SHEKU KANNEH-MASON

The opera »Der Freischütz« marked a significant breakthrough for Carl Maria von Weber, the father of Romantic opera. The Wars of Liberation had just rekindled national consciousness when the work premiered on 18 June 1821, the sixth anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. Shortly afterwards, the work, in which a wolf’s glen becomes the setting for desperate love, ghostly choirs, and devilish magic bullets, was celebrated as the first German national opera. The overture alone, to this romantic horror opera, enjoys great popularity in concert halls, with the battle between good and evil flashing before the mind’s eye in just a few minutes. With this miniature drama, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, under the baton of Manfred Honeck, sets the stage for further symphonic highlights. With great enthusiasm, profound emotionality, and tireless energy, British musician Sheku Kanneh-Mason dedicates himself to Joseph Haydn’s late Baroque-inspired first cello concerto. The exceptional cellist made a name for himself in the UK in 2016 as the first black winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year award. Since the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle, the multi-award-winning musician has also gained recognition outside the country’s borders. The German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra rounds off its programme with Mozart’s magnificent ‘Jupiter Symphony’ as a grand finale. Incidentally, the breathtaking constructions of the symphony finale went down in history. From then on, music history no longer regarded the final movements of symphonies as a mere flourish, but as the main piece. Mozart already put the best at the end – but judge for yourself.

This concert is part of the Festival-Subscription III.