Composer

Mozart Bruckner

Gasteig HP8

Hear the resplendent orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera perform Bruckner’s mountainous, richly textured Eighth Symphony. Music Director and Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin is hugely acclaimed for his interpretation, called “certainly one of the most awe-inspiring ever made … as immense, far-reaching, and stupendous as the composer ever could have wished” (AllMusic).

EPSG:4326

The Met Orchestra 2026 Concert 2

Carnegie Hall

Bruckner’s Eighth is a symphony of vastness and grandeur, a sonic panorama of breathtaking vistas in the Austrian Alps. Using the strength of the full orchestra — with powerful brass, swirling strings, thundering timpani, and singing woodwinds — Bruckner creates a world unto itself. Semyon Bychkov conducts this triumphant finale to the subscription season.

Semyon Bychkov Conducts Bruckner’s Eighth

David Geffen Hall

Alongside Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner is among the composers who significantly shaped the symphony genre in the 19th century. For him, a trained organist, they were always also spiritual expressions. Bruckner's last work, his Ninth Symphony, is akin to a cathedral in its ambition. He composed his Ninth for approximately nine years until his death, creating his symphonic legacy, which he is said to have dedicated "to the dear Lord."

Bruckner's legacy

Casino Bern

The Great Falls Symphonic Choir presents Elements of Life—a celebration of faith, love, and the human spirit through choral works by Stroope, Bruckner, Pärt, Whitacre, Handel, Bernstein, and Ramsey. This inspiring program will be performed alongside the beautiful organ at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Great Falls in tribute to Mary Moore.

Element of Life - Symphonic Choir Concert

First Congregational United Church of Christ Great Falls

We look forward to immersing ourselves in diverse musical worlds under the direction of Susanna Mälkki – including that of Mozart, for whom play was an important part of his life: He particularly loved billiards and skittles, as well as chess and trick-tock – or he would sit at the card table and gamble with Tarock, Brandeln, Piquet, or Pharaoh. This enthusiasm is also audible in his often playful music. Together with Bertrand Chamayou as soloist, we will perform one of his most popular works: Piano Concerto No. 23 from 1786, which was composed around the same time as his comic opera "Le nozze di Figaro" – a fact that is particularly evident in the surprising scene changes of the finale. Also on the program in Würzburg: A composition by Liszt, who wrote significant symphonic poems. He drew inspiration for his last contribution to this genre, entitled "From the Cradle to the Grave," from a drawing by a Hungarian painter. 

Guest at the Mozart Festival Würzburg

St. Kilian's Cathedral

We look forward to immersing ourselves in diverse musical worlds under the direction of Susanna Mälkki – including that of Mozart, for whom play was an important part of his life: He particularly loved billiards and skittles, as well as chess and trick-tock – or he would sit at the card table and gamble with Tarock, Brandeln, Piquet, or Pharaoh. This enthusiasm is also audible in his often playful music. Together with Bertrand Chamayou as soloist, we will perform one of his most popular works: Piano Concerto No. 23 from 1786, which was composed around the same time as his comic opera "Le nozze di Figaro" – a fact that is particularly evident in the surprising scene changes of the finale. Also on the program in Würzburg: A composition by Liszt, who wrote significant symphonic poems. 

Susanna Mälkki, Bertrand Chamayou

Bamberger Symphoniker

Beethoven & Bruckner

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre

Béla Bartók left his homeland of Hungary and emigrated to the United States in 1940. The war and the political situation in his homeland meant that he could not bring himself to stay in Europe. Nevertheless, he never felt at home in New York, where he settled. In the Third Piano Concerto, one can perhaps also trace a strong homesickness. Bartók's music is in many ways rooted in traditional Hungarian music, even though it has its own very personal musical language. This is also evident in the Third Piano Concerto, which, despite being written when the composer was ill with leukemia, has a bright and dance-like character. The concerto was the last work Bartók wrote, and he never got to experience the premiere in 1946.

Bartok & Bruckner

Louis de Geer konsert & kongress

After more than 13 years of extensive restoration, the former abbey church of St. Michael, located in the over 1000-year-old monastery complex, is reopening its doors. It is particularly famous for its "Heavenly Garden," a ceiling painting with over 580 detailed depictions of plants. We have the honor and, of course, the pleasure of performing on this festive occasion under the direction of our principal conductor – and we are presenting a highly Romantic work by the composer who always took great delight in churches. Bruckner dedicated the score of his Fourth Symphony to the feast day of St. Cecilia, patron saint of music.

