Warm Prompt:

Children under the age of six or 1.2 meters will not be admitted,each audience should have a ticket regardless of the age.

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If purchase tickets (ticket type: RMB 880 or above) of both WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne Concert and London Symphony Orchestra 2018 Shenzhen Concert at the same time:

-Gold card members can have 20% discount when purchasing tickets.

-Silver card members can have 15% discount when purchasing tickets.

-Non-members can have 10% discount when purchasing tickets.

(*above special offer only can be used for purchasing on spot, Shenzhen Concert Hall reserve all the right for the final explanation of the offer. )

PROGRAMME

Brahms: Schicksalslied, Op. 54   

Beethoven:Symphony No.9 in D minor

(*please check program updates at the concert)

WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne

©WDR.Mischa Salevic

Existing more than 65 years, the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne established as one of the most importantbroadcast orchestras of Europe. Its stylistic variety is the specific characteristic of the WDR Symphony Orchestra.

Under the direction of Garry Bertini, outstanding productions of the 19^th century’s symphonies developed. Bertini was Chief Conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra from 1983 –1991. Under his direction, the orchestra became one of the leading interpreters of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies.

Working with Semyon Bychkov, Chief Conductor from 1997 –2010, defined the profile of WDR Symphony Orchestra even more. For their performances of compositions of Dmitrij Schostakowitsch, Richard Strauss, Sergej Rachmaninow, Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner they were awarded and received rave reviews. Touring Europe, America and Asia successfully, increased the international reputation of WDR Symphony Orchestra.

Numerous first performances of commissioned works made a contribution to history of music and to the support of contemporary music, as did the cooperation with extraordinary composers of our time. Luciano Berio, Hans Werner Henze, Mauricio Kagel, Krzysztof Penderecki, Igor Strawinskij, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernd Alois Zimmermann are some of the composers, who performed their works with WDR Symphony Orchestra. Also the great number of excellent productions of contemporary music bear witness to the exceptional position of WDR Symphony Orchestra.

Its competence in historical informed performance practice in baroque and classical music are due to continuous cooperation with conductors like Ton Koopman, Christopher Hogwood or Reinhard Goebel.

Since 2010/2011 season, Jukka-Pekka Saraste is Chief Conductor of WDR Symphony Orchestra. Conductor and orchestra already have worked together successfully for a long time. In November 2009 their performance of the 9^th Symphony of Gustav Mahler in Cologne was acclaimed as “announcement of a great aera”in press reports. Also the awards from Deutsche Schallplattenkritik and the magazine Gramophone, which Orchestra and Conductor received for the publication of that concert on CD, approve this. Morecommon CD releases of works by Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, and Brahms as well as invitations to major festivals and concert halls in Europe bear witness theartistic success of the collaboration.

Conductor: Jukka-Pekka Saraste

©Felix_Broede

“Everything he tackles … is a success, regardless of whether it is Beethoven, Brahms, Schönberg or Stravinsky.”

– Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger

Jukka-Pekka Saraste has established himself as one of the outstanding conductors of his generation, demonstrating remarkable musical depth and integrity. Born in Heinola, Finland, he began his career as a violinist before training as a conductor with Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.

An artist of exceptional versatility and breadth, Saraste feels a special affinity with the sound and style of late Romantic music. Equally, he maintains a strong connection with the music of our time, such as that of Dutilleux, Lindberg, Salonen and Saariaho, among others. He conducted the world premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s Triple Concerto and the German premiere of his Transitus at the Berlin Philharmonie, the world premieres of Friedrich Cerha’s Drei Orchesterstücke and Pascal Dusapin’s violin concerto at the Cologne Philharmonie, as well as the world premieres of Philippe Schoeller’s Songs fromEsstal I, II, et III, and Carmine Emanuele Cella’s Reflets de l’Ombre at the Salle Pleyel, Paris. Moreover, he is co-founder of the, which has a strong emphasis on contemporary music.

