NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Alain Altinoglu

»I can’t accept that he won’t create anything more!« wrote the composer Mussorgsky, deeply upset by the premature death of his painter friend Viktor Hartmann. Therefore, he decided to portray a last exhibition of Hartmann’s work in music. The Shostakovich suite, which the composer also referred to as his »16th Symphony«, is based not on pictures, but on poems from the pen of universal genius Michelangelo. After the manner of Mussorgsky, Shostakovich gives prominence to the profound vocal part, sung in this concert by Matthias Goerne. The star baritone shares his love of the art song with Alain Altinoglu, who makes his debut with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra tonight.