Conductor

It would be hard to find a more fitting piece for a season opening concert than Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor. Its omnipresent symbolic allusions to resurrection can be aptly summed up by the words of Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock’s hymn Die Auferstehung: ‘You shall rise, yes, you shall rise from the dead’ (Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n wirst du). Light emerges from the darkness; the end becomes a new beginning.

Gustav Mahler

Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera

Ballet galas are staples of opera house programmes worldwide. The one at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera will open our 2026/27 season. The extraordinary event will feature the awe-inspiring dancers of the Polish National Ballet and top soloists from Europe’s leading companies. Some of the big names to grace our stage are: Bleuenn Battistoni and Paul Marque from the Paris Opera Ballet; Mayara Magri and Matthew Ball from the Royal Ballet, London; and Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko from the Ballet Company of Teatro alla Scala. A ballet gala is everything you love about classical and contemporary dance in a nutshell. You are about to be amazed!

Ballet Gala

"The success was tremendous and unprecedented! Critics, artists, amateurs and music lovers were intoxicated ... The auditorium roared apart, loudly proclaiming the new miracle." Thus a report on the premiere in 1821 at the Berlin Schauspielhaus. Der Freischütz struck a chord with the times, every barrel organ played the "Jungfernkranz", every street singer performed it, as Heine reports.

The Marksman

Hamburg State Opera

Dressed as a man and calling herself “Fidelio”, Leonore surreptitiously gains the confidence of the jailer Rocco and his daughter Marzelline, thus gaining access to the high security tract where her husband Florestan has been despotically incarcerated by Don Pizarro. Florestan is in mortal danger, but this does not intimidate his wife, who is determined to liberate him. Finally, however, the two of them can only be rescued by an emissary from the monarch. At the end, a Utopia in the form of a final chorus sets the stage aglow, not only as a plea for freedom and justice, but also concurrently as a condemnation of the anxieties and restrictions of human existence.

Fidelio

Max-Joseph-Platz

Ludwig van Beethoven’s first Piano Concerto is a youthful work that in many ways captures the emergence of the composer’s style. In this concert, Sweden’s Radio Concert Hall Berwaldhallen and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra welcome for the first time the British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor. After the intermission, conductor Yoel Gamzou will the lead the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in the British composer William Walton’s emotionally powerful first symphony from 1935.

EPSG:4326

Benjamin Grosvenor in Beethoven’s  Piano Concerto No 1

Berwaldhallen

Cavalleria rusticana: opera in one act, with a libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci. Premiered in Rome at the Teatro Costanzi on May 17, 1890 / Pagliacci: opera in two acts, with a libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. Premiered in Milan at the Teatro dal Verme on May 21, 1892.

Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci

Opéra Berlioz

"The success was tremendous and unprecedented! Critics, artists, amateurs and music lovers were intoxicated ... The auditorium roared apart, loudly proclaiming the new miracle." Thus a report on the premiere in 1821 at the Berlin Schauspielhaus. Der Freischütz struck a chord with the times, every barrel organ played the "Jungfernkranz", every street singer performed it, as Heine reports. Weber had discovered the material in an old ghost book. The story of the hunter Max, who devotes himself to the devil in order to win his bride, touches on people's primal fears. The forest, the epitome of the "German soul", becomes a battleground between good and evil. Weber's music depicts the plight and despair of the people with gripping emotionality; the hope of a happy ending is evoked with fervor. Romantic drama and folk play in one, Der Freischütz is set somewhere between dream and nightmare, fascinating to this day.

Der Freischütz

Staatsoper Hamburg

In the summer of 1910, Gustav Mahler wrote his very last work - which he never finished before his death the following year. Only the first movement was orchestrated and ready for performance. Since then, several have tried to creep into Mahler's universe of thought and complete his sketches and drafts for the rest of the symphony – among them the Israeli-American conductor Yoel Gamzou, who this evening conducts his own take on a performance version of Mahler's 10th Symphony.

Gladsaxe Music Prize 2023

Grønnemose Skole

With both Mahler's overwhelming last symphony and Per Nørgård's transparent and light-filled violin concerto with a Danish super talent as soloist, Copenhagen Phil is preparing for an unforgettable concert with music from both the beginning and the end of the 20th century.

Mahler's 10th.

Konservatoriets Koncertsal

Tchaikovsky declared multiple times that his Sixth Symphony was ‘the best thing I ever composed or shall compose.’ It’s a piece about the journey towards death: of an expiring life-force that’s forced to confront the end in a way that his fateful Fourth and Fifth never quite manage. On this terrifically exciting journey, passion and pathos overflow.

Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique

The Bridgewater Hall

The Dresden premiere of Richard Strauss’s Salome in 1905 was a shock to the public. As the basis for the libretto, the composer used Oscar Wilde’s play, which had already been banned in a few countries. The playwright drew inspiration from a brief biblical passage about Herod’s step-daughter. Wilde not only gave her a name but made her a fully-fledged character. Salome's appeal is irresistible to the entire court, including her stepfather. There is, however, one person who remains unmoved by her charms: the prophet Jochanaan, who is being held captive by Herod. Salome does not give up. When she fails to win Jochanaan’s favour, she resolves to achieve her goal by other means. Through the Dance of the Seven Veils, she manages to persuade Herod to grant her wish: the prophet’s head, served on a platter. She triumphs, kissing Jochanaan's dead lips, yet she will have to pay the ultimate price for her victory.

