Name: Chamber Concert · A tribute to Jan Koetsier
Start: 2026-04-19T18:00:00
Location: Munich Residence

Felix Eckert

Lukas Gassner

Uwe Schrodi

Csaba Wagner

Carsten Carey Duffin

Stefan Tischler

Martin Angerer

Herbert Zimmermann

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Andris Nelsons & Håkan Hardenberger

Munich Residence

Unfortunately, we need to change the first half of the programme on December 7 because of scheduling reasons. Instead of the originally planned programme with works for brass ensemble by Takemitsu, Shostakovich, and Tomasi, we will be offering “Four Black American Dances” by Carlos Simon and the trumpet concerto “Nobody Knows the Trouble I See” by Bernd Alois Zimmermann.

Gasteig HP8

Oliver Knussen loved to explore utopian worlds. In his short piece for winds Choral, shifting “choirs” create a variety of spatial effects. The physicality of sound also shapes Clara Iannotta’s The purple fuchsia bled upon the ground. The title is borrowed from an Irish poem, whose vivid language inspired the Italian composer to create an experimental instrumentation that includes electric guitar, MIDI piano, and accordion. The Concerto for Orchestra by George Benjamin, who is also the conductor of this musica viva concert, was written in memory of Knussen: it is a turbulent work that seeks to evoke Knussen’s energy, humour, and spirit. The concert concludes with Harrison Birtwistle’s Deep Time: a breathtakingly colourful piece, alternating between the melancholy character of the English horn and cataclysmically pulsating moments.

George Benjamin & Pierre-Laurent Aimard

“Vivacious, funny, heroic, eloquent, plain-spoken, thoughtful, and wholly irresistible” – this was a critic’s verdict on Anders Hillborg’s Piano Concerto No. 2 after its world premiere in San Francisco in October 2023 with Emanuel Ax and Esa-Pekka Salonen: “You can’t help but love the results.” Now, this 22-minute “fascinating ball of fun,” written specifically for Ax, will be performed again by Ax and Salonen along with the BRSO. The work is flanked by Ravel’s harmonically refined, rhythmically sensuous, and melodically captivating Le Tombeau de Couperin, which is dedicated to the great French Baroque harpsichordist François Couperin, and Hector Berlioz’s aesthetically uncompromising Symphonie fantastique, whose premiere in 1830 led some to suspect that Berlioz had gone mad, while others heralded him as an icon of modern music.

Esa-Pekka Salonen & Emanuel Ax

Watch This Space | Herbert Schuch x BRSO

Industrial park IVG Business Park, Media Works Munich

Paavo Järvi | Touring Concerts Canary Islands

Alfredo Kraus Auditorium

Auditorio de Tenerife Adán Martín

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

With his Symphony No. 31, Mozart wanted to make an impression in the French capital and thus pulled out all the stops by employing not only timpani and trumpets but also clarinets, flutes, oboes, bassoons, and horns. The magnificent “Paris” symphony provides an effective counterpart to Schubert’s “Great C major” Symphony that follows. At the time, the hour-long symphony was considered too demanding and disappeared into the archives. It was Schumann who rediscovered it and arranged for its premiere. It is almost heartbreaking to realise that Schubert himself never got to hear his wonderful Eighth Symphony. But you, dear audience, will now have that privilege.

Paavo Järvi | Mozart · Schubert

Christopher Patrick Corbett : Chamber orchestra

Prinzregententheater

Watch This Space | Steven Isserlis x BRSO

In 1891, Richard Strauss read Don Quixote, a novel of adventurous knightly tales by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, which had been suggested to him by Cosima Wagner. The book must have made a lasting impression on the composer. He worked on the symphonic poem for six years before it premiered in Cologne in 1898. British cellist Steven Isserlis will lend his instrument’s voice to the title character. Always by his side: Sancho Panza, brought to life by the violist Emiko Yuasa – who has been the First Principal Viola of the BRSO since last March. We are delighted to welcome back Daniel Harding, who will transport us into mythical worlds in this concert – which also include Hans Werner Henze’s Erlkönig. Between the two works, Haydn’s “La passione” in F minor will provide an intense, even existential experience.

Daniel Harding | Don Quixote

This chamber music concert is a celebration of musical textures featuring the number three. It was inspired by Thomas Adès’ Sonata with its unusual instrumentation of oboe, horn, and harpsichord that combines a contemporary style with French Baroque flair. Adès wrote this work as an homage to Claude Debussy, thus providing the perfect link to Debussy’s exuberant and extremely popular Sonata. In between the two works, Franco Donatoni’s Small II lends a striking contrast. After an intense first half, the second half of the concert features more “classical” trios, so to speak, that are connected through the use of the piano. Unusually, however, these were written by the rarely performed composers Charles Koechlin, August Klughardt, and Eugène Goossens. These works are distinguished by profound, lavish, and distinct melodies that allow each instrument to showcase its vocal qualities.