Felix Mendelssohn Jugendorchester / Clemens Malich

Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester

Under conductor Ingo Metzmacher, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester combines microtonal orchestral music with cosmic late Romanticism – and, in Anton Bruckner, Richard Wagner and Luigi Nono, three of the most headstrong characters in musical history.

Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester / Ingo Metzmacher

»You sometimes need to go against the grain a bit in the music business,« says conductor Ingo Metzmacher. With Beethoven, Shostakovich and Schönberg, he includes three composers on the programme who did just that and wrote music that is still moving and inspiring today. And perhaps this is also an important message to the highly talented youngsters in the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, who bring the three revolutionaries to the stage in a young, fresh and certainly a little rebellious way.

Albert-Schweitzer-Jugendorchester / Mädchenchor Hamburg

A special highlight of the 2024/25 anniversary season to mark the 50th anniversary of the Albert Schweitzer Youth Orchestra is the »ASJ meets girls’ choir« concert. The Hamburg Girls’ Choir, one of Germany’s leading youth choirs, will be a guest at the Elbphilharmonie with the Albert Schweitzer Youth Orchestra. In addition to an a cappella part of the choir, in which choral music from various centuries and genres will be performed, the »Trois Nocturnes« by Claude Debussy for female choir and orchestra will take centre stage. Debussy wrote a letter to the famous violinist Eugène Ysaÿe in September 1894. In it, he mentioned the planned composition of three Nocturnes for violin and orchestra. Debussy announced different orchestration for the individual movements and wanted to achieve variations in tone colour in this way, similar to the way a painter creates a »study in grey«, for example. After he once again hinted in a letter in 1894 that the pieces were finished and that Ysaÿe could perform them, this was not to be the case. The final version, which was completed in 1899, did not include a solo violin at all. The Nocturnes were premièred in Paris in 1900. However, only the first two movements were performed due to the lack of a female choir, which only sings in the third nocturne. This unusual instrumentation alone meant that the »Trois Nocturnes« were often performed incompletely or not at all. On the occasion of the anniversary of the Albert Schweitzer Youth Orchestra, the work »Elegie an die Zeit« for women’s choir and orchestra was composed in autumn 2024 by Ettore Prandi, born in Milan and based in Hamburg. It is an exploration of time, a parameter that is so fundamental to all existence. In this way, an arc is created, from the transience of time in »Der Rosenkavalier« to Gerd Heinze’s poem »Wieviel Uhr«, on which »Elegie an die Zeit« is based. The work is to be understood as a short journey through elegiac, mournful and hopeful thoughts about the passing of time and will be performed for the first time at this concert. In the hit lists of classical music, »The Vltava« by Smetana always occupies one of the top places. Geographically speaking, the sources of the Vltava and Hamburg are connected by this river, which flows into the Elbe between Prague and Dresden. In the programme of the second part of the concert, this route leads from the »Vltava« via a stopover to Dresden. Richard Strauss’ opera »Der Rosenkavalier« was performed there for the very first time in 1911. The two works logically meet at their destination, the Elbphilharmonie. A geographical relationship that leads to a musical unity.

Nationales Jugendorchester der Niederlande

Albert Schweitzer Jugendorchester / Frantz / Beckedorf

Brahms’ first piano concerto in D minor is undoubtedly one of the monumental works of the Romantic piano repertoire and was an important milestone for the young composer on the long road to his first symphony. Initially conceived as a sonata for two pianos in 1854, it took five years before the concerto was premièred in Hanover, with Johannes Brahms himself at the piano. The symphonic poem »Les Preludes« by Franz Liszt was completed in the same year that Brahms began his First Piano Concerto, namely 1854. Although the work always had its critics due to a certain pathetic and overloaded nature, it quickly established itself as one of Franz Liszt’s most important works. The Star Wars Suite for Orchestra by John Williams is more than just a collection of film music; it is a cultural phenomenon that has inspired and continues to fascinate generations of listeners. Its timeless beauty and tonal brilliance make the Star Wars Suite a highlight in the world of film music and an indispensable part of the orchestral literature. As the soloist, Caspar Frantz will take on the piano part. He was already a guest of the Albert Schweitzer Jugendorchester in his youth, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor. He is now an internationally renowned pianist and returns to the ASJ with this magnificent piano concerto by the Hamburg composer.

