Andris Nelsons and Håkan Hardenberger in conversation with Sarah Willis (21 min.)

Since 2010, the Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons has been invited to appear with the Berliner Philharmoniker every season, while the famous Swedish trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger celebrated his debut with the orchestra in April of 2015. What makes this combination of conductor and soloist so appealing is that Nelson himself studied the trumpet and even as a teenager regarded Hardberger as one of his role models. In addition to Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, the programme of this concert included HK Gruber’s highly virtuoso trumpet concerto Aerial, a work that the Austrian member of the avant-garde composed specifically for Hardenberger, who performed the premiere of the work. In an interview with horn player Sarah Willis, Nelsons and Hardenberger talk about the challenges of this witty, yet to some extent also disturbing music. Towards the end of the discussion, some of the most unusual sound effects of the trumpet concerto are presented, including a Swedish “cowbell”.