For Richard Wagner, it was the "apotheosis of dance," and some therefore refer to it as "The Choreographic." But Romain Rolland summed it up more succinctly when he called it an "orgy of rhythm" – Beethoven's 7th Symphony, pulsating with a rhythmic drive that ultimately builds to wild ecstasy in the inexorably forward-rushing finale. There's no stopping it – that's the rhythm you simply have to go with! But Maurice Ravel, the composer of Bolero , also celebrates an "orgy of rhythm" with La Valse , in 3/4 time. The piece, subtitled Poème chorégraphique (Choreographic Poem), is a "crazy" homage to the Viennese waltz. Between the two "choreographic" works: the premiere of Roland Kunz's Three Late Songs . The soloist is Turkish mezzo-soprano Seray Pinar, a member of the Académie of the Paris Opéra since 2022. In August 2024, she also sang in the final concert of the Young Singer Project at the Salzburg Festival.

Darlington Conducts Beethoven's Seventh

Meistersinger Hall

In his libretto for Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier, Luigi Illica gave the character of Carlo Gérard—once a lackey, now a revolutionary hero—a phrase taken from the Girondist Vergniaud, who was executed in 1793: "The revolution devours its own children." This prominent quote reflects the core of the opera's plot, which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1896: In a powerful historical narrative, it demonstrates how the French Revolution, in the course of its radicalization, also turned against people who had shared its ideals. Among them is the poet André Chénier (1762-1794), who is introduced in the opera as a guest at a nobleman's feast in 1789. In this decadent atmosphere, musically evoked by Rococo allusions, Chénier dares to denounce the social injustices of the Ancien Régime, provoking outrage but impressing the hostess's daughter, Maddalena, and the rebellious servant Carlo Gérard. After a leap in time of five years, we meet these three characters again under completely different circumstances. In her famous aria "La mamma morta," Maddalena describes how her family and possessions were taken from her, and how only her faith in love, to which Chénier once opened her eyes, kept her alive. However, Chénier cannot offer her the protection she seeks from him; as a critic of Robespierre's Reign of Terror, he, too, is acutely threatened. Even Gérard appears to be a victim of the political situation: after shying away at the last moment from exploiting his current position of power to subjugate the passionately desired Maddalena, he remorsefully tries to save the imprisoned Chénier from the guillotine - in vain.

Seray Pinar

Events

Past events

Oct 11, 2025

Darlington Conducts Beethoven's Seventh · Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra

Aug 25, 2025

Andrea Chénier · Salzburger Festspiele

Future and recently performed repertoire

Bersi in Andrea Chénier by Giordano

Salzburger Festspiele

Singer in Three Late Songs by Kunz

Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra

About

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