Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra / Julia Lezhneva / Adam Fischer

Haydn: Berenice, che fai / Bartók: Suite from »The Miraculous Mandarin« / Mahler: Symphony No. 4

Tickets currently not available 15.40 | 39.60 | 56.10 | 71.50 | 91.30 Please try again later
Tickets currently not available 15.40 | 39.60 | 56.10 | 71.50 | 91.30 Please try again later
Julia Lezhneva
Julia Lezhneva © Ksenia Zasetskaya
Adam Fischer
Adam Fischer © Nikolaj Lund

Musical depths

»Scena di Berenice«, which is rarely performed nowadays, was composed by Joseph Haydn during his second visit to London. The content is quintessential for a classical aria: a woman in love has been abandoned by her partner and now laments sonorously. 130 years later, a work by Béla Bartók caused a far-reaching scandal: the fiery dance pantomime called »The Miraculous Mandarin« was banned in Cologne in 1926 by the then Lord Mayor Konrad Adenauer. This is how barbaric the music seemed to the listeners. And it is indeed true: Bartók was not interested in music as edification. He wanted to depict reality. And reality in the early 20th century was often a long way from harmonious.

In the second half of the concert, Gustav Mahler’s fourth and arguably most light-filled symphony takes us back to the beginning of the century. But beware: the light in the symphony is tempered with some dark shallow waters. At a children’s concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall back in 1960, the great rediscoverer of Mahler, Leonard Bernstein, said: »Well, you might not believe it, but the man who wrote all that jolly stuff was one of the most unhappy people in history!«

Performers

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

Julia Lezhneva soprano

conductor Adam Fischer

Programme

Joseph Haydn
Berenice, che fai / Kantate Hob. XXIVa:10

Béla Bartók
Suite from »The Miraculous Mandarin«, Sz 73

– Interval –

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 4 in G major for Large Orchestra and Soprano

Pre-Concert Talk

mit Michael Sangkuhl (in German)

10:00 / Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal

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Promoter: Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

During your visit

Elbphilharmonie Plaza

A public viewing platform on the 8th floor of the Elbphilharmonie

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Food and Drink

Before the concert and in the interval

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Coughing, clapping, chatting

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