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Pierre Boulez's "Répons" was one of the notable highlights of Kent Nagano's "Philharmonic Academy" in St. Michaelis at the beginning of his tenure in Hamburg. He artfully staged the "exchange" between chamber ensemble and soloists as well as between electronically distorted and unaltered sounds in the hallowed halls of the Michel. The major "Elbphilharmonie" project was still a construction site at the time. Ten years later, Nagano is taking up this exceptional work by the composer, conductor and founder of the Paris IRCAM Institute again and bringing it to our new and yet already firmly established concert hall on the Elbe.

Making music together in the Amaris Quartet is like a refreshing breath of air for my artistic work in the orchestra. These concerts are without doubt the most musically gratifying moments that I am allowed to experience as a musician. They sharpen my hearing and subtly inspire my love of music.

The musical portrait of this concert is dedicated to Richard Strauss – a celebrated composer, politically controversial cultural figure and undoubtedly an artist who was ahead of his time. Confidants described him as a humorous person who never let fame go to his head. His love was music, his family and playing cards (he was even said to have been a good loser). He began composing at the age of six. He reached the first high point of his instrumentation skills with his famous tone poem “A Hero’s Life”. Critics accused him of shameless self-glorification in this work, but Strauss said: “I am no hero. I lack the necessary strength; I am not made for battle; I prefer to withdraw, to enjoy peace and quiet…” If you want to look for autobiographical elements in his work, it is worth taking a look at the “Four Last Songs”, which reflect his exploration of the themes of death and farewell – an artistic legacy; a farewell to this world.

Why are we here? Are we loved? Have children someday? Graduate from school? And will there still be someone to remember us in 100 years' time? A group of young people looking for their way through perhaps the hardest time of their lives. Driven by the feeling of loneliness and the longing for closeness, by ignorance and boundless curiosity, by pressure to perform and sheer despair, they struggle through the school year: Moritz, Melchior, Wendla and their classmates. They experience violence, abuse, death and a small spark of hope for all the survivors (perhaps also the dead). Wedekind's drama is more than a coming-of-age drama, it is a reckoning with the society of its time, an unsparing story that has lost none of its revolutionary power to this day and will be unleashed in a new and contemporary way through music in this world premiere.

In this concert, which concludes Kent Nagano's ten-year term as General Music Director, two key strands of his concert dramaturgy for Hamburg come together: the reference to tradition, namely to the Hanseatic Johannes Brahms, whose four symphonies the Philharmonic has accompanied in recent years in its Hamburg concerts as well as on tours - and the sound of our present in innovative premieres. A look back makes us think of Widmann's ARCHE, Dusapin's "Waves", Shepherd's "On a Clear Day" and many other outstanding new creations. In this concert - as both a crowning finale and farewell - a new symphony by the young Argentinian Alex Nante will be heard in his unmistakably dreamlike, spiritual sound language.