Ewigkeit – Măcelaru & Mahlers Dritte

Ewigkeit – Măcelaru & Mahlers Dritte

Cristian Măcelaru and Gustav Mahler's collaboration has become known for unique interpretations, especially of Mahler's Third Symphony. This symphony explores connections between nature and spirituality, the tangible world and the divine. Mahler described symphonies as building a world with available techniques, depicting the emergence of life from inanimate matter, evolving through flowers, animals, humans, and spirits to angels.

Măcelaru & Faust

For Isabelle Faust only the art matters, not the trappings. She plays with aplomb, focus, deep feeling—that’s how the violinist enthrals the audience, particularly with Shostakovich’s Second Violin Concerto, which, seriously ill in 1967, he »squeezed out note by note, with difficulty«. Sharply reduced, introverted music that concentrates completely on the violin. Music that inquires into where we are going and why.

Klangzauber - Măcelaru & Kanneh-Mason

Mit nur 17 Jahren gewann Sheku Kanneh-Mason 2016 den Wettbewerb BBC Young Musician of the Year und zählt seitdem zu den Shootingstars der internationalen Klassikwelt. Wie gemacht für das virtuos-sinnliche Spiel des jungen Briten ist Schostakowitschs erstes Cellokonzert, hinter dessen tänzerischer Freude sich viele Momente großer emotionaler Tiefe verbergen. Das packende Werk mit seinen schillernden Klangfarben passt wunderbar zu den klingenden Märchen aus Tausendundeiner Nacht von Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakow, in dem die Abenteuer von Sindbad und anderen Helden in einem fulminanten Tongemälde vorüberziehen.

Gewandhausorchester, Cristian Măcelaru Dirigent

Liszt composed tone poems about Orpheus, who overcomes death with music, and Prometheus, who inspires humanity with art. Orpheus's music is harmonious, while Prometheus's is dissonant, reflecting his suffering. Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto, sometimes called the "Orpheus Concerto," may be inspired by Orpheus. Leó Weiner, a Liszt admirer, orchestrated Liszt's B minor Sonata for the Liszt centenary in 1956.

Gewandhausorchester, Cristian Măcelaru Dirigent

Liszt composed tone poems about Orpheus, who overcomes death with music, and Prometheus, who inspires humanity with art. Orpheus's music is harmonious, while Prometheus's is dissonant, reflecting his suffering. Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto, sometimes called the "Orpheus Concerto," may be inspired by Orpheus. Leó Weiner, a Liszt admirer, orchestrated Liszt's B minor Sonata for the Liszt centenary in 1956.

Măcelaru, Hadelich · Tchaikovsky, Dvořák

Măcelaru, Hadelich · Tchaikovsky, Dvořák

Innigkeit – Măcelaru & Brahms' Erste

Composer Fanny Hensel's work was long overshadowed by her famous brother Felix Mendelssohn, receiving proper recognition far too late. Robert Schumann's violin concerto suffered a similar fate, deemed a failed attempt and shelved by performers, with its release forbidden for 100 years. Today it's in the repertoire, and Brahms's Symphony No. 1 will form an impressive closing piece for the evening.

Meisterhaft - Măcelaru & Hilary Hahn + Livestream

Three days after the premiere of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, the Soviet Composers' Union debated whether the work was too modern, too old-fashioned, or too critical. However, the panel missed the grim satire used by Shostakovich. In contrast, Brahms' Violin Concerto, performed by Hilary Hahn, is a celebration of violin sound. Cristian Măcelaru conducts this program, marking his farewell as chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra.

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Martin Fröst / Cristian Măcelaru

»Frost exhibited a virtuosity and a musicianship unsurpassed by any clarinettist – perhaps any instrumentalist – in my memory,« is how a critic of The New York Times raved about Martin Fröst. This exceptional clarinettist from Sweden loves to push musical boundaries and try out new forms of performance. One reason why contemporary artists often entrust him to perform their newly written works. The British composer Anna Clyne wrote »Weathered« for Martin Fröst: a much-celebrated work for clarinet and orchestra, which Fröst premiered in the spring of 2023 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Now he performs it for a new audience in Hamburg. Anna Clyne knew exactly who she was writing for: »Weathered« places the highest demands on the individual performing it. So high, in fact, that some critics have speculated that only time would tell whether a second clarinettist would be able to play the work. Trills, glissandi and sharply articulated passages alternate with beautifully melodious moments. Each of the five movements has its own description – a rusted bridge, a broken heart, a wind-worn castle, a majestic forest, and a warming planet. Interpreting the contrasting sections, Fröst uses his instrument to elicit fluttering turns and even mimicking shawm sounds. Christian Măcelaru conducts the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. He is also principal conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre National de France, and also brings a folksong-like work by his fellow countryman, the Romanian Constantin Silvestri, to add to the programme. The real highlight of his conducting though is the Symphony No. 3 by Sergei Rachmaninov. In his final symphony, the Russian exile resurrects the great legacy of Romanticism with powerful assurance. Yet Rachmaninov speaks his very own language, leading rapturous melodies through twists and turns that are harmonically astonishing.