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Live from Munich: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra celebrates 75 years of existence with Arnold Schoenberg's "Gurrelieder"
Regardless of the time period in which he works, every creator deals - at least tangentially - with the subject of love. Such was the case with Arnold Schoenberg, who, at the beginning of the last century, began writing the Songs of Gurre - a work without an opus number, written in a worthy late Romantic manner - appropriate, therefore, for the chosen subject. But more details on the plot and the plot of Danish writer Jens Peter Jacobsen's verse will be revealed on Friday at 21:00, when we'll be broadcasting live from Munich.
To mark the 75th anniversary of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Isarphilharmonie in Munich is hosting a gala concert with Sir Simon Rattle, the orchestra's chief conductor. The deployment of the necessary forces for the Austrian composer's score is clearly an effort the organisers are making to mark the occasion, given that Schoenberg's work has only been performed only three more times in the history of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra: in 1965 with Rafael Kubelík, in 1988 with Zubin Mehta and in 2009 with Mariss Jansons. Sir Simon Rattle has described this work as "sexy, elegant, sensual", attributes that show us the British conductor's appreciation for 20th century music. The choice of a piece by Schoenberg is probably also justified by the fact that September 13 marks the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth.
Joining the German ensemble as soloists will be tenor Stuart Skelton as "Waldemar", soprano Dorothea Röschmann as "Tove", mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as "Waldtaube", bass-baritone Josef Wagner as "Bauer" and tenor Peter Hoare as "Klaus-Narr",and narrated by Thomas Quasthoff. The Bavarian Radio Choir and the Leipzig Radio Choir will also take to the stage - in short, a line-up worthy of the anniversary gala of one of Europe's most important orchestras.
So, on Friday April 19th, I invite you to join me in celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and also, looking forward, to a century and a half since the birth of Arnold Schoenberg, with one of the most important tonal pages by the Austrian composer who made history in the first half of the last century: Gurre-Lieder, broadcast live from Munich with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle on Radio România Muzical.
Translated by Bogdan-Nicolae Tănăsescu,
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II
Corrected by Silvia Petrescu