14 concert with Andris Nelsons
Andris Nelsons conducts Mahler’s Second Symphony
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony is a work which exceeds all limits. The composition was intended to depict nothing less than the entire universe: the lofty and the humble, tradition and avant-garde, pastoral serenity and demonic grotesques, songs and chorales, and death and resurrection, all expressed in music that is correspondingly multifarious and grandiose. It is conducted here by Andris Nelsons, music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Kapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.
15 Dec 2018Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsMDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig, Lucy Crowe, Gerhild Romberger
Maija Einfelde
Lux aeterna for mixed choir, chime bells and vibraphoneMDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig choir
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 2 in C minor “Resurrection”Lucy Crowe soprano, Gerhild Romberger contralto, MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig choir, Risto Joost chorus master
- free
Interview
Andris Nelsons in conversation with Matthew Hunter
Andris Nelsons conducts the “Symphonie fantastique” at Musikfest Berlin
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
Fanatical love, drug rapture, execution: there’s hardly an extreme experience that Hector Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique leaves out. At the same time, the feverish expressivity is based on a cleverly calculated use of a tremendously large orchestra. In addition, Andris Nelsons and the Berliner Philharmoniker are presenting Debussy’s dreamy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and Edgard Varèse’s orchestral work Arcana, which conjures up cosmic forces, on this French programme.
10 Sep 2016
Musikfest BerlinBerliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsClaude Debussy
Prélude à l’après-midi d’un fauneEdgard Varèse
Arcana for large orchestra (revised 1960 version)Hector Berlioz
Symphonie fantastique, op. 14
Andris Nelsons conducts Wagner and Bruckner
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
Ever since he appeared at the Bayreuth Festival, Andris Nelsons has been considered one of the outstanding interpreters of Richard Wagner. In this concert, he presents the prelude and the Karfreitagszauber from Parsifal to the Berliner Philharmoniker audience. This is followed by Anton Bruckner’s Third Symphony, dedicated to Wagner “with the most profound respect”, in which Bruckner’s individual sound, inspired by the organ, unfolds its full potential for the first time.
29 Apr 2016Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsRichard Wagner
Parsifal: Prelude to Act 1 and Good Friday Spell from Act 3Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 3 in D minor (1889 version)- free
Interview
Andris Nelsons in conversation with Gunars Upatnieks - free
Interview
Wagner and Bruckner: an introduction by Susanne Stähr - free
Interview
Musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker talk about Anton Bruckner
Andris Nelsons conducts Strauss’s “Alpine Symphony”
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
Richard Strauss’ spectacularly orchestrated Alpine Symphony, a showpiece of the Berliner Philharmoniker since the days of Herbert von Karajan, was given its premiere in Berlin on 28 October 1915. The orchestra celebrated the 100th anniversary of this event with a colourful and expressive performance under the baton of Andris Nelsons. The programme also includes Shostakovich’s disturbing, virtuoso Violin Concerto No. 1 with Baiba Skride as the soloist.
30 Oct 2015Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsBaiba Skride
Dmitri Shostakovich
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in A minor, op. 99 (op. 77)Baiba Skride Violin
Richard Strauss
Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), op. 64- free
Interview
Baiba Skride in conversation with Philipp Bohnen
Andris Nelsons conducts Mahler’s Fifth Symphony
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
When people think of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, they think of the Adagietto – at least ever since the movement was used as the soundtrack to Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice, making a significant contribution to the morbid charm of the Thomas Mann adaptation. In addition to Mahler’s music, Andris Nelsons also offers an exciting discovery in this concert: HK Gruber’s Trumpet Concerto Aerial which shifts between wistful jazz and ironic dance music. The soloist is Håkan Hardenberger.
25 Apr 2015Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsHåkan Hardenberger
HK Gruber
Aerial, Concerto for trumpet and orchestraHåkan Hardenberger Trumpet
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 5- free
Interview
Andris Nelsons and Håkan Hardenberger in conversation with Sarah Willis
Andris Nelsons and Emanuel Ax perform Mozart and Strauss
Photo: Monika Rittershaus
The epitome of classical music par excellence: the opening fanfare from Richard Strauss’s symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra. In this concert from October 2014, Andris Nelsons combines the powerful work with Strauss’s witty Burleske for piano and orchestra. The soloist is Emanuel Ax, who also plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto K. 449, about which the composer himself said it was “of a very special kind”.
18 Oct 2014Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsEmanuel Ax
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 14 in E flat major, K. 449Emanuel Ax Piano
Richard Strauss
Burleske in D minor for piano and orchestraEmanuel Ax Piano
Frédéric Chopin
Waltz in A minor, op. 34 no. 2Emanuel Ax Piano
Richard Strauss
Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra), op. 30- free
Interview
Emanuel Ax in conversation with Matthew Hunter
Andris Nelsons and Barbara Hannigan
In addition to the German repertoire, the Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons’s favourite compositions include works from north-east Europe. This preference is also reflected in Nelsons’s concert from December 2013 with Brahms’s Fourth Symphony, and two wistfully sensuous contemporary works by the Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks and the Danish-born Hans Abrahamsen. The soloist is the soprano Barbara Hannigan.