Benefit concert for the reopening of St. Michael's Church

St Michael's Church, Bamberg

Pacific Chorale welcomes beloved Artistic Director Emeritus John Alexander back to the podium for a deeply meaningful and unforgettable season finale. Framed around the healing power of music and its vital connection to humanity and nature, this thoughtfully curated program explores the serenity, beauty, and resilience found within the art form to which Alexander has devoted his life.

A Serenade to Music

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Under the baton of Music Director Designate Markus Poschner, known for his Bruckner expertise, the composer’s Symphony No. 4 sweeps audiences into a grand adventure through nature’s majesty and medieval romance. (Think wizards, knights and damsels in distress.) With bold brass blasting, the “Hunt Scherzo” gallops with excitement, while the triumphant finale takes you to an unforgettable peak—talk about a wild ride!

Markus Poschner’s Season Finale: Bruckner's Symphony No. 4

Salt Palace Convention Center

Start your morning off right with a behind-the-scenes look at the process of bringing our concerts to the stage. Finishing Touches gives our audience the opportunity to observe working rehearsals; selections from the program will be rehearsed at the discretion of the conductor.

Under the baton of Music Director Designate Markus Poschner, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 sweeps audiences into a grand adventure through nature’s majesty and medieval romance. With bold brass blasting, the “Hunt Scherzo” gallops with excitement, while the triumphant finale takes you to an unforgettable peak—talk about a wild ride!

Bruckner's Symphony No. 4: Finishing Touches Rehearsal

The air shimmers, and a horn calls softly in the distance. Is there a more magical beginning to any symphony than the vista that opens Bruckner’s Fourth? No wonder he called it “Romantic”.

Closing Night: BBC Singers, Bruckner, Wigglesworth

City Halls

Experience for yourself why Bruckner’s Seventh is his most cherished symphony. The hallmarks of his music are all there: the gradual unfolding of expansive melodies with ethereal strings and rich brass soundscapes expressing both majesty and serenity -- transporting you to a world beyond time. Our celebrated and award-winning cello soloist takes a star turn, capturing the poetry and exhilaration of Haydn’s Concerto.

Haydn & Bruckner

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Combined Bienen School choirs and the Symphonic Wind Ensemble join forces for a unique collaboration exploring music of awe, reverence, and fate. The program opens with Randall Thompson’s stirring The Last Words of David and Anton Bruckner’s monumental Mass No. 2 in E Minor. Brahms’s noble Begräbnisgesang (Burial Song) offers a moment of reflective solemnity, setting the stage for the raw energy of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in its thrilling arrangement for chorus and wind ensemble. This unforgettable night showcases the full expressive spectrum of voices and winds from the sacred to the elemental.

Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Combined Choirs

Northwestern University

After the New Year's Concert with Beethoven's 9th Symphony, including the jubilant "Ode to Joy," Stefan Blunier , a regular and welcome guest in Duisburg, returns to the podium of the Philharmonic a few months later for a no less overwhelming symphony: Anton Bruckner's 7th Symphony, a tremendous cathedral of sound and a moving reaction to the death of Richard Wagner, whom he admired and for him the "blessed, ardently beloved immortal master." Before this mighty work with its overwhelming aesthetic, the program features a piece that Carl-Sönje Montag describes with the words "virtuosity, elegance, and joy." He is actually the deputy principal bassoonist of the Duisburg Philharmonic, but for this concert he switches sides and stands as soloist in front of the orchestra. The first movement is "inviting and downright life-affirming," says Montag, "with its virtuoso passages and large interval leaps; the final rondo is folksy and humorous," while in the slow middle movement, "the cantable bassoonist's soul is allowed to sing out in melodic arches reminiscent of Hummel's teacher, Mozart." In short: for Carl-Sönje Montag, the piece is one of the three most important bassoon concertos in the Classical-Romantic repertoire, alongside those of Carl Maria von Weber and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—not bad company.

