Season opening in Bamberg

Opening Concert in Bamberg

»Adorn yourself, O beloved soul, forsake this dark den of sin, enter into the bright light, and begin to gleam gloriously!« Thus goes a favorite hymn for the Lord’s Supper centuries ago, from which Bach created a wonderfully tranquil organ work – about which Mendelssohn commented, »If life had taken everything from me, this piece would bring me comfort again.« After this, our opening concert is all about the city of Brno, the home of our Principal Conductor. Also Petr Fiala, founder of the famous Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno and composer himself, was born here in 1943. It was his heart’s desire for Jakub Hrůša to conduct his »Stabat Mater« one day: A colourful setting of the medieval poem, focusing on the mother of Jesus in her mourning for her crucified son. We will also perform Janáček's highly original »Glagolitic Mass«, premiered in Brno in 1927: when the composer, aged 72, wrote the piece shortly before his death, he deliberately wanted to distinguish himself from Western practices and therefore spoke of a »joyful mass« – inspired by the nature spectacle of a thunderstorm and spreading an utterly secular atmosphere. And while the traditional ordinarium from Kyrie to Agnus Dei is adhered to here, the text is not in Latin but in the old Church Slavonic from the 9th century – for Janáček loved to occupy himself with different types of human tonality, which he described as his »little windows to the soul«. Musically, the agitated events are sometimes contrasted with tender passages – and just before the finale there is a brilliant organ solo, which brings this unique mass to an end like a joyful celebration.

Season Opening with Blomstedt

Herbert Blomstedt is Sweden's internationally most recognized conductor – ever. Among the orchestras he has worked with are the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris, and notably the San Francisco Symphony, where Blomstedt was chief conductor for ten years. Blomstedt has also conducted the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra on well over 200 occasions, and on the occasion of his 90th birthday in 2017, Konserthuset named its grand conductor's dressing room after him.It has been 70 years since Herbert Blomstedt first conducted the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at a public concert, and already two years before that, in 1952, he conducted the orchestra during a radio broadcast.As he makes another cherished visit to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, it is with two favorites, Franz Berwald and Brahms. Memories from the Norwegian mountains came to him after a visit to Norway, and Berwald described the Nordic-sounding music as orchestral tonal painting. The restlessly bustling Sinfonie capricieuse is surrounded by mystique, for shortly after Berwald's death, the score disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The music was later reconstructed by Nils Castegren based on Berwald's remaining sketches.Johannes Brahms's first symphony is undoubtedly a masterpiece. The symphony was crafted over many years, with Brahms at times almost paralyzed by the performance demands of his idol Beethoven. However, the end result is magnificent and shaped with precision, intense emotion, and great beauty.

Season opening with Vladimir Jurowski

Christina Bock falls ill, Fleur Barron replaces her.Christina Bock unfortunately had to cancel her participation in the season opening concert of the RSB on September 9th at the Philharmonie Berlin due to illness. We are delighted that Fleur Barron has agreed at short notice to take on the vocal part in Arnold Schönberg’s “Vier Lieder für Gesang und Orchester op. 22”.It began as an association of radio ensembles in a united Berlin and has grown into a solid cultural unit. Celebrate with us at the anniversary concert at the Philharmonie.The concert will be broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur on 16 September 2024 at 8.03 pm.

