Where

The originally planned premiere of a new work by Unsuk Chin has unfortunately had to be postponed. Instead, we will open the concert with the Adagio for string orchestra by Periklis Koukos. Nikos Skalkottas' »Five Greek Dances for String Orchestra« will be performed at the end instead of his originally planned »Four Images«.

Rarely is a work experienced as being so connected to the composer's life situation as Robert Schumann's »Rheinische«. Radiant euphoria, dance-like verve and jubilant high spirits characterize his third (chronologically actually fourth and last) symphony. The man moves from Saxony to the cheerful Rhineland with his children. In Düsseldorf, the new municipal music director is welcomed with a specially rehearsed serenade. The new job gives hope. And then there is the overwhelming sight of the High Cathedral in the neighboring city of Cologne a little further south! Schumann composes in »creative frenzy« mode: emphatic joie de vivre in five symphonic movements, sometimes with optimistic drive, sometimes in gently undulating waves. Not a note suggests that the same Schumann would attempt to take his own life by jumping into the ice-cold Rhine just three years after the premiere.