Mahler Chamber Orchestra | Raphaël Pichon

Mahler Chamber Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle

»The truth about Mozart’s music is that it’s deeply emotional and passionate and dark and menacing and happy like no other music that has ever been written«, says no lesser figure than Sir Simon Rattle. Now the rostrum star presents all these facets in two concerts with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra devoted to Mozart’s symphonic legacy. »Extreme human emotions crowd into the smallest space here«, says Rattle. Extremes that can now be heard live in the Elbphilharmonie tonight. »No commission, no specific intention« motivated Mozart to write his last three symphonies – thus Mozart biographer Alfred Einstein. Composed in the space of a single year, they should be understood rather as »an appeal to eternity«. Either way, these are pinnacles of the classical symphony repertoire, where the composer displayed his entire palette one more time. For their guest appearance at the Elbphilharmonie Rattle and the »MCO« have chosen the sunny Symphony in E flat and the brilliant C major Symphony, better known as the » Jupiter«.

Mahler Chamber Orchestra / Yuja Wang

World leaders have joined forces here: exceptional pianist Yuja Wang and the acclaimed Mahler Chamber Orchestra have been »Artistic Partners« since early 2024 and as such already had their much-celebrated Elbphilharmonie prelude – »it was the pure, unrestrained, scintillating joy of playing« wrote the Hamburger Abendblatt. For their second joint concert on the Elbe, the orchestra and pianist have chosen a light-hearted programme, which celebrates the merging of classical music and jazz at the start of the 20th century with again two performances by Yuja Wang. Alexander Tsfasman can rightly be described as »Russia’s George Gershwin«. Very much as in Gershwin’s famous Rhapsody in Blue, in Tsfasman’s Jazz Suite laid-back swinging rhythms and typical jazz harmonies encounter the breakneck virtuosity of the solo piano – and a good dash of romantic melodiousness in the style of Rachmaninov. Maurice Ravel was also fascinated by jazz, which he had experienced at a concert tour in the USA. Yuja Wang is also on the piano here for Ravel’s piano concerto, which sprinkles jazz harmonies into wonderfully dreamy French impressionism. The two orchestral pieces always let the contemporary shine through, but are actually based on old musical forms: in his »Tombeau de Couperin«, Ravel gives a nod to baroque dances and styles for a suite and Stravinsky considered concerti grossi such as J.S. Bach wrote when composing his orchestral concerto. The instruments emerge in groups or even individually as a solo – the speciality of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, which sees itself as a unique collective characterised by chamber music.

Mitsuko Uchida / Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Mitsuko Uchida is one of the greatest Mozart interpreters of our time. The Classical composer’s piano concertos form the centrepiece of her collaboration with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with which the Japanese pianist has been closely associated as an »Artistic Partner« since 2016. In their joint programmes, two of Mozart’s 27 piano concertos each frame the work of a different composer. In the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall, the rhythmic 18th and the colourful 21st frame Leoš Janáček’s wind sextet Mládí (»Youth«). Mozart wrote these two piano concertos in the space of just one year. In 1784/1785, the composer in his late 20s was riding a wave of success as one of Vienna’s leading pianists, offering his public ample opportunity to marvel at his skills as a virtuoso and composer. The wind sextet by Czech composer Janáček, on the other hand, can be seen as »a kind of reminiscence of youth«. It was composed in 1924 during a three-week stay in his birthplace Hukvaldy, and looks back on his »youth» on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

Romantic soundscapes: Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Raphaël Pichon

Diverse tonal colours, intense emotions: These qualities characterise the music of the Romantic period. This concert with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra shows just how broad an expressive spectrum could be encompassed by works from this period. Franz Schubert is featured, with his lyrical and intriguing “Unfinished” Symphony and melancholy “Lacrimoso son io”; also on the programme are Mendelssohn's liltingly lively “Scottish”’ Symphony and Richard Wagner's Siegfried Idyll: a tender declaration of love to his wife Cosima. Raphaël Pichon, best-known for his refreshing approach to early music, conducts.

Mahler Chamber Orchestra: Music from the New World

Antonello Manacorda and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra open our International Chamber Orchestra series with music from the “New World”. Anton Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony, written in New York, clearly expresses the influences of both indigenous and African American melodies – although the work is also unmistakably Bohemian in colour. 2024 marks the 150th birthday of the brilliant Charles Ives, the first American composer to gain truly global recognition. Anna Prohaska sings selected songs by Ives, juxtaposed with songs by Gustav Mahler, his European contemporary.

Anna Vinnitskaya | MCO Academy | Mahler Chamber Orchestra | Elim Chan

Shostakovich and Prokofiev were repeatedly targeted by Soviet art critics. Prokofiev appeased them with his heroic Fifth Symphony, while Shostakovich did so with his highly virtuosic 2nd Piano Concerto, brilliantly performed by Russian pianist Anna Vinnitskaya. Vinnitskaya, who won the ECHO Klassik award in 2014 for her recording of the concerto, is now accompanied by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Elim Chan. Prokofiev's 5th Symphony, written in 1944 during the Soviet victory over Nazi troops, also displays combative traits.

Australian Chamber Orchestra

JS Bach hovers over an enticing programme from Australia’s premiere ensemble, embracing Gubaidulina’s sinewy tribute, and Shostakovich’s riveting Chamber Symphony.

Chamber Orchestra – Arabella Steinbacher

Chamber Orchestra – Renaud Capuçon

Chamber Orchestra – David Fray