If any orchestra has Sibelius's music in its veins, it's the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra: The orchestra has premiered almost all of Finland's national composer's symphonic works and, through its tours, has contributed significantly to his international fame. The First Symphony, in particular, is a true home game. At the conductor's desk and on solo violin are two top Finnish musicians, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Pekka Kuusisto.

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Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra / Pekka Kuusisto / Jukka-Pekka Saraste

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

Prokofiev in America, Stravinsky in Paris. In the Vienna Philharmonic's program with rising star Lukas Sternath, the two Russian avant-gardists meet, bringing dance frenzy, sonic frenzy, jazz, and folklore into conversation. Sergei Prokofiev was famous for his lion's paws, with which he mastered even the most difficult passages in his piano works with virtuosity and full fingering. The 24-year-old Levit student Lukas Sternath gladly accepts the challenge and plunges into the daring passages of Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto. Its positive basic sound, coupled with distinct jazz elements, points directly to the period in which it was written in exile in New York.

Vienna Philharmonic / Lukas Sternath / Tugan Sokhiev

To mark Roger Willemsen's 70th birthday in 2025, his friends Joachim Król and Franziska Hölscher are joining forces with Martin Klett for the new stage program "Momentum." The Harbour Front Literature Festival thus commemorates one of the great intellectuals and brilliant stylists of our time. In "Momentum," Willemsen's highly personal book about life's decisive moments, his voice is once again palpable: poetic, precise, humorous, and deeply moving. An evening about eruptions, longings, and contradictions—with musical accompaniment to works by Beethoven, Shostakovich, Webern, Adams, and others.

Momentum – a Roger Willemsen Evening

1st Soirée

Vienna Music Society

1st Subscription Concert

Voices 2025

Gutshof

WDR Happy Hour - Strawinsky

Philharmonic Essen

For almost three minutes, the cinema audience looks at a black still image while the spherical soundscapes of György Ligeti's "Atmosphères" wander through the hall. Stanley Kubrick's cinematic masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey" begins with this introduction to the dissolution of time and space. Instead of using specially composed film music, Kubrick preferred to use magnificently composed concert music. With his violin concerto, Igor Stravinsky found an idiosyncratic, almost cheerful approach to the genre. With baroque and romantic stylistic borrowings, he plays with the audience's listening expectations, only to then ironically break through the familiar. Prokofiev's first violin concerto is interpreted by Leonidas Kavakos, one of the most accomplished violin virtuosos of our time, who is praised for his unique violin sound. The road to the creation of Brahms' first symphony was long and rocky, but the composition of his "Second" was quick and easy. Since its successful premiere in 1877, Brahms' "pastoral" Second Symphony has been considered his most popular symphonic work, conducted here by the future chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, Lahav Shani.

Ligeti Strawinsky Brahms

Gasteig HP8

Mit 20 einige der wichtigsten Wettbewerbe gewonnen, mit 30 eine Professur an der Münchner Musikhochschule – Maximilian Hornung, unser aktueller Artist in Residence, ist ein absoluter Shootingstar. Sogar seinen Posten als Erster Cellist des BR Symphonieorchesters gab er auf, um sich ganz seinen Auftritten als Solist und Kammermusiker widmen zu können. In dieser Saison ist er bei uns gleich mehrfach zu erleben. Im Prinzregententheater präsentiert er das höchst originelle Cellokonzert von Bohuslav Martinů, dessen rhythmischer Drive aus der Volksmusik von dessen Heimat Tschechien stammt – eine Verbindung zum Übervater Antonín Dvořák. Nach der Pause wird es märchenhaft: Ravel setzte unter dem Titel „Mutter Gans“ Geschichten wie „Dornröschen“ und „Die Schöne und das Biest“ in bezaubernd schöne Töne. Strawinsky feierte mit dem feuerrot-funkensprühenden Ballett „Der Feuervogel“ um einen Prinzen und seinen magischen gefiederten Begleiter seinen Durchbruch als Senkrechtstarter unter den Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts.

Feuerrot

Prinzregententheater

This symphony concert marks the second time that the Stuttgart State Orchestra has invited its partner orchestra, the Baden-Württemberg State Youth Orchestra, to a joint concert in the Liederhalle. At the first concert on Sunday 27 April, the State Youth Orchestra will perform together with musicians of the Staatsorchester Stuttgart and british conductor Kerem Hasan Ludwig van Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3. Pianist Alexander Melnikov, who has already performed in renowned concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall and Toppan Hall in Tokyo, will then interpret Sergei Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.

5. Symphony Concert

Beethoven Hall (Beethovensaal)

Concert Of Music Institute Koblenz

Rheinische Philharmonie State Orchestra

Following a tradition long years in existence, with the Academy Concerts the members of the  Bayerisches Staatsorchester present themselves to their audience as soloists. It is now Emanuel Graf’s turn, who since 2015 has been performing here as 1st principal cellist, both in the orchestra pit and in numerous chamber concerts. On the stage of the Nationaltheater, he will now interpret Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, one of the essential solo pieces for this instrument, about which Johannes Brahms is said to have said: “Why didn’t I know that one can write a cello concerto like this? If I had known, I would have written one a long time ago!” Krzysztof Urbański conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. He made his debut with the Munich Academy Concerts in turbulent times. The second 2020/2021 Academy Concert was converted at short notice into a “Montagsstück”, and therefore performed and enjoyed as a live stream, because of the repeatedly increased pandemic- related protective measures introduced at the time. The young Polish conductor now returns to the Nationaltheater’s podium and brings us a truly virtuoso piece, whose elementary force is still as overwhelming is it has always been. Stravinsky’s ballet, Le sacre du printemps, or “The Rite of Spring”, was the scandal of the day when it celebrated its world premiere.

2. Academy Concert: Krzysztof Urbański

Max-Joseph-Platz

Schwebend

Technikum

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.

Igor Strawinsky

Events

Upcoming events

13 - 14 Feb, 2026

Symphony Concert N° 6 · Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden

Past events

Nov 22, 2025

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra / Pekka Kuusisto / Jukka-Pekka Saraste ·

Sep 27, 2025

Vienna Philharmonic / Lukas Sternath / Tugan Sokhiev ·

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