Saraste has served as Chief Conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne since 2010 and extended his contract in 2015 until the end of the 2018/2019 season. He was Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra from 2006 to 2013, and at the end of his tenure was appointed Conductor Laureate, the very first such title bestowed by that orchestra. His previous positions include the principal conductorships of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (1987-1991), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (1987-2001), after which he was made Conductor Laureate, Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1994-2001), and he also served as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (2002-2005). He has recently held the position of Artistic Advisor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, and founded the Finnish Chamber Orchestra, for which he is still Artistic Advisor. He also founded the orchestra´s annual Tammisaari Festival, for which he is Artistic Director.

His guest engagements have led him to the major orchestras worldwide, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and the leading Scandinavian orchestras, among others. In North America he has conducted the Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic as well as Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.

Jukka-Pekka Saraste´s extensive discography includes the complete symphonies of Sibelius and Nielsen with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has made a number of critically acclaimed recordings for Toronto Symphony Orchestra of works by Bartók, Dutilleux, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev for Warner Finlandia, most notably a recording of Dutilleux’s Second Symphony. His recording of Mahler´s 6^th Symphony with the Oslo Philharmonic has received widespread acknowledgement. His CDs with WDR Symphony Orchestra for Hänssler have likewise earned him high critical praise, and include Schoenberg’s Pelleas and Melisande, Stravinsky’s The Firebird, Brahms’ Symphonies No. 1 and 3 as well as Mahler’s 5^th and 9^th Symphony. Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 will be released in September 2016.

Jukka-Pekka Saraste has received the Pro Finlandia Prize, the Sibelius Medal, and the Finnish State Prize for Music. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from York University, Toronto and an honorary doctorate from the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki.

Tenor: Maximilian Schmitt

The German tenor, Maximilian [or Maximillian] Schmitt, discovered his love for music early on as a choirboy with the Regensburger Domspatzen. Starting in 1999, he studied voice performance with Professor nke Eggers at the Berlin University of the Arts. In 2005 and 2006, he was member of the Young Ensemble at the Bayerische Staatsoper München and gained experience in master-classes with Ann Murray and Robert Dean Smith.

While still a member of the Young Ensemble, Maximilian Schmitt was able to make his debut at the Salzburg Landestheater as Tamino in the Zauberflöte. In the meantime, in Munich he performed roles such as Lord Cecil in Roberto Devereux or Albazar in Il turco in Italia in a staging by Christoph Loy at the Festival 2007. From the season 2008-2009, he will have a full-time engagement for two years at the Staatstheater Mannheim, to sing such parts as David in Meistersinger and lyrical W.A. Mozart parts such as Tamino, Don Ottavio or Ferrando.

In addition to his passion for opera, Maximilian Schmitt is increasingly active as a concert singer. He has worked with Andrew Manze, Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Leopold Hager, Ulf Schirmer, Marcus Creed, Trevor Pinnock and with such orchestras as the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Concerto Köln, Kammerorchester Basel, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.

During the season 2006-2007, Maximilian Schmitt worked together with Helmuth Rilling for the first time, debuted at the Bayerische Rundfunk, went on a European tour with the RIAS-Kammerchor with J.S. Bach’s Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 and appeared with the Münchner Rundfunkorcherster in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor by Otto Nicolai as well as with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra in Robert Schumann’s Paradies und die Peri, in the part of the narrator. Recent highlights include concerts with J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor (BWV 232) with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Trevor Pinnock, Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244) with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen under Peter Dijkstra (Evangelist) as well with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding and the title part of a concert performance of Weber’s Oberon with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker.

Alongside his permanent engagement in Mannheim, Maximilian Schmitt will still has time for concerts: He will perform Weihnachts-Oratorium (BWV 248) with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Georg Christoph Biller, moreover, in 2009, he will go on tour with Helmuth Rilling and the Bachakademie and - again with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, this time under the direction of their chief conductor Riccardo Chailly - sing the arias in Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244) in concerts and a recording (Decca).