Overwhelming

CityPalais

Bruckner's Second Symphony is often referred to as the "Symphony of Pauses." But do not worry: these pauses are not silent, but full of tension and give the music room to breathe. A music that was initially considered unplayable by contemporaries. The Vienna Philharmonic initially rejected the work, deeming it far too long. Bruckner shortened it, rented the large hall at the Musikverein at his own expense, rehearsed thoroughly with the orchestra - and was successful. And what a success it was, the applause of the premiere audience on October 26, 1773, seemed never-ending. Bruckner himself later referred to it as the "most memorable day of my life." Today, the symphony is somewhat overshadowed by its successors, but unjustly so. Everything that Bruckner enthusiasts appreciate: the grand arcs of tension, the delicate as well as the powerful moments, the abrupt pauses and new beginnings - they are all already present here. Christoph Eschenbach is considered a Bruckner specialist; that is why we have invited him to conduct it.

Eschenbach with Bruckner

Palace of Culture

Great versatility

Bochumer Symphoniker

Mozart’s popular Piano Concerto No. 24, led by Marie Jacquot with Markus Schirmer at the piano. After the interval, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra also presents Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6, which contains an entire lifetime of emotions.

Bruckner & Mozart with Jacquot

Göteborgs Symfoniker

Jordan Petan, horn

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Of Eternity

East Catholic High School

NSO Principal Trumpet William Gerlach takes center stage in one of the most celebrated pieces of his instrument’s repertoire—Haydn’s sparkling Trumpet Concerto. Gianandrea Noseda completes the evening with Bruckner’s grand Symphony No. 7, a drama of majestic horns and hushed violins building to a victorious return home.

Bruckner’s Seventh Gerlach plays Haydn

Kennedy Center

Enthusiastic audience, horrified critics: this sums up the reactions to the premiere of Anton Bruckner's Eighth Symphony. Today, the symphony is considered one of the most important monuments of musical art. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra made Amsterdam a mecca for Bruckner fans. Klaus Mäkelä looks forward to continuing this tradition, bringing along the magnum opus of the Austrian court organist and Wagner admirer for the orchestra's debut at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival.

Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 8

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

Raphael Attila Vogl demonstrates the diverse sounds of the organ in a program that brings works from Bach to Bruckner to life through impressive transcriptions. The opening piece is Carl Maria von Weber's Overture to "Der Freischütz," which surprises with dramatic contrasts and a romantic sound ideal - in the version for organ, it unfolds with an almost orchestral force. Johann Sebastian Bach's Third Brandenburg Concerto in G major, originally intended for strings, becomes a virtuosic challenge in the organ transcription, emphasizing the clarity and brilliance of the Baroque period. With an excerpt from Max Reger's String Quartet in E-flat major, Vogl adds a chamber music touch that preserves the sonic intimacy of the original while exploring the vastness of the instrument. The conclusion is the finale from Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 - a monumental work whose transcendent power gains even more grandeur in the organ arrangement. Invited by the Dresden Philharmonic.

Bach Reger Bruckner

Anton Bruckner spoke to the conductor Arthur Nikisch about divine visions – perhaps this is a key to understanding his mystical choral motets? Estonian composer Arvo Pärt is also no stranger to periods of retreat and inner contemplation. Both composers transport their listeners to another world. In this program, their music will be combined with probably the best-known organ work of all time: Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

Soundscapes

Stiftskirche

It remained his last major orchestral work, which Johannes Brahms completed in 1887—a "final act of stupidity," as he announced to his publisher Simrock with characteristic irony. Brahms dedicated the Double Concerto for Violin and Cello to the violinist Joseph Joachim, with whom he had been friends for decades. This friendship had recently reached a crisis, however, and to break the ice between them, Brahms sent the score to his friend. Joachim gratefully accepted the offer; thus, a rapprochement was established, and the furious finale proved to be a veritable celebration of reconciliation between the two. A uniquely well-coordinated duo, the siblings Tanja and Christian Tetzlaff, come to Lübeck for this double concerto.

6th  Symphony Concert

Music and Congress Hall Lübeck

Music from Salem brings together musicians of international reputation to prepare and perform chamber music in the peace and beauty of rural Washington County, New York, and environs. Chamber music is classical music written for a small group of performers, and includes a range of styles, from the 18th century to today. Music from Salem also leads educational workshops and conducts violin, viola, and cello seminars for emerging young artists.

Music From Salem Spring Concert

Hubbard Hall - Center for the Arts and Education

Francisco del Pino + Beethoven & Bruckner

Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

Music for the Soul

Holy Rosary Catholic Church

The USC Thornton Symphony presents an evening concert in collaboration with the USC Thornton Choral & Sacred Music department.

