Guest performance Venedig in Berlin

Guest performance in Fürth

“In the rising of a symphony there is something divine, something similar to creation itself." (Leonard Bernstein) Life is in constant transformation and the world in constant change – and so, too, is the history of music! When eight-year-old Mozart composed his first symphonic work in 1764, the late baroque was transitioning to the classical era. The symphony was in the process of emancipating itself from its origins in the overture to Neapolitan opera. In this concert, our orchestra will perform two early symphonies by Mozart, who once said, "Creation emerges as in a pleasant and lively dream." Conductor Fabio Biondi specialises in bringing rare works to the stage, and thus this programme will feature works seldom heard from his native Italy. The Milanese composer Carlo Monza was highly regarded during his lifetime, but only a few of his pieces have been rediscovered to date. One of these is the striking Sinfonia "La tempesta di mare" of 1784, where the music condenses into a veritable storm. Giuseppe Sammartini was likewise born in Milan and later worked in London, where he was considered one of the greatest oboists of his day. His popular instrumental concertos were said to be "full of science, originality and fire". The talented Niccoló Jommelli came from Naples, but was successful beyond Italy’s borders. His opera symphonies in particular were considered exemplary and were widely disseminated as independent works from 1750 onwards. Our programme will end with a composition by another famous Wunderkind: in 1824, at the age of just 15, Mendelssohn wrote his extravagantly romantic C minor Symphony – an astonishing creation of which it was said: "New, beautiful, original. Spirit, flow, calm, melodiousness, wholeness, drama."

Guest performance in Ottobeuren

Late romantic confessions! Dvořák was keen to breathe fresh life into Catholic church music in his native Bohemia. For him, religiousness was a necessary prerequisite for his creative work, and he said: "Don't be surprised that I am so devout – an artist who is not devout will not achieve such things". As he grew older, the setting of liturgical texts became increasingly important for him – possibly as a way of expressing his thoughts about the end of life. He wrote his "Biblical Songs” in 1894, while living in New York. Shortly beforehand, news had reached him of the deaths of his contemporaries Tchaikovsky and Gounod, as well as the news from home that his father had passed away. These ten songs, which set texts from the Book of Psalms, range in expression from laments and prayers of intercession, fear and confidence to the praise of God and trust in his help – moving pieces written in a state of grief far from his beloved Bohemia. The concert will close with the musical volcanic eruptions and unforgettably catchy melodies of the popular D minor Symphony by César Franck, whom a contemporary once jokingly called a "modulation machine”. Like Dvořák, the Belgian-born composer was a strict Catholic. For many years he worked as an organist in Paris, developing a creativity all of his own as a composer – as attested by this symphony, which was first performed in 1889. The music portrays numerous struggles, but ends in inner triumph. Its final bars are solemn, majestic, proud – after all, it was said of Franck that “he knows himself to be one with God and trusts in the mission He has given him on earth.”

Guest performance

Guest performance

Guest performance

Guest performance

Guest performance

Guest performance

Guest performance

Guest performance