A première of a special kind: Gustavo Dudamel, long-standing artistic partner of the Berliner Philharmoniker, appears before the orchestra as a Bruckner conductor for the very first time – and has chosen the Fourth Symphony, the “Romantic”, for the occasion. By his own account, Bruckner had in mind, as he composed, the morning atmosphere of a medieval town, knights on horseback and the rustling of forest leaves. Resounding hunting horns, too, have their rightful place in this romantic tone painting. Before the interval, we are joined by Mitsuko Uchida – a grande dame of the piano – as soloist in Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 2: a work of irresistible charm and youthful vitality.