Friday, April 26, 2024, 7:30 PM

Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre

The performance will last approximately one hour and 45 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission.

*Run times listed here are based on information provided at this time and are subject to change.

THIS PERFORMANCE HAS ALREADY OCCURRED.

"…professional perfection, musical integrity, and that special kind of human warmth that makes them a truly unique ensemble.”

— Gustavo Dudamel, music and artistic director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Works

Richard Wagner: Lohengrin Prelude I
Johannes Brahms: Symphony no. 3 in F Major, op. 90
Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto (with Hélène Grimaud)
Wagner: Tannhäuser Overture

With a musical lineage stretching back to the 18th and 19th centuries — to Mahler and Mozart — Germany’s Bamberg Symphony is a favorite around the world, performing over 7,000 concerts in more than 60 countries and over 500 cities. Its Moss debut features works by Brahms, Schumann, and Richard Wagner, one of the most revolutionary, emotional — and, polarizing — figures in the history of music.

The program is inspired by New Yorker music critic and Pulitzer Prize finalist Alex Ross’ recent book, Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music, which explores Wagner’s complicated, many-sided legacy and his colossal influence on music, art, and culture. Maestro Jakub Hrůša — renowned for his partnership with Bamberg Symphony as well as for his guest-conducting with orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony — leads a beautiful program that weaves Wagner’s Lohengrin Prelude I and Tannhäuser Overture. 

In addition to Wagner, the program features work from his German contemporaries, Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann. Virtuoso pianist Hélène Grimaud, praised by the Washington Post for the “rapturous” and “astonishing show of her proficiency and poetic sensibilities,” joins the orchestra for Schumann’s dazzling Piano Concerto.

About Bamberg Symphony

The Bamberg Symphony is the only orchestra of world renown that is not based in a vibrant metropolis. The "magnetic effect" of the orchestra goes above all outward: the traveling orchestra has been carrying its characteristically dark, somber, and warm sound and the musical echo of its hometown into the world since 1946. The circumstances of its founding make the Bamberg Symphony a mirror of German history: in 1946, ex-members of Prague’s German Philharmonic Orchestra met fellow musicians in Bamberg who had also had to flee their homes as a result of the war and its aftermath. 

About Jakub Hrůša

Jakub Hrůša is chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony and principal guest conductor of both the Czech Philharmonic and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Beginning in the fall of 2025  Hrůša will take up the post of music director at the Royal Opera House in London. He appears frequently as a guest with the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Berlin, Vienna, Munich and New York Philharmonics; the Bavarian Radio, NHK, Chicago, and Boston symphonies; the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Lucerne Festival, Royal Concertgebouw, Mahler Chamber, and the Cleveland orchestras; the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; Dresden Staatskapelle; Orchestre de Paris; and Tonhalle Orchester Zürich.

Bamberg Symphony performs for a large crowd. The photo was taken from behind the kettle drums looking out into the house.
Conductor Jakub Hrůša, a middle aged white man with sandy brown hair and black, round framed glasses, wears a white button down shirt in front of a light grey background and smiles lightly as he looks towards the top left edge of the frame.
Pianist Hélène Grimaud, a middle aged white woman with chin-length wavy brown hair and blue eyes wears a brown jacket and forest green shirt and smiles towards the camera, a wooden fence behind her.
Members of the Bamberg Symphony string section perform on stage, a row of double bass players visible at the back.
Conductor Jakub Hrůša, a middle aged white man with sandy brown hair and black, round framed glasses, wears a white button down shirt, black jacket, and baby blue pocket square in front of a deep teal background. He crosses his arms across his body and smiles lightly as he looks towards the left edge of the frame.
Pianist Hélène Grimaud, a middle aged white woman with chin-length wavy hair wears a jacket and smiles towards the camera, a wooden fence behind her, in this black and white photo.
The Bamberg Symphony during a live performance
Conductor Jakub Hrůša, a middle aged white man with sandy brown hair and black, round framed glasses, wears a black T-shirt under a black suit with his hands in his pockets. He grins widely as he looks towards the right edge of the frame. Behind him is a series of industrial windows with mini blinds and a black metal railing.
Pianist Hélène Grimaud, a middle aged white woman with chin-length wavy brown hair and blue eyes wears a brown jacket and forest green shirt. She rests her chin on her crossed arms and smiles towards the camera, a wooden fence behind her.
Members of Bamberg Symphony horn section play during a live performance.
Members of the Bamberg Symphony string section play during a live performance. The image is focused on an older white man with medium length white hair, playing the violin. Other violinists surround him.
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About Hélène Grimaud

Renaissance woman Hélène Grimaud is a deeply passionate and committed musical artist whose pianistic accomplishments play a central role in her life.  Grimaud’s recordings have been critically acclaimed and awarded numerous accolades, among them the Cannes Classical Recording of the Year, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Diapason d’or, Grand Prix du Disque, Record Academy Prize (Tokyo), Midem Classic Award, and the Echo Klassik Award. For her latest album, she has explored Silvestrov’s vocal music. On Silent Songs, Grimaud and baritone Konstantin Krimmel perform a selection of pieces from Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s monumental song cycle of the same name. 

Recent and forthcoming highlights of Grimaud’s schedule include a recital at Carnegie Hall, at which she played works by Chopin, Debussy, Satie, Schumann, and Silvestrov (December 2022); performances of the Schumann Piano Concerto with Camerata Salzburg in Ludwigshafen, Salzburg, and Turin (February 2023); and an extensive European recital tour, starting with dates in Vienna, Luxembourg, and cities across Switzerland and Germany (March-May 2023).

This performance is supported in part by Minnis and Louise Ridenour and David and Judie Reemsnyder.

This is the first performance at the Moss Arts Center by Bamberg Symphony, Jakub Hrůša, and Hélène Grimaud.