Young people in orchestral dress run towards the camera on a green skyscraper roof
Bundesjugendorchester | Picture: Selina Pfrüner

Concert information

Young ensembles

At the invitation of the Berliner Philharmoniker


Info

Beethoven's legendary letter to the “Immortal Beloved” inspired Detlev Glanert to write his Second Violin Concerto. Glanert wrote a work full of longing and passion for the violinist Midori; he has admired her since her days as an internactionally-acclaimed child prodigy. Midori is also the soloist in this performance with the National Youth Orchestra under the direction of Patrick Lange. The orchestra, of which the Berliner Philharmoniker is a patron, will also play Johannes Brahms' First Piano Quartet in Arnold Schoenberg's colourful orchestration.


Artists

National Youth Orchestra of Germany
Patrick Lange conductor
Midori violin


Programme

Detlev Glanert
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 ‟An die Unsterbliche Geliebteˮ

Midori violin

Interval

Johannes Brahms
Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, op. 25 (orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg)



Main Auditorium

8 to 32 €

Biographies

Bundesjugendorchester

“I can tell that these young people really want to give their best, and more,” says Kirill Petrenko of the members of the Bundesjugendorchester (BJO). The young musicians in the BJO, aged between 14 and 19, generally still have their regular music studies ahead of them – assuming that they choose this path. The intention to make music their profession is not one of the prerequisites for joining the orchestra, which is supported by the German Music Council. All it takes is a love of music, the desire to be a team player, and a high level of technical ability. 

In 2013, the Berliner Philharmoniker became a patron of the BJO, inviting the young musicians to Berlin every year. Many former members of the Bundesjugendorchester now play in professional orchestras or have become well-known soloists, including Sabine Meyer, Christian Tetzlaff and Tabea Zimmermann. Tours have taken the BJO, which has been conducted by Herbert von Karajan, Kurt Masur, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Simon Rattle and Kirill Petrenko, among others, throughout Europe as well as to North and South America, Asia and Africa.


Patrick Lange

Like Leonard Bernstein or Simone Young, many conductors owe their breakthrough to stepping in at short notice for a renowned colleague. So too Patrick Lange: in 2010, at the age of just 29, he became Germany’s youngest chief conductor when he took over from Carl St. Clair at the Komische Oper Berlin. He was already professionally established: in 2005 he had become assistant to Claudio Abbado at the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, and he had worked with Herbert Blomstedt, Sir Colin Davis and Ingo Metzmacher. 

Concerts with leading ensembles followed, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. He has also conducted at prestigious venues like the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Opera Australia, the Bavarian State Opera, and Zurich Opera House. From 2017 to 2022, he served as General Music Director of the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. In addition to his work as a conductor, Lange is deeply committed to fostering young musical talent. He is a member of the artistic advisory board of the Young Euro Classic festival in Berlin and serves on the board of trustees of the Festival junger Künstler in Bayreuth.


Midori

Her debut at the prestigious Tanglewood Festival in 1986 has become the stuff of legend: at just 14 years old, playing with Leonard Bernstein, Midori broke a string – twice – yet finished the concert undaunted. Three years earlier, the Japanese-born violinist had already performed at the New York Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve concert – marking the start of a remarkable career. Today, Midori enjoys a reputation as one of the most compelling musical personalities of our time.  “… one cannot fail to be mesmerised by Midori’s flawless technique, by the orchestra of colours she coaxes from just four strings, be the eloquence and rhetoric of her phrasing,”  wrote BBC Music Magazine. “…Her capacity to suggest many voices – from a silky soprano to a yearning bass – is remarkable.”

She performs on the 1734 Guarneri del Gesù violin known as the “ex-Huberman,” and her repertoire spans from Bach to numerous works written especially for her. Yet music is not her only pursuit: Midori studied psychology and gender studies, and is actively involved in humanitarian and educational development projects. In recognition of her deep commitment, she was appointed UN Messenger of Peace in 2007 and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021.