WHAT MAKES AN ORCHESTRA SOUND UNIQUE?
On the occasion of the Cleveland Orchestra’s concert
Friday 9.10.2026
Why does the orchestra tune to the oboe’s A? Who decides where the instruments sit, and why can the seating arrangement change from hall to hall, or from work to work? How does acoustics affect not only what the audience hears, but also what the musicians hear among themselves? What exactly is the conductor’s role? When do we applaud at a concert? Taking as our starting point the renowned Cleveland Orchestra and the works by Liszt, Martinů and Brahms it will perform, we uncover the unseen machinery that drives a great symphony orchestra: from musical preparation and tuning, to the placement of instruments, the aesthetics of sound, and interpretative tradition.
TWO SOLOISTS, ONE BREATH
On the occasion of the Janine Jansen – Denis Kozhukhin recital
Thursday 15.10.2026
Who leads and who follows when only two musicians stand on stage? How do they agree on the timing of a phrase, a breath, or a sudden change in dynamics, without exchanging a single word during the concert? Taking as our starting point Janine Jansen and Denis Kozhukhin’s recital for violin and piano, featuring works by Beethoven and Prokofiev, we explore the art of coexistence in chamber music: the violin may take the lead one moment and accompany the next; the piano may at times play the role of the orchestra, and at other times that of a discreet conversational partner. A shared world emerges through a continuous interplay built on initiative and response.
WHEN THE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MEETS JAZZ
On the occasion of the concert “Alain Lefèvre Plays Gershwin“
Thursday 22.10.2026
Can a symphony orchestra swing? What happens when a world built on the score meets a musical tradition in which rhythm, freedom and improvisation take centre stage? Taking as our starting point the concert by the celebrated French-Canadian pianist Alain Lefèvre, we walk down the most famous avenues of American music: from the peerless Rhapsody in Blue and Gershwin’s Concerto in F, to Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, the sounds of the city and jazz flood the concert hall, and classical music becomes part of the pop culture of its time.
CONCERTO vs SYMPHONY
On the occasion of the Vienna Symphony’s concert with soloist Mao Fujita
Thursday 19.11.2026
The Vienna Symphony’s concert with Petr Popelka and Mao Fujita offers an ideal listening ground for two of the most important forms in classical music: in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, piano and orchestra exchange initiative in a continuous dialogue; in Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, the orchestra traces a gripping dramatic journey, from the mournful march at its opening to the triumphant finale. Taking these two worlds of musical narrative as our starting point, we trace the historical journey of the concerto, from the baroque concerto grosso to Beethoven’s bold innovations, and of the symphony, from the revolution of the Mannheim School to Romanticism.
AN AMERICAN’S LOVE LETTER TO EUROPEAN MUSIC
On the occasion of Leonard Bernstein’s operetta Candide with the Camerata Orchestra of the Friends of Music
Thursday 3.12.2026
What happens when a comic operetta decides to speak about war, social inequality and the abuse of power? Taking Leonard Bernstein’s Candide as our starting point, we look at how Voltaire’s satire on the naïve optimism of the 18th century is transposed to McCarthy-era America and becomes politically topical, putting forward laughter as a form of resistance. Operetta, bel canto, jazz, waltz, tango and cabaret coexist in a score that entertains us and challenges us to ask how we might make our world “the best of all possible worlds,” even as everything around us seems to be falling apart.
