mikko Franck (b. Helsinki, 1979) knew that he wanted to become a conductor, and by 17 he had already launched his professional career. Like many of his famous colleagues from Finland, he honed his skills with the great conducting teacher Jorma Panula. Currently he heads the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Alongside Franck, the young Franco-Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili – known for her passionate and extroverted readings – will give her BRSO début in a work thoroughly in keeping with her emotional delivery: Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. Composed after a severe crisis, it is perhaps the most personal and rapturous of his four piano concertos. Bruckner’s Seventh is likewise associated with a personal turning point: it was with this symphony that the 60-year-old composer finally gained widespread recognition. The Seventh has retained its popularity to the present day.

Khatia Buniatishvili & Leopold Hager

At the tender age of five Mikko Franck (b. Helsinki, 1979) knew that he wanted to become a conductor, and by 17 he had already launched his professional career. Like many of his famous colleagues from Finland, he honed his skills with the great conducting teacher Jorma Panula. Currently he heads the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Alongside Franck, the young Franco-Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili – known for her passionate and extroverted readings – will give her BRSO début in a work thoroughly in keeping with her emotional delivery: Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. Composed after a severe crisis, it is perhaps the most personal and rapturous of his four piano concertos. Bruckner’s Seventh is likewise associated with a personal turning point: it was with this symphony that the 60-year-old composer finally gained widespread recognition. The Seventh has retained its popularity to the present day.

Taiwan Philharmonic / Khatia Buniatishvili / Jun Märkl

»You can really move the audience deeply if you give everything you’ve got at a performance, as if you were playing for the very last time.« This approach, as simple as it is radical, is probably the secret of Khatia Buniatishvili’s success: her unerring artistic honesty spreads directly to the audience, which greets every one of her appearances with frenzied acclaim. The Georgian star pianist plays one of her favourite pieces in Hamburg tonight: Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, which has been one of the absolute evergreens of the piano repertoire since it was first performed in 1875. After the interval, the Taiwan Philharmonic under its chief conductor Jun Märkl sets a lively contrast to the dramatic Tchaikovsky in the shape of Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony.

Schmidt "Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln" with Fabio Luisi

Schmidt "Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln" with Fabio Luisi