Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich

Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich

Newly appointed Düsseldorf music director's "Rhenish" Symphony, possibly inspired by Cologne Cathedral, exudes the motivational boost of his move to the Rhine. Paavo Järvi conducts this energetic piece, following Arvo Pärt's soundscapes. Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson returns as soloist in Schumann's Piano Concerto, after a global tour with Bach's Goldberg Variations.

Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich / Paavo Järvi

With the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, its musical director the Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi, and the music of John Adams—which he sometimes performs alongside the composer—Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is on friendly turf.

Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich / Víkingur Ólafsson / Paavo Järvi

Víkingur Ólafsson’s thing is to engage intensively with a work or a composer. After his fascinating world tour with Bach’s Goldberg Variations last season, the Icelandic pianist returns as soloist with Schumann’s Piano Concerto. As a lively addition, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich contributes his »Rhenish« Symphony – a showpiece for the Swiss orchestra and its energetic chief conductor Paavo Järvi. You can hear in the cheerfully flowing sounds of this symphony the motivational boost that the move from Leipzig to Düsseldorf on the Rhine meant for the composer.

Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich / Víkingur Ólafsson / Paavo Järvi

Since the Elbphilharmonie opened, Estonian star conductor Paavo Järvi has been one of its permanent guests, enchanting Hamburg audiences at several concerts a year. Now the conductor of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen again comes to the Grand Hall with his second top orchestra, the venerable Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. They will be joined by Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, who gave two brilliant renderings of Johann Sebastian Bach’s »Goldberg Variations« in Hamburg last season. On the programme is a new piano concerto by US composer John Adams, which was commissioned by the Elbphilharmonie among others. And the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich tackles two of the most famous modern orchestral pieces by György Ligeti and Witold Lutosławski, who skilfully combined folk music from Hungary and Poland with a thrilling orchestral sound in the 1950s.

A cappella in Zürich

Inspired by György Ligeti's microtonality, Lithuanian composer Justė Janulytė's "Iridescence" features vibrant soundscapes and ever-changing harmonies. The spiraling sound, evoking infinity and eternal light, connects with the ancient text in Helmut Lachenmann's "Consolation." Josef Gabriel Rheinberger's "Cantus missae" shares this theme of eternal faith, showcasing the Liechtenstein composer's emphatic style.

Festkonzert 70 Jahre Akademisches Orchester Leipzig

Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin | Cornelius Meister

In 1903, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schönberg first met in Vienna, starting a collegial friendship. The program of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin features these pioneers of modernism alongside Unsuk Chin's concert suite from her opera "Alice in Wonderland." Schönberg's groundbreaking Chamber Symphony No. 1 (1935 orchestral version) and Mahler's lighthearted Symphony No. 4, with its final song based on the Bavarian children's song "Der Himmel hängt voll Geigen," are performed. Chin's "Alice" suite, "Puzzles and Games," a surreal music theatre scene for voice and orchestra, which premiered successfully at the 2017 ACHT BRÜCKEN festival, is also featured.

Moritzburg Festival Orchester

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester

Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, a highlight of his work, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, nicknamed "Fate", will be performed by Yefim Bronfman and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. This concert promises pure Romanticism.