»The introduction depicts nature awakening from a long winter‘s sleep,« said Gustav Mahler of the opening to his First Symphony. Just the right sentiment for the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra to »awaken« from its long summer break. For their »opening night«,chief conductor Alan Gilbert and his musicians set the tone with a spirit of renewal and optimism – joined by guest soloist Kirill Gerstein, the internationally acclaimed pianist admired not least for his remarkable versatility.
Performers
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
Kirill Gerstein Klavier
Dirigent Alan Gilbert
Programme
Richard Strauss
Burleske for Piano and Orchestra in D minor, TrV 145
Sergej Rachmaninow
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 43
– Interval –
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 1 in D major, »Titan«
About the programme
Mahler’s exuberantly youthful Symphony No. 1 marks the starting point of a powerful oeuvre that reflects the whole world with all its beauty, but also its dark abysses. It is a piece that, according to the composer, depicts »a powerful, heroic man, his life and suffering, his struggle and defeat against fate« and culminates in simply overwhelming optimism. A piece that also encourages us to overcome social challenges – and thus seems, especially in our times, to be the ideal start to a season full of joyful and energising music.
This sense of optimism runs through the entire programme. The youthful Burleske for piano and orchestra by Richard Strauss, composed at the age of just 21, captures the »magic of beginnings« and heralds a great future ahead. Full of audacious musical energy, the work reveals both the untamed spirit of a »young wild one« and glimpses in some full-bodied, sumptuous passages of the luxuriant sound world he would later inhabit. It is a work ideally suited for Kirill Gerstein, a »transformer between worlds« who is equally at home in the realms of jazz and classical music, and whose playing combines power with immense sensitivity.
Gerstein then takes on Sergei Rachmaninoff‘s no less vivid »Paganini Rhapsody«, a work the composer created in Switzerland after beginning a new chapter as a creative artist in exile, after a long career as a soloist. Once again here, the season begins with an infusion of new energy. The work is brimming with emotion too, and includes Variation No. 18, arguably one of the Russian composer‘s most beloved and wonderfully sentimental creations.
