Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra / Kent Nagano
Strauss / Brahms
The great conductor Hans von Bülow, a lover of both Wagner and Brahms, called it »The Tenth« in order to emphasise the kinship with Beethoven’s Ninth. With Brahms’s First Symphony, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra opens its concert season split between the Elbphilharmonie and the Laeiszhalle. And the opening evening features high-profile soloists as well, namely Naomi Seiler on the viola and Gautier Capuçon on the cello.
The rest of the programme is devoted to music by Richard Strauss, who saw in the combination of his two tone poems »Don Quixote« and »Ein Heldenleben« an impressive pair of works – a satyr play and a heroic drama. Despite its drastic illustrative style, the satyr play paints a scenario of dreams and beauty. This, it’s true, is the diametric opposite of the fateful mood of Brahms’s First, but the juxtaposition of the two compositions represents a grand canvas of the world and of life itself.
Performers
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
Naomi Seiler viola
Gautier Capuçon violoncello
conductor Kent Nagano
Programme
Richard Strauss
Don Quixote / Fantastische Variationen über ein Thema ritterlichen Charakters op. 35
Johannes Brahms
Sinfonie Nr. 1 c-Moll op. 68
Estimated end time
22:30