Dmitri Shostakovich's Second Violin Concerto is sonically intense and moving. Although it is in a minor key, it also radiates great hope. Shostakovich's concerto is a favorite work of Isabelle Faust, who is associated with the WDR Symphony Orchestra as Artist in Residence. This is no surprise, since her unique playing combines perfection and brilliance on the one hand, with tremendous depth on the other. As a highlight of the season's closing performance, Cristian Măcelaru conducts the Third Symphony by his Romanian compatriot George Enescu. This opulent work for orchestra and choir overwhelms with its power and strength.

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Universes - Măcelaru & Isabelle Faust

Museum Ludwig

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Few works begin as majestically as Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto. Pianist Alexander Melnikov is able to unleash his highly emotional virtuosity right from the start. The most beautiful melodies and subtle nuances follow on the path to the thrilling finale. Felix Mendelssohn's overture "Ruy Blas" was also once described as "brilliantly chivalrous," opening the program with solemn wind sounds and stormy vehemence. The evening then embarks on a grand journey with Mendelssohn's atmospheric "Scottish Symphony." The evening will be conducted by the celebrated Maxim Emelyanychev.

Spirit of Romanticism - Beethoven & Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" combines feather-light ghost dances and sparkling gaiety. The music, composed in 1843, is arguably the most beautiful musical setting of Shakespeare's comedy of the same name. In it, young people lose themselves in a fairy world and experience turbulent emotional turmoil. 150 years earlier, the British composer Henry Purcell composed his equally heartwarming stage work "The Fairy Queen" on the same subject. Marie Jacquot, the future WDR chief conductor, also leads the musical mythical creatures of Norwegian conductor Kristine Tjøgersen through the enchanted summer night forest.

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Visit the WDR Symphony Orchestra's free rehearsal at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall on Thursday from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. and whet your appetite for an evening of concerts.

PhilharmonieLunch

His Fifth Symphony depicts "the development of personality," explained Dmitri Shostakovich. But the highly emotional music from 1937 also documents his threatening situation during the Stalin era. At times pleading, at times hectically overexcited, the music culminates in an overwhelming finale. Franz Liszt's First Piano Concerto is similarly captivating. It is a welcome challenge for the up-and-coming Israeli pianist Yoav Levanon, making his debut with the WDR Symphony Orchestra. The conductor is the Greek Constantinos Carydis. He opens the evening with a work by his fellow countryman Periklis Koukos: a sonorous prologue to Homer's "Odyssey."

Between the Lines - Shostakovich's Fifth

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Sir Simon Rattle, much honored!, is one of the truly brilliant musical personalities of our time. This conductor, who always inspires those around him, is characterized by verve, seriousness, and emphasis, as well as his refreshingly unbridled enthusiasm for music.

Chamber Orchestra of Europe | Sir Simon Rattle

Alte Oper

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

The German-American Augustin Hadelich is considered one of the world's most outstanding violinists. He has enjoyed a special friendship with the WDR Symphony Orchestra for a long time. Now, together, they will perform Dmitri Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto – a work full of gripping emotion, ranging from deep pain to grotesque humor and feverish energy. Dima Slobodeniouk will conduct from his adopted home of Finland, performing two magnificent orchestral works by Jean Sibelius: the enchanting tone poem "Pohjola's Daughter" opens the concert, before the Second Symphony concludes with a radiant finale.

Resonances - Hadelich & Shostakovich

A new star in the classical music world is the Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev, who now lives in Berlin. He won his first international competition at just 13 years old. Camille Saint-Saëns' Second Piano Concerto, with its pathos and sparkling virtuosity, is the perfect choice for Malofeev's WDR debut. The other two works on the program are French: Maurice Ravel's "La Valse," a brilliant tribute to the Viennese waltz. Lionel Bringuier also conducts Albert Roussel's brilliant, yet rarely heard, Third Symphony.

Daring - Ravel & Saint-Saëns

Peter Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony fascinates with its stirring musical language. The symphony also recounts an eventful artistic life, for the Russian composer's biography was a rollercoaster of emotions. Premiered in Moscow in 1878, the symphony soon conquered the entire world. Just nine years later, Johannes Brahms composed his rousing "Double Concerto" for violin, cello, and orchestra. The work once celebrated its premiere in Cologne. The demanding solo parts are performed by the South Korean violinist Seohyun Kim and the award-winning German cellist Daniel Müller-Schott.

String splendor - Tchaikovsky & Brahms

Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto begins with a crack of the whip. It conjures up a provocative and colorful music in the hall. The French-Canadian Louis Lortie ignites the necessary keyboard fireworks, while Simone Young conducts the WDR Symphony Orchestra for the first time. She began her career at the Cologne Opera. Today, the Australian is one of the world's most distinguished conductors and was the first woman to conduct the Bayreuth "Ring." With Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Symphony in F-sharp, she offers the opulent late work of an Austrian who, after fleeing the Nazis, rose to global fame in Hollywood's dream factory.

Shimmering - Simone Young & Ravel

Debussy Mozart Schoenberg

Gasteig HP8

The "Adagietto" from Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony is a transcendent heavenly music. It is said to have been a declaration of love to his young wife Alma. The symphony premiered in 1904 in Cologne's Gürzenich. Mahler's work spans the spectrum from energetic marching episodes to Viennese sounds to a boisterous, dancing finale. It is a dramatic symphony tailor-made for Cristian Măcelaru and the WDR Symphony Orchestra. Two works for cello and orchestra by Peter Tchaikovsky, including the famous "Rococo Variations," also focus on Slavic Romanticism.

Declaration of Love - Măcelaru & Mahler's Fifth

Concert in Cologne

The "Babylon Suite" by Munich composer Jörg Widmann sets the entire concert hall vibrating. The work is an orchestral excerpt from his opera "Babylon," which premiered in 2012 and advocates for a heterogeneous society. The "fascinating simultaneity" of cultures, according to Widmann, is reflected in the richly staffed orchestra with its effervescent energy and electrifying tension. The composer himself conducts this concert, as this all-rounder of the classical music scene works equally as a composer, clarinetist, and conductor. He is particularly passionate about the works of Robert Schumann. Therefore, he also performs his Second Symphony, in which fiery verve blends with whispering elegance.

Sounds of Life - Schumann's Second

Isabelle Faust, one of the most impressive violinists of our time, sums it up: "It's always about conveying the magic of music in the moment." The current "Artist in Residence" of the WDR Symphony Orchestra presents Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Violin Concerto in this concert. The work has everything that makes the hearts of music fans beat faster: warming lyricism, breathtaking virtuosity, and intoxicating sonic splendor. Robert Schumann was a close friend of Mendelssohn. Isabelle Faust also interprets his exciting violin fantasy, before Schubert's mysterious "Unfinished" concludes the concert, conducted by the British conductor Andrew Manze.

Longing - Isabelle Faust & Mendelssohn

European tour with Sir Simon Rattle

National Music Auditorium, Madrid

The International Convention Centre

Cité de la Musique

Future Chief Conductor Marie Jacquot arrives in Cologne with a room-filling classic. The Frenchwoman will take over as the WDR Symphony Orchestra's conductor in the summer of 2026. She's already stoking anticipation with Anton Bruckner's Seventh. The symphony electrifies with its sky-high verve. Bruckner was himself a church musician and plays the orchestra's instruments like the stops of an organ. Thus, the combination with works for the "Queen of Instruments" is a natural fit. Parisian organist Thomas Ospital will enrich the program with music by Handel and Jehan Alain.

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