Together with his experienced lied accompanist Gerold Huber, Maximilian Schmitt has started to explore the lied repertoire. Following a Munich recital, the Bayerische Rundfunk invited him for a first lied production of Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe.

Soprano: Susanne Bernhard

Photo©joachim thode

Soprano Susanne Bernhard from Munich started studying voice in 1995 at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich.

Since the beginning of her studies she took part in numerous productions of the Bayerische Theaterakademie. In 1997 she made her debut as Susanna in Mozart´s Le Nozze di Figaro in Munich´s Prinzregententheater.

In 2000, at the age of 23, she became member of the ensemble of the Opera House Kiel and performed in numerous roles, amongst others, as “Lisa”in Schreker´s Christophorus and as „Violetta“in Verdi’s „La Traviata“. She guest performed in several Opera Houses and in 2008 made her debut in the Frankfurt Opera with the role of „Violetta“in Verdi’s „Traviata”. At the Dresden State Opera she performed as “Isotta”in Richard Strauss‘ „Schweigsame Frau“.

Besides her artistic activities as opera singer Susanne Bernhard dedicates herself to Lied, Oratoria and Concert singing. Her manifold engagements in this field led her, amongst others, to cooperation with the Georgian Chamber Orchestra (Markus Pschner), Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Stuttgart Bachakademie (Helmut Rilling), Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Herrenchiemsee Festival (Enoch zu Guttenberg and Ljubka Biagioni zu Guttenberg), Chorgemeinschaft Neubeuern (Enoch zu Guttenberg), Rheingau-Musikfestival, Menuhin-Festival Gstaad, Beethovenfest Bonn, Bamberg Symphony (Jonathan Nott), Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra (Michael Sanderling), Hamburg and Munich Symphonic, Camerata Salzburg, La Verdi Orchestra Milano (Gaetano d‘Espinosa), Saarländischer Rundfunk, Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra under Eiji Oue, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra (Ingo Metzmacher), NHK Tokyo Orchestra, as well as with OSESP Orchestra Sao Paulo and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir. She repeatedly was guest at the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, for example under the baton of Semyon Bychkovs and Jukka Pekka Sarastes and in the context of a big Japan Tour under Yutaka Sados.

Upcoming engagements include, amongst others, concerts with Mainz Bach Choir (Ralf Otto), Philharmonic Choir Berlin (Jörg-Peter Weigle), mdr Leipzig, concerts with Enoch zu Guttenberg, performances at the Rheingau Music Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Herrenchiemsee Festival as well als concerts under the baton of Neeme Järvi and operatic concert performances with the Munich Radio Orchestra under the baton of Ulf Schirmer.

Numerous TV and radio recordings as well as CD recordings document her artistic work.

These include a recording of sacred songs and arias (Oehms), Beethoven’s „Missa solemnis“under the baton of Enoch zu Guttenberg (Farao), a complete opera recording of J. Myslivececk’s „Medonte“(deutsche harmonia mundi/Sony) as well as a recording of Britten´s Folksongs (Rondeau, Maria Graf, Regensburger Domspatzen Boys’ Choir).

Bass-baritone: Krešimir Stražanac

Croatian bass-baritone, Krešimir Stražanac, was born in Osijek, Croatia.

He studied voice with Dunja Vejzović and art song interpretation with Cornelis Witthoefft at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart and privately with Jane Thorner Mengedoht and Hanns-Friedrich Kunz.

After the studies, Mr. Stražanac joined the Zürich Opera roster as an ensemble member. He appeared as Baron Tusenbach in the opera house premiere of Péter Eötvös’s Three Sisters, Ping in Turandot, Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Fernando in Fidelio and Dr. David Livesey in the world premiere of Frank Schwemmer’s Die Schatzinsel under the batons of such conductors as Nello Santi, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Peter Schneider, Franz Welser-Möst, Carlo Rizzi, Bernard Haitink and Placido Domingo. In 2017 he had his debut at the Bavarian State Opera Munich with the role of Pietro Fléville in the new production of Umberto Giordanos Andrea Chénier.

