Klaus Mäkelä conducts Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev with the Concertgebouw Orchestra

Date & Time

Wed, Nov 13, 2024, 20:15

Venue

Het Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam)

Since her first appearance in 2001, the violinist Lisa Batiashvili has always given performances to look forward to. She now returns to perform as soloist in Prokofiev’s delightfully melodious Second Violin Concerto. Klaus Mäkelä has paired it with Rachmaninoff’s irresistible Second Symphony, a work with which the composer avenged the failure of his First. And how! The melancholy theme of the third movement has brought tears to the eyes of many since the 1908 premiere, and will always continue to... Read full text

Keywords: Symphony Concert

Info & Ticket (www.concertgebouw.nl)

Musicians

Concertgebouw Orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä	Conductor
Lisa Batiashvili	Violin

Program

Body Cosmic (Commissioned by the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Concertgebouw, Orchestre de Paris, Carnegie Hall and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra)	Reid
Vioolconcert nr. 2 in g minor	Sergei Prokofiev
Symphony No. 2 in e minor, op. 27	Sergei Rachmaninoff

Give feedback

Last update: Fri, Nov 22, 2024, 12:40

Similar events

These events are similar in terms of concept, place, musicians or the program.

Klaus Mäkelä conducts Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev with the Concertgebouw Orchestra

Thu, Nov 14, 2024, 20:15

Het Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam)

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä (Conductor), Lisa Batiashvili (Violin)

Since her first appearance in 2001, the violinist Lisa Batiashvili has always given performances to look forward to. She now returns to perform as soloist in Prokofiev’s delightfully melodious Second Violin Concerto. Klaus Mäkelä has paired it with Rachmaninoff’s irresistible Second Symphony, a work with which the composer avenged the failure of his First. And how! The melancholy theme of the third movement has brought tears to the eyes of many since the 1908 premiere, and will always continue to do so.Also on the programme is a surprise: a newly commissioned work, Body Cosmic, by the American composer Ellen Reid to mark her residency at the Concertgebouw and with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in the 2023-2024 season. Audiences have come to know her as a musical jack-of-all-trades, who moves effortlessly across a wide range of disparate styles and genres – from classical to avant-garde pop and electronic soundscapes. This should be interesting!

Info (www.concertgebouw.nl)

Klaus Mäkelä conducts the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Mahler

Thu, Sep 19, 2024, 20:15

Het Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam)

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä (Conductor)

When Gustav Mahler came to Amsterdam to conduct the Dutch premiere of his First Symphony in 1903, a close collaboration started – so began the Concertgebouw Orchestra’s much-vaunted Mahler tradition. Klaus Mäkelä steps into that tradition with respect and self-confidence. He previously gave stunning interpretations of the Sixth and the Third, now it is time for the First, which he calls Mahler's 'pastoral’ symphony: ‘I’ve always been attracted to its imaginative beauty, and its freshness. The expression is extremely clear, and it contains all the elements of his later work.’Klaus Mäkelä opens the concert with Verklärte Nacht by Mahler's contemporary Arnold Schoenberg, who was born 150 years ago in Vienna. The late-romantic work is based on a poem by Richard Dehmel about a woman who confesses to her loved one that she is carrying someone else’s child. The music closely follows the conversation and draws the listener into an intimate emotional journey leading from fear and guilt to pure happiness.

Info (www.concertgebouw.nl)

Klaus Mäkelä and Janine Jansen with the Concertgebouw Orchestra

Wed, Jan 22, 2025, 20:15

Het Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam)

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä (Conductor), Janine Jansen (Violin)

Conductor Klaus Mäkelä says that a concert is like a journey through time. The composers featured on this programme were clearly inspired by older music. Robert Schumann had just suffered a nervous breakdown when he wrote his Second Symphony, a work in which he documents his recovery and overtly draws on the music of Bach, Haydn and Beethoven.Benjamin Britten’s music, in which the influence of older English masters is always palpable, is also in dialogue with the past. His Violin Concerto juxtaposes tradition with present-day circumstances: the year was 1939, and the threat of war imminent. With her extraordinary aptitude for capturing mood and atmosphere, violinist Janine Jansen is the perfect interpreter.Klaus Mäkelä says, ‘In Schumann’s music I always feel an aspect of the past, tradition, history. Britten too admired tradition. We make a combination with works from the 17th century by Purcell and Dowland, to prepare the atmosphere of the later works by Britten and Schumann, which contain the past. I think the music benefits from it. The cathedral-like, almost sacred atmosphere of Dowland and Purcell enhances those aspects in Schumann and Britten, putting their works in a different light.’

