Classical concerts featuring

Sir Simon Rattle

Sir Simon Rattle

Today, they are usually heard separately. However, there is much to suggest that Mozart’s last three symphonies form an inner unity, a triad, a world of their own. The number 3 possesses symbolic significance and appears numerous times, for example in the three repeated chords at the beginning and end of the Jupiter Symphony. Particular pitch patterns create coherence. And the fact that the symphonies can be regarded as a self-contained, interrelated triptych is also due to their diversity. Each has its own sound world (with a different set of wind instruments), possesses a distinctive expressive range, and is based on unique musical archetypes. With the last three symphonies, Sir Simon Rattle continues his BRSO Mozart cycle, which began with Idomeneo and is far from over.

Sir Simon Rattle

Today, they are usually heard separately. However, there is much to suggest that Mozart’s last three symphonies form an inner unity, a triad, a world of their own. The number 3 possesses symbolic significance and appears numerous times, for example in the three repeated chords at the beginning and end of the Jupiter Symphony. Particular pitch patterns create coherence. And the fact that the symphonies can be regarded as a self-contained, interrelated triptych is also due to their diversity. Each has its own sound world (with a different set of wind instruments), possesses a distinctive expressive range, and is based on unique musical archetypes. With the last three symphonies, Sir Simon Rattle continues his BRSO Mozart cycle, which began with Idomeneo and is far from over.

Sir Simon Rattle · BRSO hip

“HIP” is not only the abbreviation for ’Historically Informed Performance,’ but above all denotes Sir Simon Rattle’s initiative to expand the BRSO repertoire with baroque music – played on period instruments. The Chief Conductor commences with three of Bach’s most beautiful cantatas. Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht is full of poignant friction and sigh-laden progressions. Every note of Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben contains a longing for death, but also the assurance of an eternal life. Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan is probably most akin to chamber music: with its sparse instrumentation and the omission of a final chorale, it occupies a unique position among Bach’s cantatas.

Sir Simon Rattle

No hell, no Last Judgement, no wrath, no fear, no dread. Not even Jesus’ name is mentioned in this Requiem, which Brahms simply called “German.” Brahms dispenses with religious exaltation and, in a letter to Clara Schumann, refers to one of the pinnacles of his musical output as “the work of a human being.” And Brahms underlines its deeply human message through the use of words from the Sermon on the Mount in the opening measures: “Blessed are those who mourn / for they shall be comforted.” The work is intended for those seeking hope and light. While it may be a Mass for the dead, Brahms does not dedicate it to the deceased but rather to those who are left behind. Providing a fitting complement is Turnage’s Remembering, which was written after the untimely death of a musician friend’s son from cancer.

Sir Simon Rattle

No hell, no Last Judgement, no wrath, no fear, no dread. Not even Jesus’ name is mentioned in this Requiem, which Brahms simply called “German.” Brahms dispenses with religious exaltation and, in a letter to Clara Schumann, refers to one of the pinnacles of his musical output as “the work of a human being.” And Brahms underlines its deeply human message through the use of words from the Sermon on the Mount in the opening measures: “Blessed are those who mourn / for they shall be comforted.” The work is intended for those seeking hope and light. While it may be a Mass for the dead, Brahms does not dedicate it to the deceased but rather to those who are left behind. Providing a fitting complement is Turnage’s Remembering, which was written after the untimely death of a musician friend’s son from cancer.

Sir Simon Rattle

Sir Simon Rattle

Sir Simon Rattle

Boulez, Berio, and Lachenmann: all three are celebrating anniversaries in 2025, and all three have contributed landmark works to modern music. Three of these exceptional works will be presented by Sir Simon Rattle, the Bavarian Radio Chorus, and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in this concert. First on the program will be Cummings ist der Dichter – a work in which Boulez convincingly accentuates the phonetic and semantic dimension of the words in an extremely refined and breathtakingly colorful manner. Laborintus II combines the anarchic charm of the 1960s with a quasi-baroque opulence. In his tuba concerto Harmonica, Helmut Lachenmann explores the sonic boundaries between eruption and silence. Stefan Tischler, principal tuba of the BRSO, will be the soloist.

London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle

Janáček’s hilarious satire about art, lunar travel, nationalism – and sausages.

Sir Simon Rattle

Sir Simon Rattle