Double play

– Jan Windszus Photography

ProgramWOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART [1756–1791]Ballet music for the opera Idomeneo, KV 367 (excerpts)

BENJAMIN BRITTEN [1913–1976]Concerto for Violin, Viola and Orchestra

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH [1906–1975]Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141

It’s always worth taking a second look! Benjamin Britten’s Concerto for Violin, Viola and Orchestra is among the late rediscoveries of this remarkably productive composer. He wrote it in the spring of 1932 while still a student at the Royal College of Music in London. First performed posthumously in 1997, it is presented here by Music Director James Gaffigan, who uses it to showcase the orchestra’s outstanding soloists. He pairs it with a late work by a contemporary, Dmitri Shostakovich, whose fifteenth and final symphony reflects an artistic life shaped by the double game played with Soviet cultural politics. Here, the composer casts a sardonic glance back at music history, quoting from Wagner’s Ring, Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, and even himself. Gaffigan then reaches further back still with one of his personal favourites: a ballet piece composed by Mozart in 1781 as a festive epilogue to Idomeneo – music now rarely heard in the concert hall and even less so on the operatic stage.

Artists/Collaborators: James Gaffigan (Musikalische Leitung), Gabriel Adorján (Violine), Friedemann Slenczka (Viola), Orchester der Komischen Oper Berlin (Orchester)

Next date:

• Date Friday, 09/April/2027 19:00
• Venue Komische Oper Berlin: Schillertheater - Großer Saal
• Address Bismarckstraße 110, 10625 Berlin-Charlottenburg