András Schiff as guest in Bamberg

E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote that "Haydn and Mozart, the creators of the newer instrumental music, first showed us art in its full glory; but Beethoven is the one who looked at it with a gaze full of love and penetrated its innermost essence.” András Schiff features in this concert as both conductor and pianist, performing works inspired by very different places and ideas. Our musical journey will start with one of Haydn’s "London Symphonies”, named for the British capital even though Haydn did not in fact compose it there. Rather, he travelled to England with the score of the E flat major Symphony in his luggage, ready to be premiered shortly after his arrival in 1794. One critic praised its “ideas, as new in music as they are grand and impressive”. Our programme also features Beethoven’s popular Fifth Piano Concerto. It was composed in 1809, when Vienna was being bombarded by French troops. In the English-speaking world, the concerto is known as "Emperor” because of its thundering, martial tone. But its rich trove of complex emotions is equally fascinating – Beethoven is said to have had "the religious songs of pious pilgrims" in mind when composing the Adagio. In addition to these two masterpieces, our orchestra will perform a work that draws on the music of earlier times: the folk music of his native region was an important source of inspiration for Bartók, and his ravishing dance suite is "a kind of ideally conceived peasant music". He wrote it in 1923 for the 50th anniversary of the unification of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest to form the new capital city of Budapest. In doing so, Bartók looked beyond the borders of Hungary, weaving Romanian, Slovakian and even Arabic influences into his work. After all, his goal was to “create a new spirit in music – from musical forces sprung from the earth itself!”This project was originally planned for December 2020 but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic – we are thrilled that the great artist Andràs Schiff is now finally able to join us in Bamberg!

András Schiff as guest in Bamberg

E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote that "Haydn and Mozart, the creators of the newer instrumental music, first showed us art in its full glory; but Beethoven is the one who looked at it with a gaze full of love and penetrated its innermost essence.” András Schiff features in this concert as both conductor and pianist, performing works inspired by very different places and ideas. Our musical journey will start with one of Haydn’s "London Symphonies”, named for the British capital even though Haydn did not in fact compose it there. Rather, he travelled to England with the score of the E flat major Symphony in his luggage, ready to be premiered shortly after his arrival in 1794. One critic praised its “ideas, as new in music as they are grand and impressive”. Our programme also features Beethoven’s popular Fifth Piano Concerto. It was composed in 1809, when Vienna was being bombarded by French troops. In the English-speaking world, the concerto is known as "Emperor” because of its thundering, martial tone. But its rich trove of complex emotions is equally fascinating – Beethoven is said to have had "the religious songs of pious pilgrims" in mind when composing the Adagio. In addition to these two masterpieces, our orchestra will perform a work that draws on the music of earlier times: the folk music of his native region was an important source of inspiration for Bartók, and his ravishing dance suite is "a kind of ideally conceived peasant music". He wrote it in 1923 for the 50th anniversary of the unification of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest to form the new capital city of Budapest. In doing so, Bartók looked beyond the borders of Hungary, weaving Romanian, Slovakian and even Arabic influences into his work. After all, his goal was to “create a new spirit in music – from musical forces sprung from the earth itself!”This project was originally planned for December 2020 but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic – we are thrilled that the great artist Andràs Schiff is now finally able to join us in Bamberg!

In Bamberg Cathedral with Herbert Blomstedt

Closing Concert in the 2024/2025 Season

Krzysztof Urbański, photo: Grzesiek Mart Ludwig van Beethoven was regarded as a revolutionary (but also an eccentric) in his time, while for subsequent generations he became the epitome of the Classical (and, for many, of what was finest in music). The turbulent reception history of his monumental Symphony No. 9 in D minor proves that the significance of a work is never defined once and for all. It has fascinated not only musicians and listeners with different tastes, but also representatives of different political options and adherents of extreme ideologies. Along the way, it has encountered both nationalism and hope-giving universalism. Today, one of the themes of the Symphony’s finale, considered by some of Beethoven’s contemporaries to be a sign of extravagance, is one of the most recognisable melodies in Western musical culture and is known as the anthem of the European Union.

Closing Concert in the 2024/2025 Season

Krzysztof Urbański, photo: Grzesiek Mart Ludwig van Beethoven was regarded as a revolutionary (but also an eccentric) in his time, while for subsequent generations he became the epitome of the Classical (and, for many, of what was finest in music). The turbulent reception history of his monumental Symphony No. 9 in D minor proves that the significance of a work is never defined once and for all. It has fascinated not only musicians and listeners with different tastes, but also representatives of different political options and adherents of extreme ideologies. Along the way, it has encountered both nationalism and hope-giving universalism. Today, one of the themes of the Symphony’s finale, considered by some of Beethoven’s contemporaries to be a sign of extravagance, is one of the most recognisable melodies in Western musical culture and is known as the anthem of the European Union.