21 Dec 2013Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsPēteris Vasks
Cantabile for stringsHans Abrahamsen
Let me tell you for soprano and orchestra (première)Barbara Hannigan Soprano
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, op. 98- free
Interview
Barbara Hannigan in conversation with Hans Abrahamsen and Paul Griffiths
Andris Nelsons conducts Mozart, Wagner and Shostakovich
Here, Andris Nelsons presents an impressively multifaceted programme which ranges from the Classical balance of Mozart's Symphony No. 33 and the evocative music of Wagner’s Tannhäuser, to Shostakovich’s sometimes garish, sometimes brooding Sixth Symphony. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung praised in particular the “moving calmness” of the concert: “No climax was forced, everything developed organically.”
08 Mar 2013Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 33 in B flat major, K. 319Richard Wagner
Tannhäuser: OvertureDmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 6 in B minor, op. 54
Andris Nelsons and Christian Tetzlaff
The works in this concert with Andris Nelsons portray movement in all its forms. Whether the anxious pacing of Britten’s Passacaglia from Peter Grimes, the giddy gyrations of La Valse by Ravel or the play of the waves in Debussy’s La Mer, they all display a dynamism of unmistakable character. The soloist in Jörg Widmann’s elegiac, singing Violin Concerto is Christian Tetzlaff.
26 Oct 2012Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsChristian Tetzlaff
Benjamin Britten
Peter Grimes, op. 33: PassacagliaJörg Widmann
Concerto for Violin and OrchestraChristian Tetzlaff Violin
Claude Debussy
La Mer, trois esquisses symphoniques for orchestraMaurice Ravel
La Valse, Poème chorégraphique for orchestra- free
Interview
Andris Nelsons in conversation with Esko Laine
Andris Nelsons conducts Tchaikovsky at the Waldbühne
Passion, tragedy and brilliance are the hallmarks of Tchaikovsky’s musical world. And for his guest appearance at the Waldbühne in 2012, Andris Nelsons devoted a complete programme to the Russian composer. In addition to brilliant orchestral heavyweights – the Fifth Symphony and the “1812” Overture – the sensitive side of Tchaikovsky was also to be heard in pieces for violin solo performed by the Philharmoniker’s concertmaster Daishin Kashimoto.
24 Jun 2012
From the Berlin WaldbühneBerliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsDaishin Kashimoto
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, op. 64Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Sérénade mélancolique, op. 26Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Valse-Scherzo in C major, op. 34Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Souvenir d’un lieu cher, op. 42: MélodiePiotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Ouverture solennelle “1812”, op. 49Paul Lincke
Berliner Luft
Andris Nelsons and Matthias Goerne with works by Tchaikovsky and Mahler
In his Fifth Symphony, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky uses grand gestures to portray his personal psychological drama. Andris Nelsons fully savours the emotional and tonal power of the music – and juxtaposes it intriguingly with Gustav Mahler’s songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Here, there are also fearful chasms, but they occur subliminally, in a seemingly simple folk-song style. The soloist is the outstanding lieder singer Matthias Goerne.
22 Jun 2012Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsMatthias Goerne
Gustav Mahler
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: SelectionMatthias Goerne Baritone
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, op. 64- free
Interview
Andris Nelsons on his work with the Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris Nelsons and Guy Braunstein with works by Brahms and Strauss
It was Hans von Bülow, the one-time chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker who said that Johannes Brahms’s Violin Concerto is a “concerto against the violin” – simply because the soloist is given little opportunity for virtuoso showmanship. In this recording, the Berliner Philharmoniker, soloist Guy Braunstein and conductor Andris Nelsons set about to uncover the evident as well as the hidden charms of the work.
02 Feb 2012Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsGuy Braunstein
Johannes Brahms
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, op. 77Guy Braunstein Violin
Richard Strauss
Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life), op. 40- free
Interview
Guy Braunstein on Brahms’s Violin Concerto
Andris Nelsons conducts sumptuous works of the 20th century
In this ingenious programme, Andris Nelsons presents composers from the early 20th century who were creatively and innovatively inspired by music of the past – such as Gregorian chant, revitalised by Hans Pfitzner in his prelude to Palestrina, Baroque music in Heinrich Kaminski’s Dorian Music, and the Viennese waltz in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. Wolfgang Rihm’s Marsyas, in contrast, is thoroughly modern yet always melodious.
11 Sep 2011Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsJan Schlichte, Gábor Tarkövi
Hans Pfitzner
Palestrina: Prelude to Act 2Heinrich Kaminski
Dorian MusicWolfgang Rihm
Marsyas, Rhapsody for trumpet with percussion and orchestra (second version)Jan Schlichte Percussion, Gábor Tarkövi Trumpet
Richard Strauss
Der Rosenkavalier, suite- free
Interview
Winrich Hopp in conversation with Helge Grünewald
Andris Nelsons and Baiba Skride make their debuts with the Berliner Philharmoniker
With two debuts in one evening, this concert from October 2010 had the up-and-coming generation of musicians at its heart. As the main work of the evening, Andris Nelsons conducted Dmitri Shostakovitch’s Eighth Symphony – according to one review, a “sensational concert” and a “brilliant debut”. No less praise was there for Baiba Skride’s “simple and harmonious” interpretation as the soloist in Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto.
16 Oct 2010Berliner Philharmoniker
Andris NelsonsBaiba Skride
Alban Berg
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra “To the Memory of an Angel”Baiba Skride Violin
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 8 in C minor, op. 65- free
Interview
Baiba Skride and Andris Nelsons in conversation with Stanley Dodds
