Elbphilharmonie Opening

Hamburg General Music Director Kent Nagano and his Phillharmonic State Orchestra make their debut in the Elbphilharmonie with a world premiere. The first guests hail from Hamburg’s partner city on Lake Michigan: the powerful Chicago Symphony Orchestra with its Principal Conductor Riccardo Muti and a programme full to the brim with symphonic masterpieces.

Dame Mitsuko Uchida, who has played a major role in Elbphilharmonie already by selecting its concert pianos, is honoured with the first piano recital. Also in the spotlight is Uchida’s colleague, the great jazz melodist Brad Mehldau. The Indian sarangi player Dhruba Ghosh opens the new series »World Classical Music« and the legendary avant-garde band Einstürzende Neubauten puts the Grand Hall through its paces.

The musical highlights do not end there: Thomas Hampson dedicates himself to the famous entertainers, the Philharmonics, and the world-class cellist Yo-Yo Ma lets his cosmopolitan background run wild. For the inaugural organ concert in the Grand Hall, titular organist Iveta Apkalna takes audiences on a journey through the vast repertoire of the organ. Having significantly influenced Hamburg’s musical life at the turn of the 21st century, conductor Ingo Metzmacher is invited to step not once, but twice onto the Elbphilharmonie stage. He leads one of the Vienna Philharmonic’s concerts.