NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Alan Gilbert

Date & Time

Fri, May 3, 2024, 20:00

Venue

It only lasts seven minutes, but it is nonetheless monumental: Arnold Schoenberg’s melodrama »Ein Überlebender aus Warschau« (A Survivor from Warsaw). Schoenberg had readopted the Jewish faith, and he wrote the piece, which opens with a fierce trumpet signal, in 1947 to commemorate the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto. The score mixes the narrative of a man hiding in the sewers with German commands, martial rhythms – and finally the hopeful Hebrew words »Schma Yisrael«, which the Jews use to... Read full text

Keywords: Symphony Concert, Vocal Music

Info & Ticket (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

Musicians

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
Rundfunkchor Berlin
Susanna Phillips	Soprano
Gerhild Romberger	Alto
Maximilian Schmitt	Tenor
Michael Nagy	Bariton
Dominique Horwitz	Narrator
Alan Gilbert	Conductor

Program

A Survivor from Warsaw for narrator, men’s chorus and orchestra, Op. 46	Arnold Schönberg
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125	Ludwig van Beethoven

Give feedback

Last update: Thu, Nov 21, 2024, 15:06

Similar events

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

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Alan Gilbert

Sun, May 5, 2024, 18:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Susanna Phillips (Soprano), Gerhild Romberger (Alto), Maximilian Schmitt (Tenor), Michael Nagy (Bariton), Dominique Horwitz (Narrator), Alan Gilbert (Conductor)

It only lasts seven minutes, but it is nonetheless monumental: Arnold Schoenberg’s melodrama »Ein Überlebender aus Warschau« (A Survivor from Warsaw). Schoenberg had readopted the Jewish faith, and he wrote the piece, which opens with a fierce trumpet signal, in 1947 to commemorate the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto. The score mixes the narrative of a man hiding in the sewers with German commands, martial rhythms – and finally the hopeful Hebrew words »Schma Yisrael«, which the Jews use to prepare for death. The part of the narrator is taken by Dominique Horwitz, himself the son of Jewish parents. The French-German actor and chansonnier is in great demand for performances of literary works of music, from Tom Waits’s »Black Rider« to Stravinsky’s »Histoire du soldat«. And the soloists in the second part of the programme likewise have resounding names: among them are the American soprano Susanna Phillips, alto Gerhild Romberger and baritone Michael Nagy. »War and Peace« is the motto of the Hamburg International Music Festival, and chief conductor Alan Gilbert and his NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra place the emphasis on a work of hope and brotherly love: Beethoven’s world-famous Ninth Symphony. The overwhelming finale culminates in Friedrich Schiller’s lines »All men shall be brothers«, which win the day against all the powers of destruction. Beethoven not only touched a nerve in his own time by ending the symphony with a large-scale chorus of rejoicing: nowadays, everyone is familiar with the melody in the guise of the European anthem. Even the playing time of a compact disc, when the CD format was introduced, was geared to enable Beethoven’s oversized Ninth to be played without a break.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Alan Gilbert

Thu, Dec 5, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Alan Gilbert (Conductor)

Anton Bruckner’s symphonies have been part of the core repertoire of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra since the chief conductor era of Günter Wand. To mark the 200th anniversary of the Austrian symphonist’s birth, however, they will be a special focus of the 2024/25 season, with chief conductor Alan Gilbert now taking over the direction of Bruckner’s longest and most powerful symphony, the Eighth, following his recently celebrated interpretations of the Seventh and Fourth in Hamburg.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Alan Gilbert

Fri, Dec 6, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Alan Gilbert (Conductor)

Anton Bruckner’s symphonies have been part of the core repertoire of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra since the chief conductor era of Günter Wand. To mark the 200th anniversary of the Austrian symphonist’s birth, however, they will be a special focus of the 2024/25 season, with chief conductor Alan Gilbert now taking over the direction of Bruckner’s longest and most powerful symphony, the Eighth, following his recently celebrated interpretations of the Seventh and Fourth in Hamburg.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Alan Gilbert

Sun, Dec 8, 2024, 18:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Alan Gilbert (Conductor)