Salome

The end and beginning of the year have a special energy in the world of music. It is a time of rituals, excitement, and programmes put together with panache. The New Year concerts at Vienna’s Musikverein attract audiences with their long-established tradition: listeners know when to clap in time to Johann Strauss I’s Radetzky March and when to let themselves be carried away by the undulating melody of Johann Strauss II’s The Blue Danube. London’s Last Night of the Proms wows with its dazzling repertoire and Edward Elgar’s ever-present Land of Hope and Glory. Season finales, on the other hand, tend to be a showcase of the entire ensemble’s prowess – a moment when institutions turn to a repertoire that is particularly spectacular and engaging.

New Year's Eve Gala

Not unlike Picasso or Klimt, Puccini painted a series of fascinating and multifaceted female portraits. His Manon, Mimi, Tosca, Cio-Cio-San, Magda, and the seemingly frigid Turandot who secretly pines for love, continue to spellbind opera audiences across the world. As time goes by, the characters do not lose any of their distinct flavour, appeal, and relevance, although their stories are set is long-gone realities. Ever since its 1900 premiere at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, Tosca has sold-out nearly everywhere it was put on. The tragic love story involving blackmail, cruelty, different dimensions of humanity and its lack, crime, and amoral attitudes fascinates audiences that become engulfed by this deadly love tornado.

Tosca

New Year's Concert

The story of Káťa Kabanova might seem simple at first glance. A young woman living in an unhappy marriage and suffering abuse from her mother-in-law gets involved in an affair. Hounded by her guilty conscience, she eventually confesses her betrayal to her husband and commits suicide. Although factually accurate, this brief synopsis does not convey the opera's psychological complexity.

Káťa Kabanová

When it comes to Verdi interpreters, few conductors have left such a distinctive mark as Carlo Maria Giulini (1914–2005). He led the legendary performances of La traviata with Maria Callas at Milan's La Scala, Falstaff in Los Angeles, and Don Carlos at London's Covent Garden. Towards the end of his life, however, Verdi’s Requiem took a special place in the Italian maestro’s repertoire and became a kind of his artistic signature. Now, Yoel Gamzou will conduct this piece in tribute to his teacher and mentor.

Giuseppe Verdi

We all know the story of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods to share it with mortals, thus contributing to humanity’s development. The myth has endured for centuries and taken on increasing cultural significance. The eponymous Titan has become the embodiment of resistance against tyranny and the symbol of heroic fight for freedom. His story has ignited the imagination of poets, writers, painters, and sculptors for centuries. Krzysztof Pastor does not try to conceal his fascination with its symbolism, yet he also examines the ramifications of Prometheus’s act. By stealing fire from the gods, the Titan spurred humankind’s civilisational progress, yet the advancement came at the cost of the world’s gradual degeneration. Let us not forget, however, that alongside the suffering following Prometheus’s act and the opening of Pandora’s Box came Hope. And there is still room for it in today’s world. This ballet offers another original interpretation of the Promethean myth.

Prometheus

The Montpellier Occitanie National Orchestra embarks on a musical journey through England, under the baton of Yoel Gamzou, who trained in New York at the age of 15 and was the last student of Carlo Maria Giulini. He conducts with an intensity that earned him an ECHO Klassik award.

London Story

Le Corum

Contrasts can be a source of the most intense emotions. Calm and anxiety, light and darkness, movement and stillness: although seemingly exclusive, they often form a fascinating whole in music. It is precisely this tension between opposites that binds this concert programme together.

Szymanowski / Golijov / Tchaikovsky

London can have many faces. William Blake portrayed it as a dark, gloomy city full of inequality, suffering, and moral unease. Edward Elgar saw it quite differently. In his 1901 concert overture Cockaigne (In London Town), Op. 40, he depicted the English capital with evident tenderness and humour.

Conductor

Yoel Gamzou

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 10, 2026

Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique · BBC Philharmonic

Nov 22 - Dec 13, 2026

Salome · Polish National Opera

Dec 31, 2026

New Year's Eve Gala · Polish National Opera

2 - 16 Jan, 2027

Tosca · Polish National Opera

Jan 3, 2027

New Year's Concert · Polish National Opera

Past events

Sep 26, 2026

Gustav Mahler · Polish National Opera

12 - 13 Sep, 2026

Ballet Gala · Polish National Opera

Future and recently performed repertoire

Conductor in Violin Concerto by Korngold

BBC Philharmonic

Conductor in Nocturne and Tarantella by Szymanowski

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni

Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Conductor in Der Freischütz by Weber

Staatsoper Hamburg

Conductor in Symphony No. 1 by Walton

Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Conductor in Pagliacci by Leoncavallo

Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Conductor in Cockaigne (In London Town) by Elgar

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Mad Rush by Glass

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Salome by Strauss

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Belshazzar's Feast by Walton

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Azul by Golijov

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Symphony No. 6 by Tchaikovsky

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Symphony No. 2 by Mahler

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Overture to Candide by Bernstein

BBC Philharmonic

Conductor in Requiem by Verdi

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Requiem in D minor by Mozart

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Tosca by Puccini

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Káťa Kabanová by Janáček

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Fidelio by Beethoven

Bayerische Staatsoper

Conductor in Symphony No. 11 by Glass

Polish National Opera

Conductor in Mother Tongue by Waley-Cohen

Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Conductor in Cockaigne Overture, In London Town by Elgar

Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Conductor in The Marksman by Weber

Staatsoper Hamburg

Conductor in Violin Concerto by Waley-Cohen

Polish National Opera

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