On 17 December 2023, the Bruckner cycle of the Concertgebouworkest begins with Anton Bruckner's Third Symphony under the baton of Iván Fischer. With the cycle, the Concertgebouworkest wants to share its passion for the symphonies of the composer born 200 years ago with today's audience. Within a year and a half, the orchestra will perform symphonies 1 through 9 under the direction of nine renowned Bruckner experts. Iván Fischer opens the concert on 17 December with an introduction, in which the orchestra performs live musical excerpts by way of illustration.
On 14 and 15 December, Fischer also conducts the Third Symphony, this time combined with the Fourth Orchestral Suite in D major, BWV 1069 by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Podcast
The Concertgebouworkest is also releasing a nine-part podcast under the title Nine Faces of Bruckner, produced in collaboration with Airborne. This is the first time the Concertgebouworkest has made a podcast. Jet Berkhout discusses the nine 'numbered' symphonies with Bruckner expert Axel Meijer and a different orchestra musician each time. Solo violist Michael Gieler appears for the Third Symphony. Solo hornist Laurens Woudenberg is a guest in the second episode, about Bruckner's Seventh Symphony, which the orchestrawill perform on 19 January 2024 in the Bruckner cycle.
The podcast is part of a campaign with which the Concertgebouworkest wants to make Bruckner's music known to a wider audience. For this campaign, French artist André Sanchez created striking collages for each symphony, which will be seen regularly on the street and via social media during the Bruckner cycle.
Continuation of the Bruckner Cycle
The Concertgebouworkest continues its Bruckner cycle on 19 January with the Seventh Symphony under the direction of Myung-whun Chung. On 2 May, future chief conductor Klaus Mäkelä leads the Fifth Symphony, Christian Thielemann conducts the Eighth on 20 June. The remaining five symphonies will be performed in the 2024-2025 season with Andrew Manze (no. 2), Jaap van Zweden (no. 4), Vladimir Jurowski (no. 1), Simone Young (no. 6) and Riccardo Chailly (no. 9).
All information about the cycle can be found at concertgebouworkest.nl/bruckner.