Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Iván Fischer

Honorary conductor Iván Fischer and the Konzerthausorchester perform Antonín Dvořák's only violin concerto from 1883 with our Artist in Residence Augustin Hadelich, which is just as virtuosic as it is very vocal in parts. Afterwards, the stage in the Great Hall becomes crowded, because Richard Strauss is on the program: "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" is "by far the most important, form-fullest, most interesting and most peculiar of my pieces," the composer found. After the dress rehearsal in 1896, he was apparently very pleased with himself. Not at all high-minded was Zarathustra, the eremite prophet in Friedrich Nietzsche's much discussed text, who inspired the piece of music. He visited people to tell them about higher connections - and they, of course, didn't want to listen to him. Richard Strauss' symphonic poem now is so great that one cannot help but listen to it and thus indirectly also to Nietzsche's misunderstood, often misunderstood prophet!