Keywords: Symphony Concert
| Jörg Widmann | Conductor |
| Christa Schönfeldinger | Glass harmonica |
| Teodoro Anzellotti | Accordion |
| Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin |
| Symphony in G minor KV 550 | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
| “Armonica” for glass harmonica, accordion and orchestra | Jörg Widmann |
| Adagio for glass harmonica in C major KV 617a (KV 356) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
| Symphony in C major (“Linzer”) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
These events are similar in terms of concept, place, musicians or the program.
In 1784, the publicist Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart enthused about the clarinet: »The character of the clarinet is: emotion dissolved in love – so completely the tone of the sensitive heart«. Carl Maria von Weber was also captivated by the orchestral instrument, still young at the time – especially because of his artistic friendship with Heinrich Joseph Baermann, the renowned clarinetist of the Munich Hofkapelle, who premiered the handsome concertino in 1811: an effect-packed piece with a sumptuous introduction, splendid variations and a sparkling finale. We look forward to the virtuoso interpretation of Jörg Widmann, who will also guide us through two other scores. Korngold, who was considered a musical genius and was later in high demand as a film composer in Hollywood, occasionally returned to his homeland after the Second World War. In 1950, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra played his symphonic serenade for the first time – with its sparkling melodies and dreamlike and rich nuances, it exudes a big share of nostalgia in remembrance of the long-gone era of Romanticism. Mozart's popular G minor symphony was composed in 1788 in a time when he was barely making a living as a freelance artist in Vienna. It fascinates with its grandiose melodic inventiveness and its individual instrumentation sans timpani and trumpets. The music displays »mysterious shivers« in affects such as restlessness, agitation, lamentation and desperation – a profound masterpiece that the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung praised with the words: »It will never fail to make an impact, always irresistibly captivating and sweeping away the listener's soul.«
Joined by the Hagen Quartett, Jörg Widmann continues his concert series exploring the history of the clarinet quintet from its beginnings to the present day. Their performance is dedicated to one of the last works written by Johannes Brahms. In the concert’s first half, the legendary Austrian ensemble presents the A-major String Quartet by Robert Schumann, one of the young Brahms’s early supporters.
The clarinetist, composer, and conductor Jörg Widmann is one of the shining lights of contemporary music. His credo is to combine tradition with new developments, resulting in timbres whose virtuosity, intensity, and directness both surprise and oftentimes confront the listeners, but also challenge them with quiet, fragile moments. The transparent, ethereal orchestral piece Armonica seems to defy the laws of gravity as it emerges out of nowhere. In the Trumpet Concerto, composed for Håkan Hardenberger, the sounds wander through space – like the trumpeter through the orchestra. A labyrinthine journey extending from wild and rugged orchestral abysses all the way to an open, utopian state of suspension.
Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony has long been one of the composer’s underrated works. According to Sir Simon Rattle, this is because it doesn’t offer what people usually expect of a Bruckner symphony. It is shorter, more transparent and less solemn than usual, “a piece full of humour and daring”. Bruckner himself seems to have seen it that way, for he whimsically declared the Sixth to be his “boldest”. To open the programme, Simon Rattle conducts the world premiere of a horn concerto written by Jörg Widmann, this season’s Composer-in-Residence, for our principal horn-player Stefan Dohr.
Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony has long been one of the composer’s underrated works. According to Sir Simon Rattle, this is because it doesn’t offer what people usually expect of a Bruckner symphony. It is shorter, more transparent and less solemn than usual, “a piece full of humour and daring”. Bruckner himself seems to have seen it that way, for he whimsically declared the Sixth to be his “boldest”. To open the programme, Simon Rattle conducts the world premiere of a horn concerto written by Jörg Widmann, this season’s Composer-in-Residence, for our principal horn-player Stefan Dohr.
Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony has long been one of the composer’s underrated works. According to Sir Simon Rattle, this is because it doesn’t offer what people usually expect of a Bruckner symphony. It is shorter, more transparent and less solemn than usual, “a piece full of humour and daring”. Bruckner himself seems to have seen it that way, for he whimsically declared the Sixth to be his “boldest”. To open the programme, Simon Rattle conducts the world premiere of a horn concerto written by Jörg Widmann, this season’s Composer-in-Residence, for our principal horn-player Stefan Dohr.
The music of Robert Schumann has long been a major influence on Jörg Widmann’s own compositions. Joined by Sir András Schiff and Antoine Tamestit, he now brings three of Schumann’s works to the Pierre Boulez Saal that draw inspiration from poetic and non-musical ideas and reflect the Romantic fascination with the world of fairy tales. Alban Berg’s aphoristic Four Pieces of 1913 provide a striking contrast. The program concludes with Mozart’s “Kegelstatt” Trio, the historical model for the unusual combination of clarinet, viola, and piano.
Few people are as passionate about the music of Joseph Haydn as Giovanni Antonini. He is currently in the process of recording all 107 of the composer’s symphonies – with a fresh, arresting approach. In this concert, we hear two symphonies of captivating originality and inspiration. Also on the programme are the cantata Arianna a Naxos, a touching emotional drama of an abandoned woman featuring Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, and Mozart’s little-known incidental music Thamos, King in Egypt, which is impressive in its dramatic power.
Few people are as passionate about the music of Joseph Haydn as Giovanni Antonini. He is currently in the process of recording all 107 of the composer’s symphonies – with a fresh, arresting approach. In this concert, we hear two symphonies of captivating originality and inspiration. Also on the programme are the cantata Arianna a Naxos, a touching emotional drama of an abandoned woman featuring Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, and Mozart’s little-known incidental music Thamos, King in Egypt, which is impressive in its dramatic power.
Few people are as passionate about the music of Joseph Haydn as Giovanni Antonini. He is currently in the process of recording all 107 of the composer’s symphonies – with a fresh, arresting approach. In this concert, we hear two symphonies of captivating originality and inspiration. Also on the programme are the cantata Arianna a Naxos, a touching emotional drama of an abandoned woman featuring Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, and Mozart’s little-known incidental music Thamos, King in Egypt, which is impressive in its dramatic power.
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