Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Rundfunkchor Berlin / Vladimir Jurowski

Featuring full choir and orchestra, one might naturally associate this work with Beethoven’s »Ninth Symphony«. But: »Instead of singing the joy, the beautiful spark of the gods, in my Ninth, people spend the entire evening evoking a world of horror and persecution that has still not passed and continues to cast its shadow.« With immense weight and significance – and musical force – Henze reminds us that remembrance must never come to an end.

Star conductor Vladimir Jurowski and »his« Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin set the tone in the first half of the concert. Beethoven’s »Leonore« Overture tells the story of the titular heroine who frees her lover from political imprisonment. And in his »Song of Destiny«, Brahms engages with a poem by Hölderlin, contrasting heavenly, paradisiacal beauty with the uncertainties and tragedies of human existence.