The Love for Three Oranges, Suite, op. 33bis
Symphony No. 6 in D minor, op. 104
The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Suite (arr. Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg)
Philharmonie
Philharmonie
Philharmonie
Kurt Weill’s Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny confronts us with the depths of humanity and society. It is about immorality, greed and the craving for a life of excess. With the opera, which he composed in the late 1920s, Weill wanted to create a work “which gives appropriate expression to the completely transformed manifestation of life in our time.” Thomas Søndergård, who makes his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker stepping in for Donald Runnicles, conducts compositions by Prokofiev and Sibelius in addition to the Suite from Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny.
Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård is music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, following six seasons as principal guest conductor. He served as principal conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from 2012 to 2018, and prior to this, as principal conductor and musical advisor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra for three seasons. He has conducted many leading orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, London Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic and a number of orchestras in Germany, such as Bamberger Symphoniker, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. A passionate supporter of the music of Carl Nielsen, Søndergård conducted the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Nielsen᾽s Sixth Symphony at Musikfest Berlin in September 2015. Also experienced in the opera, he has conducted productions at Royal Danish Opera, Norwegian Opera, Royal Swedish Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper (Turandot) and Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he led the premiere of Andrea Scartazzini᾽s Edward II. in 2017.
Thomas Søndergård was born in Holstebro in 1969 and studied percussion at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. He began his career as percussionist with the Royal Danish Orchestra, before turning to conducting. He now makes his debut at the helm of the Berliner Philharmoniker.
