Season opening in Bamberg

Abo A
Bamberg, Konzerthalle, Joseph-Keilberth-Saal
20:00 Uhr

 Ferruccio Busoni once remarked that "millions of sages float in the ether, ready to reveal themselves to us." Our concert starts with a visionary 1896 composition whose introductory sunrise episode was made particularly famous by its use in Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey” – and subsequently became labelled as “space music”. It is often forgotten that the programme of this magnificent “cinema for the ears” is based on Nietzsche's philosophical masterpiece in which the Persian Zarathustra, founder of Zoroastrianism, proclaims the doctrine of the superman. Moreover, after the initial Big Bang of its unforgettable, swelling brass chords, the musical universe of this ingenious tone poem continues to expand with tremendous energy for a further eight sections. Like Strauss, Stravinsky was known for his magical tonal language. He liked to ramble through music history in search of creative inspiration, calling these glances back in time “love affairs in this direction”. Frank Peter Zimmermann will interpret Stravinsky’s captivating Violin Concerto of 1931, which presents a witty baroque paraphrase in compelling modern garb – for, as Stravinsky jokingly said of his generation, "The troubadours of today no longer use mandolins, but car horns." To bring the concert to a close, we will play Wagner's sonorous overture to his opera about the minnesinger Tannhäuser, completed in 1845 – a medieval tale about the conflict between Tannhäuser’s sinful passion for the goddess Venus and his quest for pure and pious love. Baudelaire referred to Wagner’s torrid music as “dizzying opium dreams painted on a backdrop of darkness”.

Jakub Hrůša Conductor
Frank Peter Zimmermann Violin

Richard Strauss »Also sprach Zarathustra«
Igor Strawinski Konzert für Violine und Orchester in D
Richard Wagner Ouvertüre zu »Tannhäuser«