Share

"Those who wrote a Ninth were too close to the afterlife," Arnold Schönberg prophesied, referring to the symphonic oeuvre of Beethoven, Bruckner and Mahler: "Anyone who wants to go beyond that must leave." Mahler's ninth and final symphony is a work of farewell - permeated by a multitude of emotions, by painful melancholy, profound ruptures, but also by ecstatic joy. In an interview, Thomas Hengelbrock said that Mahler's "Ninth" is music "that constantly confronts us with our own mortality. But because it is so truthful and taken from life and translated into great art, it fills us with vitality and new courage." For the Ninth Symphony is not a work of resignation or hopelessness. It is one of the few great symphonies that do not experience a final apotheosis or end catastrophically, as Mahler did in his "Sixth." The “Ninth” fades away quietly, as if a beloved visitor sneaks out the door unnoticed.

With its extreme contrasts, ranging from dramatic climaxes to tender, poetic moments, Franz Liszt's 2nd Piano Concerto is a virtuoso and interpretative challenge for soloists. The French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, known for his brilliant playing and the emotional depth of his interpretations, takes on the solo part. The piano concerto is framed by Strauss twice. Josef Strauss composed his "Dynamiden Waltz" in 1865 for the Industrialists' Ball in the Redoutensaal of the Vienna Hofburg, venturing into compositional realms that are not usually touched upon by dance music. No wonder Richard Strauss plagiarized this waltz gem for his "Rosenkavalier". The famous waltz melody is of course not missing from the "Rosenkavalier Suite", which Philippe Jordan recomposed. The selected key musical passages of the opera allow the audience to experience the plot in a concentrated form and bring the famous arias of the Marschallin, Octavian and Baron von »Ochs« to life, even when there are no singers on stage.

The famous "Chorale St. Antonii" comes from Haydn's B-flat major Divertimento, which Brahms used as the theme for his "Haydn Variations". The chorale is probably a pilgrimage song that was sung on foot to a St. Anthony's chapel to bring the pilgrims to their destination - "d'un pas léger", with light steps. The wind quintet genre took off in Paris with the enthusiastically received compositions of Anton Reicha, which Franz Danzi emulated in his G minor wind quintet. If France is still considered a stronghold of woodwind sound today, this is also thanks to Paul Taffanel. The "Société des Instruments à Vent", which he founded in 1878, also inspired later composers such as Jacques Ibert to write works for wind quintet. French Baroque composers used the term "Tombeau" to describe funeral pieces for deceased colleagues. Ravel's "Tombeau de Couperin" is more of a musical nod to a bygone era and is much more light-hearted than the title suggests.

The ODEON Youth Symphony Orchestra has been the official patron orchestra of the Munich Philharmonic since 2010. For this youth concert, the "godchildren" play shoulder to shoulder with the professionals. The Munich Philharmonic's principal violist, Jano Lisboa, presents two romantic gems for viola and orchestra: the popular romance by Max Bruch and the romance for viola and piano by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which was only discovered after the composer's death and which Lisboa presents in an arrangement for viola and chamber orchestra. Anyone who travels has a story to tell - musically too! Antonín Dvořák incorporated influences from American music that he encountered during his stay in the US into his orchestral suite. To escape the cold English rainy weather, Edward Elgar spent the winter in Liguria in 1904. "In the South (Alassio)" was inspired by the Italian landscape, language and culture. Joel Sandelson, winner of the Salzburg Festival Conducting Competition, conducts this varied program, while Malte Arkona moderates with a mixture of humor and background knowledge.

Did Sisyphus have dreams? And if so, what did he dream about? Perhaps of soft moss, which is good for resting on, said Jouni Kaipainen, but he certainly didn't dream of stones! With his narrative compositional style, the Finnish composer, who died in 2015, always managed to arouse the curiosity of his audience and captivate them with his musical imagination. Shostakovich's 1st Piano Concerto also exudes a playful approach. Shostakovich cleverly quotes Beethoven, Haydn and himself, cheerfully collages a wide variety of styles and lets a single trumpet appear in the accompanying string orchestra as a parodistic disruptive factor. The solo trumpeter of the Munich Philharmonic, Alexandre Baty, is the cheeky dialogue partner of the celebrated Turkish pianist Fazıl Say in this program. With Sibelius' majestic Second Symphony, which was associated with the Finnish struggle for independence immediately after its premiere, conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste takes the audience back to the Finnish forests — perhaps to a small mossy clearing that invites dreaming.

John Adams conducts John Adams! In addition to the major American focus of the concerts at the beginning of the year, this program is a "portrait in miniature" of the USA's most important contemporary composer. One of his most frequently performed works, the orchestral fanfare "Short Ride in a Fast Machine," simultaneously evokes the excitement and terror of a nighttime drive in a high-speed sports car. At the end, the fast-paced work leaves both the orchestra members and the audience breathless. Debussy wrote his "Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire" in 1889, when he had not yet demonized Wagner's influence as a poisonous sting in French music. With the orchestration of four of the five songs, Adams creates a musical panorama of the era around 1890. Christiane Karg's lyrical, warm soprano voice reinforces the romantic, dreamy atmosphere. Adams' "Harmonielehre" - the title refers to the music theory text of the same name by Arnold Schoenberg - combines minimalist elements with sonic opulence and became a modern classic after its premiere in 1985. Adams was inspired to write the last movement of the three-part work in a surreal dream that revolved around the medieval mystic Meister Eckhardt.

In spring 2025, as in the previous season, the Munich Philharmonic will be inviting you to the "MPhil Tea Time" in the rear salon of the Alte Utting. In two entertaining afternoon concerts, we will be heading for new shores very close to our home, the Isarphilharmonie. In cooperation with Alte Utting GmbH.

With the children's concert "Where to put the anger" for children aged 5 and over, we ask ourselves the following questions: Who hasn't wanted to hide under the covers in fear? Or danced wildly for joy? Ransacked the apartment in anger? Fanny feels the same way: When she hears strange noises in the dark, she gets very scared, she can be so happy and silly that she could burst; she always has time for a good portion of fun and surprise. But right now, Fanny is just angry, so much so that she wishes the anger to come to her in person. She rages, screams, freaks out - the things anger does. With orchestral works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gioachino Rossini and Robert Schumann.

Antonín Dvořák hid a very personal message in his cello concerto: a quote from his song "Leave me alone in my dreams". It was the favourite song of his sister-in-law and former childhood sweetheart Josefina Kounicová. While Dvořák was working on his cello concerto in the USA, he learned of her death. For Kian Soltani, this concerto full of painful longing and deep sadness is a very special piece, and he is convinced that "this work will accompany me for the rest of my life!" The German conductor Anja Bihlmaier, chief conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague, combines Dvořák's cello concerto with a new work by the American composer Sarah Gibson and with the orchestral version of Johannes Brahms' first piano quartet arranged by Arnold Schönberg. Otto Klemperer commissioned the Viennese, who was living in exile in the USA, to perform it. What Schönberg made of the original by the late romantic composer he greatly admired is often referred to as Brahms' "fifth symphony". Klemperer even said: "You don't even want to listen to the original quartet anymore, the arrangement sounds so beautiful."