Our Bruckner+ cycle in the Basel Minster reaches its third round. To open the season the + stands for two composers who enriched the musical life of Basel in different ways: Johannes Brahms not only attended the Swiss premiere of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and his own German Requiem in the Basel Minster, he also conducted his Triumphlied, performed by the Basler Gesangverein – by which Friedrich Nietzsche was so impressed that he recommended it to Richard Wagner for Bayreuth. The Brahms Double Concerto will be performed by our solo cellist Antoine Lederlin and Corina Belcea. She replaces Soyoung Yoon, who had to cancel at short notice. Luciano Berio was a frequent visitor to Basel, as conductor, composer and friend of Paul Sacher. This season we will present Berio to you as the arranger of various works by Bach, Boccherini, Schubert and the Beatles. The centrepiece of the season’s opening concert is Bruckner’s 5th Symphony, which the composer himself called the Fantastic.