4. Philharmonisches Konzert - Amerikanische und europäische Klassiker

American and European classics

Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra
Axel Kober Conductor
Diana Tishchenko Violin

Charles Ives
The unanswered question
Samuel Barber
Violin Concerto op. 14
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 7 in A major op. 92

Axel Kober has retired as General Music Director of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra at the end of the 2024/2025 season. It was a long and fruitful collaboration, for which the conductor is now being honored with the Music Prize of the City of Duisburg 2025, sponsored by the Köhler-Osbahr Foundation. For him, the award is a nice confirmation - "to receive feedback after the years together, so to speak, that what you have done has also left its mark". And of course he will try to "remain connected to Duisburg's musical life". A promise that he immediately keeps in the 4th Philharmonic Concert. After conducting Arnold Schönberg's powerful "Gurre-Lieder" in his farewell concert as General Music Director, he returns to his former orchestra to conduct works by two American composers and combines them with Beethoven's 7th Symphony: "The Unanswered Question" by Charles Ives, who created an iconic work of American modernism, sounds mystical and transcendental. While in Samuel Barber's popular violin concerto, violin virtuosity and voluptuous melodies enter into a delightful liaison. Dancing rhythms then characterize Beethoven's Seventh, which also contains the Allegretto, one of the greatest hits of the Viennese classic.