1. PHILHARMONISCHES KONZERT: EIN URKNALL!

with FRANK PETER ZIMMERMANN

PROGRAM
Anton Webern (1883–1945)
Passacaglia, Op. 1
William Walton (1902–1983)
Violin Concerto
Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Op. 30

CAST
Marko Letonja — Conductor 
Frank Peter Zimmermann — Violin 
 
It is a kind of musical Big Bang: From a tiny motif, Richard Strauss develops one of the most iconic openings in music history in his symphonic poem Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Here, the truly great themes of life are explored: good and evil, the origin of all existence, and the meaning of life. A fitting start to the new season, in which Anton Webern’s *Passacaglia, Op. 1* takes center stage as yet another (new) beginning. Webern’s first published work breaks the boundaries of late Romanticism and marks a departure toward new horizons. With a lavish orchestral texture and a sonic power that is as exuberant as it is finely chiseled, Webern catapults the time-honored genre of the passacaglia into new realms. In contrast, William Walton’s Violin Concerto remains firmly rooted in the purest traditions of High Romanticism. World-renowned violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann, a frequent guest with the Bremen Philharmonic, will provide opulent British melodiousness in this performance.