Concert information
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Robert Schumann is in love! Newly married to Clara Wieck, he finds that ideas for his First Symphony flow effortlessly. The “Spring Symphony” reflects the vibrant optimism of the time, capturing his sense of a new beginning. In contrast, Alban Berg’s moving Violin Concerto stands as a musical memorial to Manon Gropius, who died tragically young. Gil Shaham performs the solo part. The evening begins with Antonín Dvořák’s tone poem The Wood Dove, which tells a story of death and guilt. Conductor Petr Popelka, making his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Artists
Berliner Philharmoniker
Petr Popelka conductor
Gil Shaham violin
Programme
Antonín Dvořák
The Wood Dove, Symphonic Poem op. 110
Alban Berg
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra “To the Memory of an Angel”
Gil Shaham violin
Interval
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, op. 38 “Spring”
Additional information
Duration ca. 2 hours and 15 minutes (incl. 20 minutes interval)
Main Auditorium
27 to 86 €
Introduction
19:15
Series G: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker
Main Auditorium
27 to 86 €
Introduction
19:15
Series E: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker
Main Auditorium
27 to 86 €
Introduction
18:15
Series F: Concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker
Two Ways to the Top
Portrait of Petr Popelka
Petr Popelka’s rise to the top of his profession as a conductor has been meteoric. From a position as principal double bass player with the Dresden Staatskapelle, he has risen to become the principal conductor of both the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra in a few short years. In January, the Czech conductor makes his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Biography
Petr Popelka
Petr Popelka, current Chief Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, is a sought-after guest conductor throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. Before becoming a conductor, he spent ten years as Deputy Principal Double Bass of the Saxon State Orchestra Dresden. After studying double bass in his native Prague and in Freiburg, Popelka turned to conducting in 2016 in Vienna under the guidance of Vladimir Kiradjiev. One year later he was awarded the Neeme Järvi Prize of the Gstaad Menuhin Festival Academy.
In the 2019/20 season he became the first Conductor Fellow of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, where he received important artistic impulses from Alan Gilbert, as well as in masterclasses with Peter Eötvös, Jaap van Zweden and Johannes Schlaefli. Recent highlights include his debuts with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, as well as re-invitations from the Berlin State Orchestra, the Saxon State Orchestra Dresden and the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig. In opera, Popelka has appeared at Zurich Opera House (Don Giovanni), Deutsche Oper Berlin (Tristan und Isolde), the Semperoper Dresden (The Nose) and the Oslo Opera House (Elektra). As curator of the Czech Chamber Music Society, he is also active in Prague as a composer, double bassist and pianist. With these concerts, Petr Popelka makes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic.
Gil Shaham
Acclaimed for his flawless technique and warm, radiant tone, Gil Shaham ranks among the leading violinists of our time. His talent was recognised early and supported by numerous scholarships; at the age of just ten he made his solo debut with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. For more than 35 years he has played the Stradivarius known as the “Countess Polignac”, an instrument famous not only for its vast range of tonal colours but also for its remarkable history. “The Comtesse,” Shaham said in an interview for the Digital Concert Hall, “was an influential patron of the arts, both at the court of Louis XIV and in Venice. She commissioned several well-known and much-loved Vivaldi concertos and was the first to bring The Four Seasons to Paris. Of course I like to see my violin in that context.”
Today, Shaham appears internationally with leading orchestras, ensembles and conductors, gives regular recitals, and is a frequent guest in major concert halls and at festivals. Since his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in early November 1988, where he performed Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto, he has maintained a long-standing artistic partnership with the orchestra. After studying at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem with Samuel Bernstein and at the Juilliard School in New York with Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang, Gil Shaham received an Avery Fisher Career Grant (1990), was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize (2008), and was named “Instrumentalist of the Year 2012” by Musical America.
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