Sir Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Rattle is a true Elbphilharmonie fan. The charismatic British conductor stood on the rostrum in the Grand Hall only a few weeks after it opened, and this first appearance was followed by many more concerts, five of them together with »his« London Symphony Orchestra. And in the new season, too, there are several Hamburg dates on the tour plan of the London dream team. The season opens with Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, which he wrote in the aftermath of World War Two, to which the light-hearted dance tunes in Tchaikovsky’s ballet »The Nutcracker« form an apt contrast.
Rattle takes the opportunity of his two-day guest appearance in January, on the other hand, to juxtapose his favourite composers Sibelius and Bartók with programme gems by Hans Rott and Miklós Rózsa.
A few weeks later, he presents another repertoire rarity at the Elbphilharmonie in the shape of Robert Schumann’s oratorio about the Persian winged spirit Peri. For this concert, he has the Staatskapelle Berlin and an all-star cast at his disposal, led by the current Elbphilharmonie portrait artist Florian Boesch.
Rattle returns one more time in June, together with Magdalena Kožená and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in Mahler’s »Das Lied von der Erde«.