The hr-Symphony Orchestra, led by Erina Yashima, presents a winter-themed program in Fulda. The concert features Tchaikovsky's "Winter Dreams" Symphony, a piece by Kareem Roustom, and Saint-Saëns' 1st Cello Concerto performed by Bryan Cheng.
The baton is the instrument of the star conductor – and can easily go missing: Be it due to damage, as in Toscanini's infamous tantrums – or simply by mistake. This was the case with Joana Mallwitz, who once hurled her baton into the audience. With a pencil, she then continued happily through the score. Whether with or without a baton, the debut of this sympathetic artist is eagerly awaited. At a young age, the score of Schubert's »Unfinished« was her »favourite book« and the initial spark for her career ambitions. She found her studies »heavenly«, became Europe’s youngest female General Music Director at the age of 27 and is now the new Chief Conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, succeeding Christoph Eschenbach. She loves to put together programmes based on dramaturgical considerations and gut feeling – and always explores them with her own personal signature. Her typical, cleverly and lovingly composed blend of recipes between the familiar and the new are like exciting expeditions. For Bamberg, her musical menu includes dance pieces: It starts with the lively momentum of the 1985 work »The Chair-man Dances« by John Adams. Pablo Ferrández is the soloist in Dvořák’s cello concerto, which has to do with the composer’s great childhood love – and Rachmaninov wrote a heartbreaking song of tears with his »Symphonic Dances«. We can truly look forward to Joana Mallwitz’s inquisitive gaze: she is known for her combination of glowing passion and technical precision – and for her willingness to take risks, because: »Music always saves you! That’s why it’s the best thing you can do!«
»Two souls dwell, alas! in my heart« – Schumann knew only too well this dilemma described by Goethe in »Faust«: in his life, highs and lows, creative rushes and crises continually alternated. When he composed his piano concerto in 1845, he was living with his family in Dresden – where, however, he hardly played a role next to Wagner. And so the sounds of this touching work tell of his suffering and longings. Immortalised in the notes is his beloved wife Clara, who thought of it: »How rich in invention, how intriguing from the beginning to the end.« We look forward to the interpretations of Lukáš Vondráček and Hélène Grimaud – who is often described as a musical philosopher. The fact that Clara and Brahms were one heart and soul must have been a thorn in Schumann‘s side. Even after his tragic demise, the two of them remained close and consulted each other on artistic matters. After Brahms completed his elaborate third symphony in the summer of 1883 in the Wiesbaden region, Clara raved about its »mysterious spell«: »What poetry, the most harmonious mood throughout it all, the movements all as if from one mould, a heartbeat, each movement a gem!« Two Wagner pieces full of deep psychological tensions will serve as a frame of reference for us: The stage-saga about the swan knight Lohengrin, first performed in 1850, takes us into an environment detached from the hustle and bustle of the world – but into which reality crashes bitterly. The Tannhäuser opera of 1845 revolves around an outsider: he is torn between sinful passion and the desire for godly love – and only finds redemption in death, according to Wagner with the reconciliation of the elements: »Spirit and senses, God and nature embrace in the holy and uniting kiss of love.«
The hr-Sinfonieorchester, featuring award-winning trumpet soloist Sebastian Berner, presents a program of Ravel, Tomasi, and Prokofiev. Berner, winner of the 2022 Maurice André Competition, performs Tomasi's Trumpet Concerto. Conductor Elias Grandy leads Ravel's "Ma mère l'oye" and Prokofiev's "Cinderella" ballet music.
"Women, you angels of the earth! Heaven's loveliest creation! You are the sole ray that illuminates our lives." (Alphonse de Lamartine) We start with the meaning-laden Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony, inspired in 1901 by his blossoming love for his future wife Alma. A musical marriage proposal with strings and harp, it is a beguilingly beautiful work, albeit shot through with hauntingly world-weary and nostalgic tones. Like many great composers, Richard Strauss had a strong woman at his side – the singer Pauline, for whom he composed many of his vocal works. His lush "Four Last Songs" strike a tone of farewell. These settings of texts by Hesse and Eichendorff were written in 1948, when Strauss’ world had been shattered by the war and he was growing “weary of wandering”, to quote the final line of the last song. While profound grief can often stifle creativity, it sometimes can also awaken new creative energies – as proven by our programme’s emotional final piece, a "work of superhuman strength" written by Josef Suk, who had close personal ties with Dvořák. He became not only the latter’s master student, but also his friend and son-in-law as well, falling in love with Dvořák’s daughter Otylka. But this happiness was abruptly destroyed by Dvořák’s demise in 1904 and the tragically early death of Otylka a mere fourteen months later. Suk wrote the moving symphony "Asrael" to overcome this trauma and in memory of his loved ones, saying: "Such misfortune either destroys a person or brings all the forces lying dormant in them to the surface. Music saved me."
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