Info & Ticket (www.concertgebouw.nl)

Klaus Mäkelä and Janine Jansen with the Concertgebouw Orchestra

Thu, Jan 23, 2025, 20:15

Het Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam)

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä (Conductor), Janine Jansen (Violin)

Conductor Klaus Mäkelä says that a concert is like a journey through time. The composers featured on this programme were clearly inspired by older music. Robert Schumann had just suffered a nervous breakdown when he wrote his Second Symphony, a work in which he documents his recovery and overtly draws on the music of Bach, Haydn and Beethoven.Benjamin Britten’s music, in which the influence of older English masters is always palpable, is also in dialogue with the past. His Violin Concerto juxtaposes tradition with present-day circumstances: the year was 1939, and the threat of war imminent. With her extraordinary aptitude for capturing mood and atmosphere, violinist Janine Jansen is the perfect interpreter.Klaus Mäkelä says, ‘In Schumann’s music I always feel an aspect of the past, tradition, history. Britten too admired tradition. We make a combination with works from the 17th century by Purcell and Dowland, to prepare the atmosphere of the later works by Britten and Schumann, which contain the past. I think the music benefits from it. The cathedral-like, almost sacred atmosphere of Dowland and Purcell enhances those aspects in Schumann and Britten, putting their works in a different light.’

Info & Ticket (www.concertgebouw.nl)

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Klaus Mäkelä

Wed, Apr 2, 2025, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä (Conductor)

There are few orchestras that can boast as long a Mahler tradition as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam. Even during Gustav Mahler’s lifetime, the orchestra regularly performed his symphonies and helped the composer achieve the fame he enjoys to this day. Klaus Mäkelä, who takes over as the orchestra’s chief conductor in 2027, continues this tradition with a performance of Mahler’s First Symphony. The composer wrote about his work: »It has become so overpowering – it flowed out of me like a mountain stream!« Also on the programme is Arnold Schönberg’s early work »Verklärte Nacht« for string orchestra, based on Richard Dehmel’s poem of the same name. Before Schönberg climbed to the top of the avant-garde and shocked the music world with his twelve-tone music, he wrote deeply Romantic pieces in his younger years, in which he endeavoured to unite the styles of Wagner and Brahms.

Info & Ticket (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

Klaus Mäkelä, Julian Rachlin and the Concertgebouw Orchestra

Wed, Mar 26, 2025, 20:15

Het Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam)

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä (Conductor), Julian Rachlin (Violin)

From the first notes, the Fourth Symphony carries us away into Schumann’s utterly original world of dark romanticism. ‘Robert Schumann is the romantic composer’, says conductor Klaus Mäkelä. ‘His symphonies contain such wonderful moments. It always makes me feel good to play them. His music fills your heart with joy and sadness – the emotions are very pure and honest. Schumann makes me happy; he makes me a better person.’His romantic musical language notwithstanding, Schumann was a great admirer of the early music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The famous Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina also shows her indebtedness to the Baroque master, as in her much-praised Offertorium.The concert opens with a newly commissioned work by the successful Korean Seung-Won Oh. The final piece of her Spiri trilogy, Spiri III ‘seeks to transform the transient nature of human affection, and expand and enhance it to the next level’, the composer says. ‘Rather than limiting the view of the flower blooming and withering to a local event, we can contextualize this minute event as the beginning of a perpetual cycle that can't be measured or truly experienced by humans.’

Info & Ticket (www.concertgebouw.nl)

Klaus Mäkelä, Julian Rachlin and the Concertgebouw Orchestra

Thu, Mar 27, 2025, 20:15

Het Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam)

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä (Conductor), Julian Rachlin (Violin)

From the first notes, the Fourth Symphony carries us away into Schumann’s utterly original world of dark romanticism. ‘Robert Schumann is the romantic composer’, says conductor Klaus Mäkelä. ‘His symphonies contain such wonderful moments. It always makes me feel good to play them. His music fills your heart with joy and sadness – the emotions are very pure and honest. Schumann makes me happy; he makes me a better person.’His romantic musical language notwithstanding, Schumann was a great admirer of the early music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The famous Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina also shows her indebtedness to the Baroque master, as in her much-praised Offertorium.The concert opens with a newly commissioned work by the successful Korean Seung-Won Oh. The final piece of her Spiri trilogy, Spiri III ‘seeks to transform the transient nature of human affection, and expand and enhance it to the next level’, the composer says. ‘Rather than limiting the view of the flower blooming and withering to a local event, we can contextualize this minute event as the beginning of a perpetual cycle that can't be measured or truly experienced by humans.’

