NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Leonidas Kavakos / Matthias Pintscher

Matthias Pintscher, newly appointed Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony and a renowned expert in 20th- and 21st-century music, has put together a programme for his guest appearance with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra that includes a birthday serenade and – in keeping with the festival theme »End« – two very different works of farewell to the world.



Wagner’s »Siegfried Idyll« is one of the most charming declarations of love in music history. The composer wrote it for the 33rd birthday of his newlywed wife Cosima, who had just given birth to their son Siegfried. The proud father and husband dedicated the piece to her with the words: »Tribschen Idyll with Fidi bird song and orange sunrise, as a symphonic birthday greeting. Presented to his Cosima by her Richard.«

»It’s an absolutely incredible score,« raves Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos about Karol Szymanowski’s Second Violin Concerto. »Millions of layers, millions of colours and incredible imagination.« Unlike the better-known, dazzlingly expressive Violin Concerto No. 1, Szymanowski’s Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra is deeply inspired by Polish folk music. A friend recalled: »Karol would prick up his ears at the special moments, devour these strange, primitive melodies and break them down into their elements.« In his Second Violin Concerto – his final composition – Szymanowski reassembled these elements in a uniquely compelling way.

On 1 July 2026, the 100th birthday of Hans Werner Henze will be commemorated – an occasion for the Hamburg International Music Festival to place special focus on the composer. Henze has often been described as the last of the greats. His Seventh Symphony might even be considered his »German« one. Classical in structure, the work reflects on the life and death of Friedrich Hölderlin: »The third movement is a depiction of the suffering of the German poet Friedrich Hölderlin in the mental asylum in Tübingen,« Henze wrote. »The final section sets Hölderlin’s poem ›Hälfte des Lebens‹ (Half of Life) to music.«

PERFORMERS

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester orchestra

Leonidas Kavakos violin

Matthias Pintscher conductor

PROGRAM

Richard Wagner
Siegfried Idyll in E major, WWV 103

Karol Szymanowski
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2, Op. 61

- Interval -

Hans Werner Henze
Symphony No. 7