Jonathan Nott

Jonathan Nott

»Sweet melancholy is the true nature of true love.« This quote by Novalis is an excellent reflection of our relationship with Jonathan Nott: since the turn of the millennium, he held the musical reins together from the podium for 16 years as our Chief Conductor in over 650 always original concerts both in Bamberg and on tour. On his departure, he said somewhat melancholically: »When we all – orchestra and conductor – achieve a result together, then we are influenced by each other. And even if we never see each other again: All the musicians of the Bamberg Symphony are a part of my life.« Fortunately, he has been returning regularly as a guest ever since – and this year’s programme is the start of a concert series with him over the next few seasons, which will also take us to places that were the centres of the chosen musical period. It once again bears his unmistakably individual and highly dedicated handwriting: After all, the English maestro honed our musical profile for musical modernism particularly intensively and lastingly during his time. Now it’s a concentration on two related works that were premiered together in Vienna 120 years ago – with each of the two composers conducting their own piece: Zemlinsky conducted his orchestral fantasy »The Mermaid« based on the well-known fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. His former student, then brother-in-law and friend Schönberg performed his tone poem »Pelléas et Mélisande«, based on Maeterlinck’s wonderful drama – which Jonathan Nott has long held dear to his heart. There is no doubt, therefore, that he will be a safe guide through these two works, revelling in late Romanticism.

Junge Deutsche Philharmonie | Jonathan Nott

The Young German Philharmonic Orchestra celebrates its 50th anniversary! Founded in 1974, this talent factory for aspiring orchestral musicians regularly collaborates with top conductors and soloists, including Jonathan Nott, their Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor. With this Mahler expert, the orchestra is celebrating its anniversary with Mahler's breathtaking 7th Symphony, a multifaceted work full of funeral march thoughts, bizarre waltz spookiness, jubilant fanfares, cowbells, and folk song elements in the two "Nachtmusik" movements.

Jonathan Nott and Pierre-Laurent Aimard

He performed in the circus, was celebrated as a pianist, was made to do forced labour under Stalin – György Cziffra’s life was full of successes and tragedies. These are portrayed in a radical and touching way in Cziffra Psodia, a piano concerto composed by fellow Hungarian Peter Eötvös. The soloist for this performance is Pierre-Laurent Aimard; Jonathan Nott conducts. In the same programme, Charles Ives’ Fourth Symphony takes us into early American modernism: a visionary collage of hymns, marches and fugues that explores fundamental questions of existence, performed by a powerful orchestra with piano and choir.

Jonathan Nott and Pierre-Laurent Aimard

He performed in the circus, was celebrated as a pianist, was made to do forced labour under Stalin – György Cziffra’s life was full of successes and tragedies. These are portrayed in a radical and touching way in Cziffra Psodia, a piano concerto composed by fellow Hungarian Peter Eötvös. The soloist for this performance is Pierre-Laurent Aimard; Jonathan Nott conducts. In the same programme, Charles Ives’ Fourth Symphony takes us into early American modernism: a visionary collage of hymns, marches and fugues that explores fundamental questions of existence, performed by a powerful orchestra with piano and choir.

Jonathan Nott conducts Mahler's 5th Symphony

This concert sees the return of our former principal conductor Jonathan Nott. Under his baton, our orchestra will immerse itself in the works of composers who created their very own musical universes, seeking to capture their thoughts and sorrows. Arvo Pärt, born in Estonia in 1935, achieves this with his contemplative "tintinnabuli style”, which often reflects the era of Gregorian chant, which Pärt describes as "music with soul". His popular work "Fratres" celebrates brotherly harmony and conjures up the image of a candlelit procession of medieval monks. This "ceaseless prayer" is followed by a powerful work in which the Hungarian György Kurtág sought to overcome personal tragedy. His dark and obsessive "Grabstein für Stephan was created in 1989 as a musical memorial for the husband of a psychologist who had once helped Kurtág get over of a creative block in which he felt, "to the point of despair”, that "there was nothing true in the world" and was "unable to find a foothold in reality". Mahler likewise often struggled with what was happening around him, seeking an answer to "questions about God, about the meaning and purpose of our existence" as well as to the "why in all of creation”. In this concert, we will perform his Fifth Symphony of 1902, a multifaceted work in which numerous storms are weathered – but the ethereal Adagietto provides a respite in the midst of all this turbulence. This movement became particularly famous through its use in Visconti's classic film "Death in Venice" – and its achingly nostalgic harmonies reveal a closeness to the transcendence of Mahler’s Rückert setting "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen".

Jonathan Nott conducts Mahler's 5th Symphony

This concert sees the return of our former principal conductor Jonathan Nott. Under his baton, our orchestra will immerse itself in the works of composers who created their very own musical universes, seeking to capture their thoughts and sorrows. Arvo Pärt, born in Estonia in 1935, achieves this with his contemplative "tintinnabuli style”, which often reflects the era of Gregorian chant, which Pärt describes as "music with soul". His popular work "Fratres" celebrates brotherly harmony and conjures up the image of a candlelit procession of medieval monks. This "ceaseless prayer" is followed by a powerful work in which the Hungarian György Kurtág sought to overcome personal tragedy. His dark and obsessive "Grabstein für Stephan was created in 1989 as a musical memorial for the husband of a psychologist who had once helped Kurtág get over of a creative block in which he felt, "to the point of despair”, that "there was nothing true in the world" and was "unable to find a foothold in reality". Mahler likewise often struggled with what was happening around him, seeking an answer to "questions about God, about the meaning and purpose of our existence" as well as to the "why in all of creation”. In this concert, we will perform his Fifth Symphony of 1902, a multifaceted work in which numerous storms are weathered – but the ethereal Adagietto provides a respite in the midst of all this turbulence. This movement became particularly famous through its use in Visconti's classic film "Death in Venice" – and its achingly nostalgic harmonies reveal a closeness to the transcendence of Mahler’s Rückert setting "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen".

Jonathan Nott dirigiert Szymanowski, Zemlinsky und Tschaikowsky

Jonathan Nott dirigiert Werke von Szymanowski, Zemlinsky und Tschaikowsky

Jonathan Nott dirigiert Werke von Szymanowski, Zemlinsky und Tschaikowsky

SIOBHAN STAGG & JONATHAN WARE

Traversing a millennium of music history, soprano Siobhan Stagg and pianist Jonathan Ware explore the fragile relationship between creation and human existence. The program’s stylistic range includes 12th-century chants by Hildegard von Bingen alongside Haydn’s famous oratorio, Sibelius’s setting of the creation myth from the Finnish Kalevala epic, and an excerpt from Australian composer Brett Dean’s “evolution cantata” In This Brief Moment, which premiered in 2022.