Andrew Manze is nearing the end of his contract with the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Hanover. This concludes a highly successful series of 9 seasons (which began in 2014) in which the esteemed British musician has been chief conductor of this ensemble, significantly shaping its sound.

The penultimate concert conceived and conducted by Andrew Manze will take place on Thursday, 11^th of May 2023, at the Grand Studio of the German Radio in Hanover, and Radio România Muzical is the only station in the European Radio Union network to broadcast it live.

We will hear a programme opening with Modest Musorgsky's Symphonic Poem "A Night on Bald Mountain" (in a version completed and orchestrated by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov), followed by Reinhold Glière's Concerto Op. 91 for Horn and Orchestra, and ending with the well-known music of Igor Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring" (Pictures from Pagan Russia).

On this occasion, Andrew Manze wanted to collaborate with the young musician Ivo Dudler as a soloist. The Swiss Ivo Dudler has been a member of the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Hanover since 2017, when he was just 23 years old, and has been working as the ensemble's soloist-instrumentalist. Ivo Dudler is a prize-winning soloist and member of several chamber ensembles. Delighted by the opportunity to perform in front of his colleagues and under the baton of the conductor, the young hornist will surprise us at the end of the first part of the Glière concert with his own cadenza, choosing to create one (the score features a cadenza by Valeri Poleh - the first performer of this score, for whom this concert was also composed).

A true initiatory journey into the world of pre-Christian myths and legends are the two Russian opuses that flank the more rarely played horn concerto by Glière (a composer of German-Polish origin born in Kiev and died in Moscow). So primitive barbaric rhythms and sounds that sparked fierce outrage over a century ago will be heard in the performance of the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra of Hanover conducted by conductor Andrew Manze. A moment of respite and a real delight will be the hearing of the horn concerto - a wide palette of colours reflected in the romantic-like harmonies and beautiful melodic lines, on a structure that requires a performer of perfect technique to exploit the registers of the instrument, leading the phrases on long breaths, but also showing an agility worthy of a great horn virtuoso.

I invite you on Thursday May 11th at 21.00 on the European Stage to watch this attractive concert, broadcast live from the Grand Studio of the German Broadcasting Corporation in Hanover.