Season Finale
François-Xavier Roth
Carolin Widmann György Ligeti
Richard Strauss

In the season finale, you will hear two pieces that could hardly be more different. One is a wild ride through violin sonorities that breaks with everything you thought you knew about what a violin concerto can be. The other takes you on an 11-hour mountain hike told in under an hour, with an orchestra that fills the entire stage and music that paints pictures of sunrise, thunderstorms, and triumphant mountain peaks.

Ligeti: Violin Concerto

György Ligeti (1923–2006) was an innovative pioneer among modernist composers. On one hand, he was inspired by his Romanian roots, while at the same time drawing heavily on electronic music. This gave him a wholly unique compositional style.

The Violin Concerto is equally unique. It consists of five movements and is a wild, imaginative, and extraordinary work. It demands an open mind from both musicians and audience.

R. Strauss: An Alpine Symphony

When Richard Strauss (1864–1949) was young, he lived in the town of Garmisch, with a view of Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze. One day, he and a few friends decided to climb the mountain. They set out before sunrise and spent 11 hours on the journey. This experience inspired him to write the tone poem An Alpine Symphony. The work is an attempt to express, through music, the feeling of ascending a great mountain. It is also a tribute to nature.

An Alpine Symphony requires an orchestra of 125 musicians and was written between 1911 and 1915. In many ways, it marks a final full stop to the late Romantic style. It could not be more grandiose or dramatic than An Alpine Symphony.