Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra / Hélène Grimaud / Manfred Honeck
Ligeti / Ravel / Mahler – Elbphilharmonie Summer
Old and New World
From Fritz Reiner to Andre Previn to Mariss Jansons – the list of principal conductors who have shaped the fortunes and history of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is truly impressive. In 2008, the Austrian Manfred Honeck took over as conductor. This new musical friendship was sealed straight away with the inaugural concert, recorded for posterity on CD, at which Honeck conducted Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. In their guest appearance at the »Elbphilharmonie Summer« festival they perform precisely this same Mahler symphony, along with the star pianist Hélène Grimaud and Ravel’s jazz-influenced Piano Concerto.
The concert is also a little nod to Hamburg as a city of music. Mahler conducted his symphony here for the first time in 1893 under its better-known title »Titan«. While György Ligeti, who has lived in Hamburg for many years, performs his cult piece »Lontano«, which directors such as Stanley Kubrick have even used as a soundtrack.
Ravel’s Piano Concerto meanders somewhere between Europe and the New World. And as far back as 1997, Hélène Grimaud demonstrated on her Ravel record what an exceptional pianist she is, imbuing the work with esprit and groove.
Performers
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Hélène Grimaud piano
conductor Manfred Honeck
Programme
György Ligeti
Lontano
Maurice Ravel
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G major
Zugabe der Solistin:
Sergej Rachmaninow
Étude c-Moll / aus: Études-tableaux op. 33
– Interval –
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 1 in D major, »Titan«
Zugabe des Orchesters
Josef Strauß
Die Libelle / Polka-mazurka op. 204
Richard Strauss
Walzer / aus der Oper »Der Rosenkavalier« op. 59
Festival
Elbphilharmonie Summer
Spotlight
The Americans