In the FESTTAGEKONZERT on March 29, 2024, the Staatskapelle Berlin, conducted by its honorary conductor Zubin Mehta, will play Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 in C minor in the Berlin Philharmonic. After the start of the second RING cycle, the concert is another highlight of the Feast Days around Easter.
Image caption: Zubin Mehta | FESTTAGEKONZERT at Staatskapelle Berlin on 29. March 2024, Credits: Marco Brescia / La Scala
Zubin Mehta was appointed honorary conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin ten years ago, in February 2014. The FESTTAGEKONZERT is his 20th concert at the podium of the orchestra, which he has been closely associated with for almost two decades and which he has also conducted in numerous operas.
After his breakthrough with the 7th Symphony, Anton Bruckner created a particularly powerful concept for his Eighth. However, the conductor Hermann Levi, who was asked to perform the premiere, was initially skeptical about the work, which led Bruckner to make some changes and cuts. The second version, which Hans Richter premiered on December 18, 1892, became a triumph for the aging composer. The opulently orchestrated “Final Symphony” lives from its upswings and climaxes, but also from moments of pause that can seem as if the music is listening to itself.
Zubin Mehta completed his conducting training at the Vienna Music Academy with Hans Swarowsky and conducted the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics as well as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1961. He was music director in Montreal, Los Angeles, Florence and, beginning in 1978, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for thirteen years, the longest era in the orchestra’s history. Zubin Mehta made his debut as an opera conductor in Montreal in 1963. Since then he has stood, among other things, at the podium of the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Teatro alla Scala di Milano, the Maggio Fiorentino, the Salzburg Festival and the Bavarian State Opera, which he led as general music director from 1998 to 2006. 50 years after his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, he said goodbye to this ensemble in 2019 as music director, which named him “Conductor Emeritus”. He is regularly at the podium at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, most recently in the new production of “Der Rosenkavalier”. In 2014, the Staatskapelle Berlin named him its honorary conductor. As one of the most respected conductors of his time, Zubin Mehta wears the Nikisch ring, which was passed down to him from Karl Böhm. Promoting young talent worldwide is very important to Zubin Mehta. He founded the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation in his hometown of Bombay and continues to support efforts there and in Israel to introduce children to classical music.
With a tradition spanning more than 450 years, the Staatskapelle Berlin is one of the oldest orchestras in the world. Founded as a court orchestra by Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg in 1570, the ensemble found its artistic home with the construction of the Royal Court Opera Unter den Linden in 1742, initiated by Frederick II of Prussia; Since then it has been firmly connected to the opera house in the heart of Berlin.
WHEN?
Friday, 29. March 2024, at 8 pm
WHERE?
Philharmonie Berlin – Großer Saal
Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße
10785 Berlin
COSTS?
Ticket € 30 – € 129