USC Thornton Symphony

Bovard Auditorium (ADM)

After devoting three years to his Eighth Symphony, Anton Bruckner was beyond devastated when it was rejected by the conductor he described as his “artistic father.” But instead of giving up, he made many cuts and revisions. Five years later, when it finally had its premiere in Vienna, it was a triumph.

Søndergård Conducts Bruckner

Orchestra Hall

Be there for the Atlanta Symphony debut of one of the most acclaimed artists of our time, Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. The supreme virtuoso plays a hard-hitting, high-octane concerto by Beethoven. Maestro Stutzmann harnesses the Herculean forces of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for a gargantuan heavyweight – Anton Bruckner's Sixth Symphony. "[Bruckner shows] Stutzmann at her best...making the music sound especially bold and raw" (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

Stutzmann Conducts Beethoven + Bruckner

The Woodruff Arts Center

Guest performance

Rudolf Oetker Hall

Sunday Matinee 03: Andris Poga & Rafael Fingerlos

Great Festival House

BNY Classics showcases unforgettable performances by your Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, featuring timeless masterpieces, thrilling premieres, and renowned guest artists.

Bruckner's Eighth

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts

Phenomenal horn player Felix Klieser takes the spotlight in tonight’s concert. He’s the perfect soloist for Richard Strauss’ swashbuckler of a concerto, and even that is just the upbeat to what comes next, as Thomas Søndergård and the full RSNO embark on one of the greatest adventures in 19th-century music; Bruckner’s colossal Eighth Symphony. It’s been compared to a cathedral in sound and a mighty mountain range. Either way, you simply have to hear this breathtakingly beautiful music live. 

Felix Klieser Plays Strauss

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Phenomenal horn player Felix Klieser takes the spotlight in tonight’s concert. He’s the perfect soloist for Richard Strauss’ swashbuckler of a concerto, and even that is just the upbeat to what comes next, as Thomas Søndergård and the full RSNO embark on one of the greatest adventures in 19th-century music; Bruckner’s colossal Eighth Symphony. It’s been compared to a cathedral in sound and a mighty mountain range. Either way, you simply have to hear this breathtakingly beautiful music live.

Usher Hall

Sir Donald Runnicles, a leading conductor of late Romantic repertoire, joins the Philharmonia in its 80th birthday season for one of Bruckner’s great symphonies.  

Two movements of Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony are marked ‘Feierlich’ – ceremonial – and indeed a live performance of this 80-minute work can feel like a musical ceremony, even a spiritual journey. Writing in the 1920s, an American critic described it as ‘a world of deep breaths and far vistas and profound experience.’ 

Runnicles conducts Bruckner 8

Southbank Centre

Join WNO Conductor Laureate, Carlo Rizzi, the award-winning mezzo-soprano, Justina Gringytė (La forza del destino, Roberto Devereux) and WNO Orchestra for a concert that will win both hearts and minds.

Carlo Rizzi & Justina Gringytė with WNO Orchestra

Bute Park

This year’s Remembrance Concert commemorating the destruction of Dresden on 13 February 1945 features Igor Stravinsky’s »Mass«, a deliberately sober, liturgically reduced Mass setting. The composer did not produce a bombastic celebration of Christ’s sacrifice but rather a piece of quiet contemplation. Anton Bruckner’s Ninth feels rather like a testimonial. The composer dedicated the symphony to »our dear Lord« as an act of the deepest devotion. The three completed movements take us on an emotional journey from loss and devastation to hope before the unfinished work fades into silence. Daniele Gatti unites these two compositions to create a poignant tapestry of mourning, remembrance and contemporary spirituality.

Symphony Concert N° 6

Semperoper Dresden

Pianist and conductor Kristian Bezuidenhout will make his Boston Philharmonic debut playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20.

MOZART / BRUCKNER Concert

Boston Symphony Hall

Before Esa-Pekka Salonen became one of the world’s most renowned conductors, he started his musical life as a working horn player and progressive composer. He brings his musical worlds together in leading the American premiere of his Horn Concerto composed for Stefan Dohr, principal horn of the Berlin Philharmonic. The concerto draws on material from Anton Bruckner’s magisterial, brass-friendly Fourth Symphony, which Salonen has programmed for the second half of this concert. Bruckner’s soaring symphonies are frequently described as “cathedrals in sound.”