Anton Bruckner’s symphonies have been part of the core repertoire of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra since the chief conductor era of Günter Wand. To mark the 200th anniversary of the Austrian symphonist’s birth, however, they will be a special focus of the 2024/25 season, with chief conductor Alan Gilbert now taking over the direction of Bruckner’s longest and most powerful symphony, the Eighth, following his recently celebrated interpretations of the Seventh and Fourth in Hamburg.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

Opening Night: NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Alan Gilbert

Wed, Sep 11, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, NDR Vokalensemble, MDR-Rundfunkchor, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Simon O’Neill (Tenor), Christina Nilsson (Soprano), Jamie Barton (Waldtaube), Michael Nagy (Bauer), Michael Schade (Narr), Thomas Quasthoff (Narrator), Klaas Stok (Choir rehearsal), Alan Gilbert (Conductor)

On 13 September 1874, one of the most influential and revolutionary composers in musical history was born in Vienna: Arnold Schönberg. Exactly 150 years later, the XXL-filled NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under principal conductor Alan Gilbert and several hundred choristers along with top-class soloists congratulate him with a veritable mammoth serenade: the »Gurre-Lieder« is probably one of the most large-scale works in the entire repertoire of classical music. At the same time, a worthy start to the new NDR season full of further highlights! At the premiere of the monumental oratorio in 1913 in Vienna, Anton Webern enthused: »What a moment in my life! Unforgettable… The sensation of this roaring sound really moves me«. And this pupil of Schönberg was not the only one: the entire hall rejoiced when faced with the opulent, intoxicating sounds, which no one would have expected from Schönberg at all! The pioneer of atonality and twelve-tone music had long since distanced himself from his late-Romantic Jugendstil. When he completed the orchestration for this piece in 1910/11, which he had already started between 1900 and 1903, he, nevertheless, did not consider it obsolete, but as the »key to my entire development« and document of his musical origin. Five renowned solo singers, Thomas Quasthoff as the narrator, the combined radio choirs from Leipzig, Berlin and Hamburg as well as the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra with double and triple wind, string and percussion strengths then let the tragic story of jealousy surrounding the Danish King Valdemar and his mistress Tove become the sonorous event for the opening of the 2024/25 NDR Season. Jens Peter Jacobsen set the medieval myth play at Gurre Castle in Zealand in 1868 in several poems, which provided Schönberg with text templates for his profound orchestral song cycle.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

Opening Night: NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Alan Gilbert

Fri, Sep 13, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

On 13 September 1874, one of the most influential and revolutionary composers in musical history was born in Vienna: Arnold Schönberg. Exactly 150 years later, the XXL-filled NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under principal conductor Alan Gilbert and several hundred choristers along with top-class soloists congratulate him with a veritable mammoth serenade: the »Gurre-Lieder« is probably one of the most large-scale works in the entire repertoire of classical music. At the same time, a worthy start to the new NDR season full of further highlights! At the premiere of the monumental oratorio in 1913 in Vienna, Anton Webern enthused: »What a moment in my life! Unforgettable… The sensation of this roaring sound really moves me«. And this pupil of Schönberg was not the only one: the entire hall rejoiced when faced with the opulent, intoxicating sounds, which no one would have expected from Schönberg at all! The pioneer of atonality and twelve-tone music had long since distanced himself from his late-Romantic Jugendstil. When he completed the orchestration for this piece in 1910/11, which he had already started between 1900 and 1903, he, nevertheless, did not consider it obsolete, but as the »key to my entire development« and document of his musical origin. Five renowned solo singers, Thomas Quasthoff as the narrator, the combined radio choirs from Leipzig, Berlin and Hamburg as well as the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra with double and triple wind, string and percussion strengths then let the tragic story of jealousy surrounding the Danish King Valdemar and his mistress Tove become the sonorous event for the opening of the 2024/25 NDR Season. Jens Peter Jacobsen set the medieval myth play at Gurre Castle in Zealand in 1868 in several poems, which provided Schönberg with text templates for his profound orchestral song cycle.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / NDR Vokalensemble / Alan Gilbert

Fri, Feb 7, 2025, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, NDR Vokalensemble, MDR-Rundfunkchor, Alan Gilbert (Conductor)

»Elbphilharmonie Visions« enters its second round with musical fireworks: under the baton of chief conductor and festival initiator Alan Gilbert, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra performs the new work »World Builder, Creature« by young British high-flyer Alex Paxton. »I want to make music that makes me feel most alive when I’m writing it and when I’m listening to it,« explains the 33-year-old. The result: an unmistakable blend of video game soundtracks, virtuoso chamber music and jazz improvisation, which was honoured with the Claussen Simon Composition Prize.

