Kirill Petrenko in conversation with Stanley Dodds (28 min.)

In March 2019, Kirill Petrenko directed a final programme with the Berliner Philharmoniker before taking office as the orchestra’s chief conductor. The programme featured Arnold Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. The concerto is considered one of the most complex of the repertoire, while the symphony is one of the most popular compositions of the late Romantic period. In conversation with the Philharmoniker’s violinist Stanley Dodds, Petrenko explains why he himself has to be careful not to fall back into traditional habits in Tchaikovsky’s music, and how to approach Schoenberg’s complicated musical language. Further topics of this interval feature include the conductor’s formative years in Vienna, and his feelings about taking up his new position.