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Bruckner and Salonen

Boston Symphony Orchestra

The full blast of orchestral sound: This season, the Royal Concertgebouw's regulars present Anton Bruckner's monumental Eighth Symphony at the Elbphilharmonie under the baton of the young star conductor Klaus Mäkelä. He will take over as Chief Conductor of the Dutch orchestra in 2027. Together, they are already testing the limits of this powerful symphony.

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Klaus Mäkelä

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

A vast cathedral of sound, Bruckner's titanic Symphony No. 8 achieves an awe-inspiring effect with its massive orchestration and rich harmonies. Hear your BSO in the spotlight as Concertmaster Jonathan Carney performs Mozart's radiant Violin Concerto No. 5.

Bruckner & Mozart

Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

The Music Center at Strathmore

Mari Eriksmoen is the soloist in Ludvig Irgens-Jensen’s song cycle Japanischer Frühling, with texts drawn from a collection of Asian poetry. Honorary Conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste also leads the Oslo Philharmonic in Anton Bruckner’s monumental Symphony No. 8.

Jukka-Pekka Saraste Mari Eriksmoen

Oslo Concert Hall

From the very first second ofBruckner's 4th Symphonyhe conjures us out of our earthly shell and into a world of mystery, of euphony, of overwhelming currents and enormous constructions. Bruckner's music is 'larger than life', but his 4th symphony is the most welcoming of all his great symphonies and a good place to start if you still have your first Bruckner experience to enjoy. He takes us from outer space to the very deepest place in the heart of the ball when he builds his enormous musical sequences, which switch surprisingly effortlessly from great drama to subtle intimacy. Organ virtuoso that he was, he uses the orchestra as a gigantic luxury organ, which in a split second can switch from the finest little Austrian folk melody to terrifying cascades of sound - produced with an orchestra that is not much larger than in Beethoven's time, but which uses the entire register in new and surprising ways.

Bruckner's 4th Symphony

Odense Concert Hall

Over a misty landscape of storybook castles and deeply carved valleys, a solitary horn calls out at dawn. Bruckner’s Romantic Symphony begins its four-movement journey, encompassing birdsong, forest dances and hymns of thanksgiving. Chicago favorite Daniil Trifonov takes on Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto, a work that crackles with invention and ends with a rollicking, dance-like finale.

Salonen, Trifonov & Beethoven

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden and American pianist Emanuel Ax return to the San Francisco Symphony for a stellar program featuring two Austrian giants. The passionate, far-reaching C-major Piano Concerto, K.503 is now recognized as one of Mozart’s finest—and most difficult—works in the genre. Olivier Messiaen called the brief third theme of the third movement the most beautiful sequence of bars that Mozart ever wrote. It wasn’t until his Seventh Symphony that Bruckner, age 60, enjoyed any popular success as a composer. The Seventh Symphony features a contrabass tuba and, for the first time outside The Ring cycle, four Wagner tubas. It’s a fitting tribute to Wagner, whom Bruckner memorialized in the symphony’s elegiac coda—calling it “funeral music for the Master.”

Jaap van Zweden & Emanuel Ax

Davies Symphony Hall

Thursday Concert No. 6 (2026)

Volkshaus Jena

Through night to light – per aspera ad astra – numerous works and symphonies since Beethoven's Fifth Symphony have led. Would Franz Schubert have followed a similar path if he had completed the Symphony Fragment in B minor, as the "Unfinished" should correctly be called? After the abysmal, gloomy beginning of the work, the second movement already embarks on the path to light and contains passages of otherworldly beauty that have cast off all earthly weight. Bruckner's Seventh Symphony takes the key of this movement, the radiant E major, as its home key, so that the symphony, metaphorically speaking, already begins in the light. Conversely, as in Schubert's case, the second movement then marks the zone of gloom and despair. In the end, however, this Seventh Symphony closes in dazzling brightness.

4th Philharmonic Concert

Konzerthaus Dortmund

Under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Colburn's Maestro Ernst H. Katz Chair of Conducting Studies, the Colburn School’s flagship ensemble presents Bruckner’s sweeping "Romantic" Symphony: a vivid narrative of medieval knights, the enchantment of nature, and the thrilling drama of forest hunts. The program will also feature Salonen Conducting Fellows Aleksandra Melaniuk and Mert Yalniz, with Yalniz conducting the World Premiere of his own composition.