Info & Ticket (www.concertgebouw.nl)

Klaus Mäkelä, Julian Rachlin and the Concertgebouw Orchestra

Fri, Mar 28, 2025, 20:15

Het Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam)

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä (Conductor), Julian Rachlin (Violin)

From the first notes, the Fourth Symphony carries us away into Schumann’s utterly original world of dark romanticism. ‘Robert Schumann is the romantic composer’, says conductor Klaus Mäkelä. ‘His symphonies contain such wonderful moments. It always makes me feel good to play them. His music fills your heart with joy and sadness – the emotions are very pure and honest. Schumann makes me happy; he makes me a better person.’His romantic musical language notwithstanding, Schumann was a great admirer of the early music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The famous Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina also shows her indebtedness to the Baroque master, as in her much-praised Offertorium.The concert opens with a newly commissioned work by the successful Korean Seung-Won Oh. The final piece of her Spiri trilogy, Spiri III ‘seeks to transform the transient nature of human affection, and expand and enhance it to the next level’, the composer says. ‘Rather than limiting the view of the flower blooming and withering to a local event, we can contextualize this minute event as the beginning of a perpetual cycle that can't be measured or truly experienced by humans.’

Info & Ticket (www.concertgebouw.nl)

Concertgebouw Orchestra Annual Gala with Klaus Mäkelä

Fri, Jan 24, 2025, 20:30

Het Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam)

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä (Conductor), Janine Jansen (Violin)

The Concertgebouw Orchestra presents its festive Annual Gala concert for loyal audience members, friends, and donors. The Annual Gala starts with a reception at 19.30, and the fashionable after-party goes on until midnight.Dress code: black tie.Guests are welcomed to a reception at 19.30, after which they will be ushered into the Main Hall for a uniquely memorable conducted by our artistic partner and future chief conductor, Klaus Mäkelä. Leading violinist Janine Jansen performs as soloist in Britten’s deeply moving Violin Concerto, the work with which she made her Concertgebouw Orchestra debut twenty years ago.The Concerto is preceded on the programme by the royal funeral march by Britten’s predecessor Purcell. Another well-known English lament from long ago opens Schumann’s deceptively sunny Second Symphony. Like Britten’s music, Schumann’s is also in dialogue with the past. Klaus Mäkelä says, ‘A concert is a journey. The cathedral-like, almost sacred atmosphere of Purcell enhances those aspects in Schumann and Britten, putting their works in a different light.’After the concert, you are invited to partake in the tantalising follow-up programmes in the foyers of the Concertgebouw. There will be ample opportunity to mingle with other guests, the conductor, soloists, and choir and orchestra members until midnight.

Info & Ticket (www.concertgebouw.nl)

Concertgebouw Orchestra plays Rachmaninoff and Sibelius

Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 20:15

Het Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam)

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Santtu-Matias Rouvali (Conductor), Kirill Gerstein (Piano)

Pianist Kirill Gerstein can do it all, having already demonstrated as much with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in works by Rachmaninoff – the Piano Concerto No. 2 and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini – as well as Liszt, Richard Strauss, Shostakovich and Adès. Now he tackles the Mount Everest of piano concertos – Rachmaninoff’s Third. Rachmaninoff’s characteristic melancholy always culminates in exuberant finales. The Third Piano Concerto is an uncontested high point of his œuvre: it is not only a virtuoso work, but also a compelling dialogue between piano and orchestra. And the more you hear it, the more it reveals. This also applies to Anna Clyne’s turbulent Fractured Time, the second work on the orchestra’s repertoire by this successful and fascinating composer.And speaking of exuberant finales – the orchestra is performing Jean Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony after the interval. This well-loved symphony is sombre in character, the composer having suffered from deep depression. But during the compositional process, the sun gradually broke through, and the music culminates in a radiant and sublime ending. Sibelius’s symphonies fit Santtu-Matias Rouvali like a glove, and he has been a welcome guest with the Concertgebouw Orchestra since his first appearance in 2020. Like a passionate sculptor, the Finnish conductor moulds the orchestra in changeable shapes and colours – just what Sibelius’s epic music calls for.

Info & Ticket (www.concertgebouw.nl)