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Two late works can be heard in this concert, beginning with the expressive Adagio from the unfinished Tenth Symphony. Painful melancholy prevails here, as it does in Das Lied von der Erde (Songs of the Earth), which looks back on the lost beauty of life. Formally located between a song cycle and a symphony, this work was, according to Mahler, “probably the most personal thing I have done so far”. Sakari Oramo conducts this evening.
Artists
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sakari Oramo conductor (replacing Daniel Barenboim)
Dorottya Láng mezzo-soprano
Benjamin Bruns tenor
Programme
Gustav Mahler
Symphonie Nr. 10 Fis-Dur. 1. Satz Adagio (Aufführungsfassung von Deryck Cooke)
Interval
Gustav Mahler
Das Lied von der Erde
Dorottya Láng mezzo-soprano, Benjamin Bruns tenor
Additional information
Duration ca. 2 hours and 15 minutes (incl. 20 minutes interval)
Main Auditorium
47 to 149 €
Introduction
19:15
Series B: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker
Main Auditorium
47 to 149 €
Introduction
19:15
Series L: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker
Main Auditorium
47 to 149 €
Introduction
18:15
Series I: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker
He unleashes “feverish energy”, wrote BBC Music Magazine; his interpretations “really get under your skin”, enthused The Telegraph. “Special intensity in orchestral playing,” Sakari Oramo explains, “is created during rehearsals; it comes from the atmosphere we build together.” The Berliner Philharmoniker, he says, possess “so much energy… [that] you simply have to channel it to where the music demands. At some moments you pull back, at others you push forward. It’s a balancing act.”
Born in Helsinki, Oramo began his musical career as concertmaster of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He went on to study conducting under the renowned conductor and teacher Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy, succeeding Sir Simon Rattle as Chief Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 1998 to widespread acclaim. “Back then, I was completely inexperienced. I had never worked with such an ensemble before,” he recalls. Today, Sakari Oramo is Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Honorary Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and appears as a guest conductor with leading orchestras around the world. He made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2001.
After early voice lessons with Peter Sefcik, Benjamin Bruns began his vocal studies at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre – but his degree was interrupted when the Theater Bremen reached out. What began as an audition for the role of Pang in Puccini’s Turandot turned into four seasons as an ensemble member. This was followed by engagements at the Cologne Opera, the Semperoper Dresden, the Vienna State Opera, and guest appearances with the Bach Collegium Japan, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Today, Bruns sings major tenor roles by Mozart, Rossini, Berg, and Wagner at the Bavarian State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Stuttgart State Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, and La Scala in Milan.
Bruns' career has been accompanied by critical acclaim: “Benjamin Bruns is the ideal Lohengrin. His voice is supple and radiant. He doesn’t just aim for high notes – he integrates them naturally into the broader musical lines. His diction is also remarkable,” wrote the Austrian newspaper Der Standard. Beyond opera, Bruns finds musical balance in concert and oratorio repertoire ranging from Handel to Stravinsky – and of course, Bach: “Christmas without the Christmas Oratorio and Easter without the Passions? I just can’t imagine it,” he says.
“It sounds like something out of a novel,” Dorottya Láng says of her career. Though she sang along passionately to Barbra Streisand as a child, it wasn’t until she turned 20 that she committed to opera. From that moment, her career took off: while still a student, she landed her first roles at the Volksoper in Vienna, where she later spent two seasons as an ensemble member. Awards at the Wigmore Hall / Kohn Foundation Song Competition and the Emmerich Smola Competition opened the doors to German opera houses, eventually leading her from the National Theatre in Mannheim to the Hamburg State Opera.
With a wide-ranging repertoire that spans from Mozart and Rossini to Strauss, Janáček and Britten, she has enjoyed critical and public acclaim. The Telegraph praised her as “a singer of great musical balance with a rich and even voice.” Dorottya Láng has appeared with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Malmö Opera, and the Ruhrtriennale. She regularly gives lieder recitals and has performed symphonic repertoire at prestigious venues such as the Vienna Musikverein, the Vienna Konzerthaus, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.
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