Programme Guide

At the Waldbühne in 2012, Andris Nelsons already proved he could delight the entire audience with a Tchaikovsky concert. This time, he presents works by Weber, Wagner and Strauss. The music of the latter is particularly close to the Latvian conductor’s heart, and as a Wagner interpreter, he has impressed audiences not least at the Bayreuth Festival. In an acclaimed Lohengrin production, Nelsons was joined by Klaus Florian Vogt in the role of the title character for several years. Making his Philharmoniker debut at this Waldbühne concert, Vogt, a tenor with a penetrating yet lyrical voice with radiant high notes, sings excerpts from Wagner’s Lohengrin.

Wagner’s stage work, whose enchantingly ethereal overture is also presented, is a direct successor to Carl Maria von Weber’s best-known opera Der Freischütz. Few composers could portray nature quite like Weber, who was able to transform the forest in particular into music with his gentle string and horn sounds.

Weber was a great role model for Wagner, who in turn, along with Mozart, was one of the greatest role models for Richard Strauss. After orchestral songs and the humorous Till Eugenspiegel, the programme ends with a suite from Der Rosenkavalier.