Concert information
At the invitation of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Info
Diverse tonal colours, intense emotions: These qualities characterise the music of the Romantic period. This concert with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra shows just how broad an expressive spectrum could be encompassed by works from this period. Franz Schubert is featured, with his lyrical and intriguing “Unfinished” Symphony; also on the programme are Mendelssohn's liltingly lively “Scottish” Symphony and Richard Wagner's Siegfried Idyll: a tender declaration of love to his wife Cosima. Raphaël Pichon, best-known for his refreshing approach to early music, conducts.
Artists
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Raphaël Pichon conductor
Programme
Richard Wagner
Siegfried Idyll
Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 7 in B minor, D 759 “Unfinished”
Interval
Felix Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 3 in A minor, op. 56 “Scottish”
Additional information
Duration ca. 2 hours and 15 minutes (incl. 20 minutes interval)
Chamber Music Hall
21 to 49 €
Series O: International Chamber Orchestras
Of Foreign Lands and Peoples
Felix Mendelssohn as traveller
Mendelssohn went on a three-year educational trip in his early twenties and brought back a great deal of inspiration for his later works. The inspiration for the “Scottish” Symphony was only one of many fruits of his experiences.
Biographies
Raphaël Pichon
Simply conducting works in sequence without a sense of dramaturgy is not Raphaël Pichon’s style. He is known for crafting his concert programs with such ingenuity that historical connections, dependencies, and parallels in music become directly audible and tangible – not through academic theory, but through immediately compelling ideas. “What guides me is the question: How can we virtually reinvent our repertoire so that its unique message speaks to us?” is how the Paris-born conductor sums up his artistic approach. Pichon studied violin, piano, voice, and choral and orchestral conducting at various conservatories in his hometown and began his career as a countertenor, performing with luminaries such as Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhardt, and Ton Koopman.
In 2006, he founded Pygmalion, a choir and orchestra ensemble committed to historical performance practice, which quickly secured a prominent place in the early music scene. But Pichon’s work does not stop with Bach, Rameau, Lully, or Monteverdi, even though they remain a core part of his repertoire. As a guest conductor with major orchestras, he has long been applying the insights of historical performance to offer fresh and compelling interpretations of Classical and Romantic works – in line with his credo: “Drama is everywhere.”
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Thanks to its nuanced, transparent, and powerful sound, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra ranks among the world’s leading chamber ensembles. It was founded in 1997 by former members of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, with Claudio Abbado – then the orchestra’s chief conductor – playing a key role in guiding the ensemble during its formative years. The Mahler Chamber Orchestra is a free and self-governing ensemble that sees itself as a “nomadic collective,” coming together regularly for projects and tours across Europe and around the world. Its core is made up of 45 musicians from 20 different countries. The orchestra’s distinctive sound emerges from an intense artistic dialogue shaped by a chamber music approach to playing.
The orchestra maintains a long-standing artistic partnership with Daniel Harding, its current conductor laureate. Other artistic partners include violinist Pekka Kuusisto, pianist Mitsuko Uchida, and pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. While the ensemble initially focused on Classical and Romantic repertoire, it has increasingly embraced contemporary music as well. In 2012, for example, George Benjamin composed his opera Written on Skin specifically for the orchestra’s unique sound; the work was performed at the Philharmonie Berlin in 2018. Today, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is a regular guest in the concert programs of the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation.
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