AN ORCHESTRAL BREAKTHROUGH

GEWANDHAUSORCHESTER LEIPZIG

Few orchestras can rival the Gewandhaus Orchestra in terms of musical tradition. Founded by Leipzig merchants in 1743, it is regarded as the oldest civic concert orchestra in the German-speaking world. Its reputation is rooted above all in the Romantic era, when conductors such as Mendelssohn, Rietz and Reinecke staged numerous world premieres; Schubert’s Symphony in C major, Schumann’s First and Bruckner’s Seventh were performed for the first time at the Gewandhaus. Later, Arthur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Kurt Masur continued this tradition. The orchestra feels just as connected to the preservation of Bach’s legacy at Leipzig’s St Thomas Church as it does to chamber music, for example through the Gewandhaus Quartet, founded as early as 1808. Initiatives such as the Democracy Weekend at the start of the season demonstrate that the orchestra does not ignore the present day.

ANDRIS NELSONS

The Latvian Andris Nelsons is well on his way to becoming one of the Gewandhaus’s most influential music directors: having taken up the post in 2018, his contract in Leipzig has just been extended until 2032. Nelsons is no stranger to taking on responsibility: at the age of 24, he became director of the Latvian National Opera in Riga; in 2008, he moved to Birmingham, where he succeeded Sakari Oramo as chief conductor of the CBSO; six years later, he moved to Boston. Since then, he has conducted the world’s leading orchestras, made guest appearances with the Concertgebouw Orchestra at the Lucerne Festival and toured Asia with the Vienna Philharmonic. His CD recordings with the CBSO and leading German orchestras have won numerous awards. Yet the former trumpeter has never lost touch with reality; he is, to quote the title of a film portrait, “a maestro without airs and graces”.

GAUTIER CAPUÇON

Like his older brother Renaud, Opus Klassik award-winner Gautier Capuçon decided at an early age to pursue a professional career in music. He initially studied at the Paris Conservatoire before moving to Vienna to study under the legendary cellist Heinrich Schiff; his membership of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra rounded off his training. Today, Capuçon is one of the most sought-after cellists in the world, with a packed schedule stretching from Japan to the USA. Within a few years, he had recorded concertos by Dvořák, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Lutosławski, as well as chamber music ranging from Schubert to Fauré. He is a regular guest at the ‘Martha Argerich and friends’ concert series in Lugano, has collaborated with the Konzerthaus Dortmund for many years and founded his own foundation in 2022 to support talented young musicians.

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK: CONCERTO FOR CELLO AND ORCHESTRA IN B MINOR, OP. 104

Not many composers in the 19th century ventured into the cello concerto genre, which was considered tricky due to the difficult balance between soloist and orchestra. Antonín Dvořák achieved a genuine breakthrough in 1894/95 with his Op. 104, which has since become one of the absolute favourites of the repertoire. The work draws on the vocal qualities of the solo instrument as well as its agility and its gruff humour. Furthermore, the slow movement contains a wistful tribute to Dvořák’s childhood sweetheart, who was ill and died shortly before the composition was completed.

JOHANNES BRAHMS: SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN C MINOR, OP. 68

“Who can create anything after Beethoven?” This sigh is attributed to Schubert, but could just as easily have come from Johannes Brahms. The extremely self-critical composer long shied away from direct confrontation with the “giant” Beethoven, particularly, of course, in the realm of the symphony. It took more than 16 years for the initial drafts to become a finished work. But that work set new standards: with its extreme emotional fluctuations, the interplay of orchestral colours and, finally, the breakthrough into the light, at the decisive moment of which a Swiss folk song is heard.