Jakub Hrůša, Dirigent
Anika Vavić, Klavier
Bamberger Symphoniker

Programme
Rodion Shchedrin: Konzert für Klavier und Orchester Nr. 4

Anton Bruckner: Symphonie Nr. 9 d-Moll

»The piano concerto was always the testing ground for my experiments.« This concert presents Rodion Shchedrin, a composer born in Moscow in 1932 who now also lives in Munich, and who has long piqued our curiosity. His extensive oeuvre has always drawn on previous generations while being equally open to new influences at the same time. Steinway commissioned his fourth piano concerto in 1991 – and it is truly an emotional ode to the instrument. The work bears the subtitle »Sharp Keys«, captivating listeners with its fascinating tonal colour and sound effects. We welcome the celebrated pianist Anika Vavić as an expert performer of Shchedrin’s works: she performed the Russian as well as the Austrian and German premieres of the concerto and worked closely with the composer to develop the refined solo part – which still piques her curiosity: »The more I play the work, the more exciting it becomes for me.« Then, to mark the 125th anniversary of his death, we will dive into a »divine« confessional work by Anton Bruckner that our principal conductor has studied intensely. For many decades, the symphonic genre was Bruckner’s preferred field of endeavour. But like many other composers, he had a problem with the number nine, which, according to Beethoven’s symphonic legacy, was seen as a magical and indeed oppressive boundary. Fearfully, Bruckner said: »I don’t want to begin the Ninth at all, I daren’t.« But obviously his urge to create was too great, and in 1896 he completed a torso of only three movements dedicated »to dear God«, dying the same year. The symphony is a masterly swansong, with a heartfelt Adagio that Bruckner tellingly wanted to be understood as a »farewell to life«.