A clever marketing coup: When London audiences were fighting over tickets for Joseph Haydn's concerts, a rival concert organizer hired Haydn's former student Ignaz Pleyel. Flanked by a newspaper campaign that conjured up a "bloody harmonic war" between teacher and student, the rival company's box office was also expected to ring. In this context, the Sinfonia concertante was created as a counterpart to a Sinfonia concertante by Pleyel, which was performed in London in February 1792. However, the composer competition never materialized. Pleyel and Haydn demonstratively cultivated their friendship and paid each other mutual respect. Despite Gustav Mahler's initial complaints that his "Fifth" was a "cursed work" because no one could understand it, it is now one of his most esteemed compositions. This is probably largely due to the moving "Adagietto", which became well known outside of the concert hall through its use in Luchino Visconti's film adaptation of Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice". The Munich Philharmonic is looking forward to welcoming its honorary conductor Zubin Mehta, who was awarded the Golden Medal of Honor of the City of Munich in January 2024.

Haydn Mahler

Gasteig HP8

Once and never again: Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy each composed only one string quartet, and in the large chamber music oeuvre of Jean Françaix there is only one string trio. Remarkably, Debussy published his string quartet in 1894 as String Quartet No. 1 - so he was planning further works in this genre. Françaix's string trio is one of his earliest compositions and is still a favorite with audiences today. The Pasquier Trio alone, for whom Françaix wrote his string trio, played it in over 1,000 concerts. Despite the positive reception, no sister work followed. Ravel's string quartet is also a unique early work that he composed as a student at the Paris Conservatoire for the competition for the prestigious "Prix de Rome". Ravel's fifth and last attempt to win the Rome Prize ended in a scandal that cost the director of the conservatory his job. This, too, has only happened once in the history of the venerable Conservatoire.

Floris Mijnders

Events

Upcoming events

21 - 22 May, 2025

Haydn Mahler · Munich Philharmonic

Jun 22, 2025

Three Times · Munich Philharmonic

Future and recently performed repertoire

Cello in String Quartet by Debussy

Munich Philharmonic

Cello in String Trio by Françaix

Munich Philharmonic

Cello in String Quartet in F major by Ravel

Munich Philharmonic

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