Programme
Dvořák: Symphony No 9 in E minor, Op 95, “From the New World”
Ligeti: Poème Symphonique for 100 Metronomes
Brahms: Symphony No 4 in E minor, Op 98

Jakub Hrůša, conductor
Bamberg Symphony

Tradition and renewal, with an orchestra from the heart of Europe

Some orchestras are so good that they really deserve to be heard live. The Bamberg Symphony—one of Germany’s most prestigious orchestras—brought four outstanding online performances to the 2022 Hong Kong Arts Festival. Shortly afterwards it received an International Classical Music Award for its work with chief conductor Jakub Hrůša—who has been described by Gramophone as “on the verge of greatness”—reaffirming their status as one of the world’s most dynamic symphonic partnerships. Hrůša and the Bamberg Symphony are now set to make a highly anticipated live appearance at the upcoming Festival in 2023.

Over two in-venue concerts, they will explore very different perspectives from three uniquely individual composers. Each concert contains symphonies by Johannes Brahms and Antonín Dvořák—masterworks that deal with powerful and tender personal emotions, including the epic tragedy of Brahms’ Fourth Symphony, the deep poetry of Brahms’ Third and the soaring melody of Dvořák’s beloved “New World Symphony”. Each concert also features major 20th-century works by the Hungarian modernist and free spirit György Ligeti: Lontano builds a powerful atmosphere out of vast, shimmering vistas of orchestral sound, while the extraordinary Poème Symphonique features 100 metronomes almost (but not quite) in unison. The effect is provocative, playful and like nothing you have ever heard!