Wiener Symphoniker / Luisi

We know it from early Christian mosaics, medieval illuminations, Romanesque portals, Dürer's woodcuts or the film »The Seventh Seal« by Ingmar Bergmann: the Apocalypse according to John. A musical examination of the biblical book is one of the great exceptions: Franz Schmidt, who was born in the same year as Arnold Schönberg in Bratislava and later worked in Vienna, dedicated a monumental composition to it with his late Romantic »Book with Seven Seals«. He himself fell seriously ill and wrote it in complete seclusion between 1935 and 1937. The orchestra of the world premiere, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, will perform it on two consecutive days. Fabio Luisi, the orchestra's former chief conductor, conducts the Wiener Singakademie and the Wiener Singverein. The soloists are the outstanding singers Maximilian Schmitt, David Steffens, Giulia Semenazato, Catriona Orison, Patrick Grahl and Alexander Grassauer. The opulent work was last performed at the Vienna Konzerthaus in 1999!