5. AKADEMIE KONZERT. PABLO HERAS-CASADO

Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casada, principal guest conductor of the Teatro Real in Madrid, will be conducting the Bavarian State Orchestra for the first time and will present Hector Berlioz' orchestral songs Les Nuits d'été op. 7. Christian Gerhaher will perform the vocal part of this romantic, wistful song cycle, which was never performed in its entirety during the composer's lifetime. He last appeared in this setting exactly ten years ago, at the 5th Academy Concert in 2016 under the direction of Kirill Petrenko. This will be followed by a work with a twenty-year history of composition: Johannes Brahms began drafting a symphony as early as 1854, but wrote to Hermann Levi with doubts: "You have no idea how it makes us feel when we always hear such a giant (meaning Beethoven) marching behind us." The composer was only satisfied with his own work at the age of 43; the Symphony No. 1 in C minor op. 68 was premiered in Karlsruhe in 1876 (the same year as Richard Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen in Bayreuth).

PROGRAM

Hector Berlioz
Les Nuits d'été op. 7

Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 1 in C minor op. 68

OCCUPATION

Musical direction Pablo Heras-Casado

Baritone Christian Gerhaher

Bavarian State Orchestra