Romantic Realms: Esa-Pekka Salonen Conducts Bruckner

University of California, Los Angeles

Under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Colburn’s Maestro Ernst H. Katz Chair of Conducting Studies, the Colburn Orchestra brings to life Bruckner’s sweeping “Romantic” Symphony: a vivid narrative of medieval knights, the enchantment of nature, and the thrilling drama of forest hunts. Joining Esa-Pekka on the program are Salonen Conducting Fellows Aleksandra Melaniuk and Mert Yalniz, with Yalniz conducting the world premiere of his own orchestral composition. Lizst’s bold and playful symphonic poem Les Préludes opens the concert.

Subscription Concert

Kurpark Bad Oeynhausen

Konzerthalle, Bad Salzuflen

Detmold University of Music

Stadthalle Gütersloh

Schützenhof city park

Stadtpark Schützenhof Hangül GmbH

Stadttheater Lippstadt

Minden City Theater

Paderhalle Paderborn

Although Bruckner placed his symphonic work in the tradition of Beethoven, he could not equal the great Ludwig: his Ninth Symphony remained unfinished, with several incomplete versions of the finale. Aware of his imminent end, he left a majestic score that the extraordinary Marko Letonja, a regular guest of the OPRL, will magnify: a devastating scherzo framed by slow movements that resonate like a final farewell to life. Bruckner's sonic testament... At the end of his life, Richard Strauss composed a final bouquet of vocal pieces, the Four Last Songs, peaceful swan songs tinged with melancholy.

Bruckner 9

UCLouvain

Philharmonic Hall of Liege

Grand Manège

Mendelssohn was influenced less by Prussian austerity and dramatic pathos than his comprehensive education, evangelical piety and, in musical terms, adherence to classical form. The three movements in his violin concerto flow seamlessly into one another. We're delighted that Arabella Steinbacher is back, playing one of the most popular violin concertos there is.

5th Sunday & Monday Symphonic Concerts

Alte Oper

Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 is a monumental journey of grandeur and introspection. From delicate string passages to thunderous brass fanfares, this symphony showcases Bruckner’s mastery of orchestration, capturing a vast emotional spectrum—from vulnerability to triumph.

Bruckner's Majestic Eighth

Jacoby Symphony Hall

Season ticket V09 - Thomas Dausgaard

Opera House, A Coruña

The sweeping sonorities of Bruckner’s epic, final symphonic masterpiece unfold and rise sublimely like spires of a grand cathedral, inspiring awe and transporting you to a world with its own conception of time. A devoutly religious man, the composer’s dedication reads: “To the Lord of Lords, to my dear God, my last work, and I hope that He will grant me enough time to complete it and will generously accept my gift.” With this awe-inspiring symphony, he is already standing on the threshold of eternity.

Luisi Conducts Bruckner’s Ninth

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

Let us venture to claim that we could all use a little more romanticism. In this regard, Bruckner’s deeply romantic Fourth Symphony fits the bill. Emerging from the delicate string tremolos in the opening measures, the horn evokes the sounds of nature and a palpable sense of longing for a more ideal world – savoured with a continuous stream of bright colours. Prior to that, there is an opportunity to solve a mystery surrounding the “Prague” Symphony: to this day, it remains unclear why Mozart did not write a minuet for his Symphony No. 38, leaving it with only three movements. Mozart’s biographer Alfred Einstein simply remarked that the symphony said everything it had to say in three movements. The impressive trajectory leading from gloomy realms to sparkling joie de vivre in the “Figaroesque” key of D major confirms his judgment.

Paavo Järvi | Mozart · Bruckner

When Herbert Blomstedt ascends the conductor’s rostrum, music truly becomes a way of life. The 98-year-old Conductor Laureate of the Staatskapelle embodies a humility and clarity that are deeply rooted in his art. His performances of Bruckner have long been regarded as benchmark interpretations. They are free of pathos and imbued with intellectual rigour, tonal transparency and inner calm. Bruckner’s exploration of musical form culminated in the Fifth Symphony, which premiered in 1876. The composer himself described it as his »most contrapuntally daring symphony«. Placing the highest demands on musicians and listeners alike, the work has an understated grandeur. The finale brings a brilliant fugato, truly an aural apotheosis that abjures vanity.