Albert Schweitzer Jugendorchester / Christian Tetzlaff / Sebastian Beckedorf

The Albert Schweitzer Youth Orchestra is celebrating its 50th anniversary with this special concert. It is a great honour for the orchestra to have a real world star as a soloist for this occasion: Christian Tetzlaff, who also played in the Albert Schweitzer Youth Orchestra as a teenager. In the course of his international career, Christian Tetzlaff has performed with all the major orchestras, including the Vienna and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, the Concertgebouworkest in Amsterdam and all the London orchestras. He has worked with legendary maestri such as Sergiu Celibidache, Bernard Haitink, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur and Christoph von Dohnányi. Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto still occupies an outstanding position in the literature of violin concertos. It was completed in 1878 and dedicated to the famous violinist Joseph Joachim, who assisted Brahms in writing the solo part. The première was a year later in Leipzig under Brahms’ direction and with Joseph Joachim on the violin. Four years before Brahms’ violin concerto, the operetta »Die Fledermaus« was composed in 1874 by Johann Strauss (son). The overture is a brilliant compilation of the most beautiful melodies from the operetta. Cheerful with bubbling energy on the one hand and on the other hand a highly highly demanding work that requires great virtuosity from the orchestra. The opera »Der Rosenkavalier« was premiered in 1911 and is a masterful blend of comedy and romance. Richard Strauss combined all the highlights of the opera into a purely orchestral suite, in which the audience hears, among other things, the prelude to the first act, the presentation of the roses and the touching final tercet from the third act. The tumultuous Viennese waltz with which Baron Ochs leaves the bar is, of course, included.

Mendels­sohn Violin­konzert

The Essen Philharmonic's tenth symphony concert features Weber's "Sommerwind", a nature-inspired composition based on a poem by Bruno Wille. Zemlinsky's "Seejungfrau" surprises with its narrative power and poetic mood. The program also includes Mendelssohn's famous Violin Concerto, one of the most frequently performed works of its kind.

Mendels­sohn Violin­konzert

The Essen Philharmonic's tenth symphony concert features Weber's "Sommerwind", a nature-inspired composition based on a poem by Bruno Wille. Zemlinsky's "Seejungfrau" surprises with its narrative power and poetic mood. The program also includes Mendelssohn's famous Violin Concerto, one of the most frequently performed works of its kind.

The Schumann Couple and Felix

Clara Schumann's piano concerto is stunningly beautiful and a sparkling fireworks display. She was one of the most admired and influential pianists of the 19th century, performing in the same league as Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt. In the concerto, we also hear the inspiration from Chopin, whom she preferred over Liszt. Clara Schumann was only 16 years old when she premiered the virtuosic concerto herself in Leipzig in 1835.The soloist in Clara Schumann's piano concerto is the Romanian-British pianist Alexandra Dariescu, known for her expressive playing as well as her advocacy for female composers. Around the same time Clara performed her piano concerto, she met her future husband Robert, one of the great figures of Romantic music. His impassioned overture to the incidental music for Manfred is based on Lord Byron's dramatic poem.Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was a friend of Clara and Robert Schumann – also a great Romantic with a particular sense for melodic beauty. This is evident in his Fifth Symphony, which is also a tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach. Swedish conductor Magnus Fryklund makes his debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with this concert. Educated in Denmark, he has made a name for himself particularly as a skilled opera conductor, including in France.

Sinfonieorchester der Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig, Matthias Foremny Dirigent