Alan Gilbert conducts Beethoven and Schönberg

Arnold Schönberg composed his melodrama »A Survivor from Warsaw« in 1947 as a musical memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It only lasts seven minutes, but is nevertheless a monumental piece. The composer, who had readopted the Jewish faith, combines his fascinating music with a description of events from a narrator hidden in the sewers, alongside German orders, martial rhythms – and finally the hopeful Hebrew words of the »Shma Yisrael«, with which Jewish people prepare themselves for death.

The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and its chief conductor Alan Gilbert will present the work, with Dominique Horwitz as narrator, as part of the 2024 Hamburg International Music Festival, whose motto is »War and Peace«. The French-German actor and chansonnier is in great demand for musical works with a literary vein – from Tom Waits’s »Black Rider« to Stravinsky’s »Soldier’s Tale«.

Beethoven’s famous Ninth Symphony then paves the way towards hope and brotherhood. Its rousing finale culminates in Friedrich Schiller’s verse »All men shall become brothers«, which prevails against all the forces of destruction. »Freude, schöner Götterfunken!« (Joy, beautiful spark of the gods!) – in the Elbphilharmonie with a top-level cast including US soprano Susanna Phillips, star alto Gerhild Romberger and bass Michael Nagy.

As many musicians as could possibly fit on the stage: For their spectacular season opener, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Alan Gilbert also perform music by Arnold Schönberg and dedicate themselves to his monumental »Gurre-Lieder«. A unique experience beyond the usual concert evening with top voices and XXL orchestra.