The bass-baritone won the International Cantilena Competition in Bayreuth (Opera/Operetta Division) and the International La Voce Competition of Bavarian Radio and Television (Art Song Category) as well as the International Hugo Wolf Competition in the composer’s birthplace (Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia). He earned further prizes at the International Paula Salomon Lindberg Competition in Berlin and the Opera Competition of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

Mr. Stražanac has an extensive oratorio and concert repertoire, including J.S. Bach’s and Telemann’s Bass Cantatas, the Passions, B-minor Mass (BWV 232) and Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248), Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Haydn’s The Creation, the Brahms and Mozart Requiems, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and St. Paul, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle and Stabat Mater, Franck’s Les Béatitudes, Bruckner’s Te Deum, and many additional works spanning early Baroque to contemporary music.

During the 2015-2016 season the bass-baritone made debuts with the following ensembles: Tokyo Symphony Orchestra (Schoenberg’s Survivor from Warsaw and Brahms’s Requiem) led by Jonathan Nott; the WDR Symphony Orchestra, performing Bach’s Cantatas (BWV 43, BWV 140, BWV 127, BWV 11, BWV 92) and Christmas Oratorio for three special concerts at Cologne’s Philharmonic Hall; Concerto Köln and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bach’s St. John Passion); Collegium 1704 (Händel’s Messiah); La Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias (Brahms’s Requiem); the Staatskapelle Halle (Franz Schmidt’s The Book with Seven Seals); the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra (Schubert’s Mass in A-flat Major); the Staatsorchester Stuttgart (St. John Passion, under the baton of Manfred Honeck); the Gächinger Kantorei (Bach’s Magnificat and Cantata BWV 63); the Collegium Vocale Gent - Orchestre du Champs-Elysées, conducted by their founder, Philippe Herreweghe (Brahms’s Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 121 and Requiem); the Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra (Robert Schumann’s Paradies und die Peri); the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (St. John Passion); and the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln (Brahms’s Requiem).

Alto: Marion Eckstein

©Schelpmeier Kopie

Contralto Marion Eckstein was born in Bernkastel-Kues. After having graduated her studies of music teaching at the University of Music in Stuttgart she began her vocal training with Julia Hamari and continued her vocal studies with Dunja Vejzovic and passed with distinction. She gained additional information by working with Grace Bumbry, Klesie Kelly, Anna Reynolds and Luana de Vol.

Marion in her singing has always focused on concert singing. Key aspects of her work are recitals with a wide variety of topics and her engagement with contemporary music. This singer´s astonishing extensive repertoire covers all major contralto and mezzo-soprano parts of oratorios and concerts from the Baroque era, the Classical and Romantic periods as well as 20th century literature. She is especially devoted to the works of Mahler and performed and recorded his Kindertotenlieder with the Linos-Ensemble in the Konzerthaus Berlin.

She is a sought-after soloist on international concert stages and a regular guest performer at seminal festivals, such as the Bachfest Leipzig, Konzerthaus Berlin, in the Alte Oper Frankfurt, as well as at the Salzburger Festspiele, Tonhalle Zürich, Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Konzerthaus Wien.

Marion Eckstein has worked with conductors including Kazem Abdullah, Ivor Bolton, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Kay Johannsen, Ludger Rémy, Helmuth Rilling and Christoph Spering. She performed with the European Chamber Orchestra, the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart. A regular cooperation closely connects Marion Eckstein to Thomas Hengelbrock - with him as conductor she has sung "Stimme von oben" and "Blumenmädchen" in Wagner´s Parsifal in the Teatro Real Madrid and also in July 2013, giving her debut at the Salzburg Festival with W. A. Mozart´s Requiem.