Concert information
Info
Colourful, festive, refined – Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony” surprises us not only with its unexpected use of the organ, but also with its delicate sound textures. Kazuki Yamada, chief conductor of the orchestras in Birmingham and Monte-Carlo, conducts the work in his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker; the organ part is played by Sebastian Heindl.The symphany will be preceded by two different kinds of water music: Ottorino Respighi’s gaudy, shimmering tone poem Fontane di Roma and Tōru Takemitsu’s mystical I Hear the Water Dreaming, featuring our solo flautist Emmanuel Pahud.
Artists
Berliner Philharmoniker
Kazuki Yamada conductor
Emmanuel Pahud flute
Sebastian Heindl organ
Programme
Ottorino Respighi
Fontane di Roma
Tōru Takemitsu
I Hear the Water Dreaming for flute and orchestra
Emmanuel Pahud flute
Interval
Camille Saint-Saëns
Symphony No. 3 in C minor, op. 78 “Organ Symphony”
Sebastian Heindl organ
Additional information
Duration ca. 2 hours and 15 minutes (incl. 20 minutes interval)
Main Auditorium
26 to 82 €
Introduction
19:15
Series I: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker
Main Auditorium
26 to 82 €
Introduction
19:15
Series D: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker
Main Auditorium
26 to 82 €
Introduction
18:15
Series L: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker
Communicating without Words
Portrait of Kazuki Yamada
The conductor Kazuki Yamada describes his first orchestral encounter as a “mystery”. He makes his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in June.
Biographies
Kazuki Yamada
For Kazuki Yamada, who has served as Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra since 2023, successful communication between conductor, orchestra, and audience is the key to a compelling performance. “Even though I can’t often turn around while conducting, I can feel the spirit of the audience,” he says. “The final result depends on the silent exchange and communication between everyone in the room.” Acclaimed for his precise, vivid, and richly coloured interpretations, the Japanese conductor has built an impressive international career. Now based in Berlin, he studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he received an important piece of advice from his mentor Seiji Ozawa: “Since the conductor is the only musician on stage who produces no sound, trust in the orchestra is the most essential quality.”
Yamada first gained international attention in 2009, when he won the prestigious Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors. In addition to his role in Birmingham, he is Chief Conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Principal Guest Conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and Chief Conductor Designate of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. He is also a highly sought-after guest conductor for concerts, opera, and choral performances worldwide. This programme marks Kazuki Yamada’s debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Emmanuel Pahud
Emmanuel Pahud was born in Geneva and received his first flute lessons at the age of six while living in Rome. Two years later, he began studies at the Académie d’Uccle in Brussels before continuing his training in Basel. At the age of 20, he completed his studies with Michel Debost at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, going on to win many awards in international competitions. Pahud gained early orchestral experience as principal flautist with the Basel Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic, before joining the Berliner Philharmoniker in the same role in 1993. After a period as a professor at the Geneva Conservatory, he returned to the orchestra in April 2002.
As a soloist, Emmanuel Pahud is in high demand worldwide, performing with major symphony orchestras. With the Berliner Philharmoniker, he has appeared in flute concertos by Carl Nielsen, Marc-André Dalbavie, Elliott Carter, and Jörg Widmann, and others. He is also a sought-after chamber musician, appearing in various duo and ensemble formations in leading concert halls around the world. His numerous recordings have received many prestigious awards. In June 2009, Pahud was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in April 2011 he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music. Since 2017, he has served as Honorary President of the French Flute Society. In 2024, he was awarded the Léonie Sonning Music Prize.
Sebastian Heindl
Sebastian Heindl, a rising star among German organists, has been acclaimed for his dazzling skill, magnetic charisma, and bold spirit of experimentation: – a “musical miracle” who “can lift his audience to heaven,” according to German national newspaper Die Zeit. At the age of 26, he was appointed as church musician at Berlin’s Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, where he now gives weekly organ concerts, in 2023. Heindl, who in 2019 became the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious Longwood Gardens Organ Competition in the U.S., began his musical training as a member of the choir of St Thomas's Church in Leipzig, and went on to study church music at the University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig.
He has built a remarkable international career as a concert organist. “I like taking risks. I always find it interesting to push boundaries,” he says. “We have to ask ourselves: by what right do we continue to perform music that’s more than 200 years old? And how do we bring that music into the present day? One answer is through improvisation and a creative approach to the musical material.” Heindl made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2020 and performed across Europe as a “Rising Star” of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) during the 2023/24 season. He has also toured in Canada and the United States.
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