The Bruckner cycle enters its second round! Its opening
concert features not only outstanding soloists, but also one of the world's most sought-after choirs – and the first ever performance of Cristóbal Halffter's Alucinaciones in the Basel Minster promises to be an extraordinary listening experience. Halffter composed this commissioned work after recovering from a serious illness.  

In its time, the Brahms violin concerto was condemned by contemporary music critics as "unplayable" and "a concerto against the violin" – but now it is included in every great violinist's standard repertoire. Brahms himself knew very little about playing the violin, which is why he wrote to a good friend, violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim, to ask his advice while spending his summer holiday in Pörtschach on the Wörthersee. Anton Bruckner's Mass no. 3 had an entirely different effect on the audience: Its first performance in 1872 was a considerable success. Bruckner himself stepped in to replace the overstressed conductor in Vienna's Augustinerkirche. This Mass, his last, is said to have cured the devout composer of a mental illness, even though his doctors had strictly forbidden him to compose. Bruckner himself remarked: "I had to do it! Work does me more good than lazing around."