NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Alisa Weilerstein / Alan Gilbert

Barber: rarely played, without reason

»There is no reason why music should be hard for an audience to understand.« That was the firm belief of Samuel Barber, one of the most highly recognised 20th century composers in his native America. And he scored a top hit with his moving lament »Adagio for Strings«, which everyone knows and understands, even in Europe. But the rest of his oeuvre is massively underrepresented in German concert halls – something that is entirely incomprehensible! Chief conductor Alan Gilbert began to fill this gap at least with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra with several programmes as part of the America spotlight last season – and carries on in 2022/23, with Barber’s impressive but notoriously hard-to-play Cello Concerto. The solo part is performed by returning American highflyer cellist Alisa Weilerstein, who is always fond of a challenge.