Info & Ticket (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Thomas Hampson / Alan Gilbert

Fri, Apr 26, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Prager Philharmonischer Chor, Thomas Hampson (Bariton), Lukáš Vasilek (Choir rehearsal), Alan Gilbert (Conductor)

»Peace, peace on Earth!« Arnold Schönberg’s message in his choral work »Friede auf Erden« is unequivocal. But it’s also an illusion: the composer was not the only one to admit as much after he had completed the score. Recent events in the political arena make this plain to us all. But the improbability of achieving peace on earth makes it all the more important to repeat these words as often as possible. And this prompted Alan Gilbert to choose this Late Romantic work to open the Hamburg International Music Festival 2024. »War and Peace« is the motto this time, taken from Leo Tolstoy’s famous and timeless novel. The opening concert with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra sees the return to the Elbphilharmonie of star baritone Thomas Hampson to sing Kurt Weill’s »Walt Whitman Songs«, which he wrote in American exile in 1941, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Whitman – whom Weill regarded as the USA’s first original poetic talent – wrote the song texts, some defiant, some moving, during the American Civil War. The concert comes to an end with Charles Ives’s Fourth Symphony, described by Alan Gilbert as the »big bang of modern American music«. With this 1925 work, the great pioneer of musical collages made his boldest dreams come true: how many different tempos, keys and rhythms can be played at the same time without total chaos resulting? Ives’s exciting score supplies a spectacular answer to this question. Performing the symphony is a great challenge for any orchestra – so great that the composer never lived to hear the four-movement piece played in its entirety. Now Alan Gilbert and his musicians join forces with the Prague Philharmonic Choir in this musical adventure.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Thomas Hampson / Alan Gilbert

Sat, Apr 27, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Prager Philharmonischer Chor, Thomas Hampson (Bariton), Lukáš Vasilek (Choir rehearsal), Alan Gilbert (Conductor)

»Peace, peace on Earth!« Arnold Schoenberg’s message in his choral work »Friede auf Erden« is unequivocal. But it’s also an illusion: the composer was not the only one to admit as much after he had completed the score. Recent events in the political arena make this plain to us all. But the improbability of achieving peace on earth makes it all the more important to repeat these words as often as possible. And this prompted Alan Gilbert to choose this Late Romantic work to open the Hamburg International Music Festival 2024. »War and Peace« is the motto this time, taken from Leo Tolstoy’s famous and timeless novel. The opening concert with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra sees the return to the Elbphilharmonie of star baritone Thomas Hampson to sing Kurt Weill’s »Walt Whitman Songs«, which he wrote in American exile in 1941, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Whitman – whom Weill regarded as the USA’s first original poetic talent – wrote the song texts, some defiant, some moving, during the American Civil War. The concert comes to an end with Charles Ives’s Fourth Symphony, described by Alan Gilbert as the »big bang of modern American music«. With this 1925 work, the great pioneer of musical collages made his boldest dreams come true: how many different tempos, keys and rhythms can be played at the same time without total chaos resulting? Ives’s exciting score supplies a spectacular answer to this question. Performing the symphony is a great challenge for any orchestra – so great that the composer never lived to hear the four-movement piece played in its entirety. Now Alan Gilbert and his musicians join forces with the Prague Philharmonic Choir in this musical adventure.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Leonidas Kavakos / Alan Gilbert

Fri, Jun 28, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Leonidas Kavakos (Violin), Alan Gilbert (Conductor)

Smetana, Martinů, Dvořák: Alan Gilbert’s programme for the final concert of the 2023/2024 season brings together rousing music by three Czechs, two of whom made a career in the USA at the end of their lives – an evening of successful cultural transfer between Europe and America.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)