Wiener Philharmoniker / Nelsons

Sibelius 2nd Symphony
Whether contemplations of nature, a study of Mozart's »Don Giovanni« or Dante's »Divine Comedy« or the independence of Finland: there are many different interpretations of Jean Sibelius' 2nd Symphony. The composer himself said that for him it was »as if God had thrown a few stones into a mosaic and was now asking him to put them back together properly« – and so the work with its impressive finale emerged from his sketches.

Strauss' Zarathustra
The programmatic template for the Vienna Philharmonic's second programme item is clear: it is well known that Richard Strauss based his famous tone poem »Also sprach Zarathustra« on Friedrich Nietzsche.

György Kurtág's homage to Pierre Boulez
The programme opens with a »Petite musique solennelle«, composed by György Kurtág to mark the 90th birthday of Pierre Boulez. Andris Nelsons, Gewandhaus conductor and music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is at the conductor's desk.