Romantic soundscapes: Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Raphaël Pichon

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.

Sir Simon Rattle and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra with Mozart’s Last Symphonies

Mozart’s final three symphonies reveal the composer at the absolute height of his powers, while invoking in listeners the most diverse moods and emotions. Symphony No. 39 encompasses both tension and splendour, No. 40 is full of mystery and drama, while the “Jupiter” echoes with both solemnity and triumph. Simon Rattle and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra share a special affinity for these works, which they approach with verve, transparency and a rich sense of tonal variety.

Mahler Chamber Orchestra | Raphaël Pichon

Franz Schubert considered his two-movement Symphony in B minor a complete masterpiece. However, it would become known as the "Unfinished" Symphony. French conductor Raphaël Pichon and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra celebrate Schubert alongside Mendelssohn's "Scottish" Symphony, reflecting his travels. Wagner's "Siegfried Idyll" was a birthday gift to his wife Cosima, drawing inspiration from his opera "Siegfried".

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«.

Chamber Orchestra – Alice Sara Ott and Thomas Reif

Chamber Orchestra – Arabella Steinbacher

Chamber Orchestra – Renaud Capuçon

Chamber Orchestra – David Fray

Maximilian Hornung : Chamber orchestra

Martin Stadtfeld : Chamber orchestra