Symphony Concert N° 5

The soundscapes of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra's chamber concerts are as diverse as the characters of the musicians who perform in them. The demands in the orchestra pit are often characterized by the size and diversity of the voices. Chamber music, on the other hand, reduces this dimension to smaller ensembles and allows for intimate musical interaction. As in a dialog, different opinions come together, new ideas emerge and develop during the performance, opening up a creative space for spontaneous development.

3rd Chamber Concert

Elbphilharmonie

Season ticket V08 - Eva Ollikainen

Galicia Symphony Orchestra - Eva Olikainen

Garcia Barbon Theatre

2025 December Concert

University of New Orleans

Among the most famous movements of any of Bruckner’s symphonies, the Adagio from Symphony No. 7 is melodically rich and expansive in scope, resolving into serene acceptance. Miguel Harth-Bedoya considers the music from Cinderella to be some of Prokofiev’s most beautiful and dynamic; he has selected movements from the original ballet score to recreate the beloved fairy tale.

Prokofiev’s Cinderella

Alice Pratt Brown Hall

In 1896, on the 50th anniversary of his concerto debut, Camille Saint-Saëns wrote a final piano concerto for himself as a soloist. It is considered his "Egyptian" concerto because he supposedly composed it in Luxor on the Nile. Indeed, the second movement in particular draws inspiration from Egypt (a Nubian love song and the sounds of crickets and frogs on the Nile), but also influences from Spain and East Asia. The energetic third movement is also inspired by Saint-Saëns's frequent travels, namely by the sound of ships' steam engines. Yet the composer knows how to dress it all in melodic elegance.

Romantic

With Liszt and Bruckner, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra unites two titans of Romanticism. Franz Liszt revolutionized piano playing, dazzling audiences with his virtuosity and sparking ‘Lisztomania.’ The brilliant Lise de la Salle, known for her technical mastery and fiery temperament, is the perfect interpreter of his works. Anton Bruckner expanded the symphony orchestra’s horizons, crafting harmonically rich and grandiose compositions. His Fourth Symphony, the ‘Romantic,’ evokes medieval chivalry, complete with forest hunts and gallant knights. Under the baton of Eliahu Inbal, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra brings these romantic masterpieces to life in all their splendor.

Inbal dirigeert Bruckner 4

Queen Elisabeth Hall

TivoliVredenburg

Joyce DiDonato has been described as “an American treasure” (Operawire), “increasingly incomparable” (New Yorker) and “a great, brave and inspiring artist – one of the finest singers of our time” (Gramophone). She brings her voice, described by NPR as “luminous, silken, flexible, full of colours and expressive shadings” to Hector Berlioz’s equally luminous song cycle Les nuits d’été (Summer Nights). Berlioz’s gorgeously intimate orchestrations embody the sound of love, both new and long lost.

Joyce DiDonato

Auckland Town Hall

Michael Fowler Centre

The opening piece is Study for Orchestra by Julia Perry, a 20th - century African-American composer . This energetic and rhythmically inventive work reveals the full vitality of American music, bridging the gap between classical tradition and modern language. Next comes the poetry of Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto , brilliantly performed by our principal clarinet, Andrea Fallico. Alternating between jazzy tenderness and virtuoso flights of fancy, this iconic score lets the clarinet sing over intimate, sparkling orchestral colors. Finally, Bruckner's monumental Symphony No. 4 "Romantic" unfolds its mystical forest world, with horns calling out in the mist and majestic orchestral developments. A masterful work that transports us to the heart of nature sublimated by symphonic genius. Under the dynamic direction of Roderick Cox, this contrasting program celebrates the enduring Romantic spirit across centuries and continents.

Composer

Anton Bruckner

Events

Upcoming events

Jun 28, 2026

8th Symphony Concert · Staatstheater Wiesbaden

12 - 13 Jul, 2026

7. Symphony Concert · Staatsorchester Stuttgart

Sep 11, 2026

Dan Ettinger · Teatro di San Carlo

Sep 18, 2026

Bruckner 6 · Musikhuset Aarhus

Oct 2, 2026

Haydn - London · Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Past events

18 - 20 Jun, 2026

Mozart Bruckner · Munich Philharmonic

Jun 11, 2026

The Met Orchestra 2026 Concert 2 · Carnegie Hall

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