Sinfonieorchester Basel
Marie-Ange Nguci, piano
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, conductor

Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 in G major, op. 58 (1806)

Jean Sibelius
Lemminkäinen-Suite, op. 22 (1896)
I. Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island
II. The Swan of Tuonela
IV. Lemminkäinen's Return

Concert flyer (pdf in German)

Concert introduction podcast to go

6.45 pm: Concert introduction with Benjamin François

After the concert, critics' round with Benjamin Herzog in the Hans Huber Hall.

Marie-Ange Nguci, our 'Artist in Residence', is just 25 years old. She combines virtuosity, inventiveness and musicality in an extraordinary way. When Beethoven's 4th piano concerto unites her and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, one of the most original conductors of our time, a performance is in the offing that is not likely to be forgotten quickly.

With his Lemminkäinen-Suite, the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius wrote music that is both hearty and subtle, retelling the adventures of the eponymous hero from the great Finnish epic Kalevala in a tone-painting manner.

Mittwoch, 27. September 19:30
Stadtcasino Basel

Sinfonieorchester Basel
Katia und Marielle Labèque, piano
Krzysztof Urbański, conductor

Wojciech Kilar
Krzesany (1974)

Wolfgang Amadé Mozart
Concerto for two Pianos and Orchestra in E flat major, KV 365 (1779)

Igor Strawinsky
Le sacre du printemps (1913)

Concert flyer (pdf in German)

6.45 pm: Concert introduction with Lea Vaterlaus

Stravinsky was continuously inspired by Mozart's music and described him as an «extraordinary rhythmist». The way Mozart ‹grooves› is already audible in the introduction to the Concerto for two Pianos, but when the two sisters Katia and Marielle Labèque exchange the motifs of the final movement like imagined balls, the music takes off and you hear who the gods love.

Electrifying in a completely different, wild and archaic way are the «extraordinary rhythms» in Stravinsky's Sacre, which has evolved from a Parisian scandal piece to an ‹evergreen›.

Mittwoch, 25. Oktober 19:30
Stadtcasino Basel

Sinfonieorchester Basel
Daniel Hope, violin
Ivor Bolton, conductor

Edward Elgar
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in b minor, op. 61 (1910)

Antonín Dvořák
Symphony No. 8 in G major, The "English" Symphony, op. 88 (1889)

6.45 pm: Concert introduction with Hans-Georg Hofmann and Daniel Hope

After the concert critics' roundtable with Benjamin Herzog

None other than the world-renowned violin virtuoso Fritz Kreisler once said: "If you want to know who I think is the greatest living composer, I will say Elgar without hesitation." A little later he commissioned a violin concerto by Elgar, which Kreisler premiered in London in 1910. In the Stadtcasino Basel, one of the most prominent violinists of our time, the gentleman Daniel Hope, meets Ivor Bolton, who comes from near Manchester. An Anglo-Saxon evening awaits under the motto 'Very British', as Dvořák's 8th Symphony, nicknamed The "English" Symphony, is heard after the interval.

Mittwoch, 22. November 19:30
Stadtcasino Basel

Sinfonieorchester Basel
María Dueñas, violin
Ivor Bolton, conductor

Fanny Hensel
Overture in C major (1832)

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in e minor, op. 64 (1844)

Louise Farrenc
Symphony No. 3 in g minor, op. 36 (1847)

6.45 pm: Concert introduction with Benjamin François

It is hard to imagine today that 200 years ago a public female composer was unacceptable. Fanny Hensel was made aware of this several times by her brother Felix, her father and her husband - her Overture was even published under the name of her brother, who addressed her in letters as «liebste Fenchel» («dearest fennel»).

Louise Farrenc was the first female composer to be supported by her husband. In 1842, she was appointed the position of first professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire. Her 3rd Symphony, written shortly after, is a great success. It was rediscovered only a few years ago and is gaining a firmer place in the concert repertoire each year.

Mittwoch, 20. Dezember 19:30
Stadtcasino Basel

Sinfonieorchester Basel
David Moreau, violin
Edgar Moreau, violoncello 
Jérémie Moreau, piano 
Robert Trevino, conductor

Unsuk Chin
Subito con forza (2020)

Ludwig van Beethoven
Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra in C major, op. 56 (1804)

Richard Strauss
Sinfonia domestica, op. 53 (1903)

6.45 pm: Concert introduction with Lea Vaterlaus

After the concert critics' roundtable with Benjamin Herzog

The three French brothers David, Edgar and Jérémie Moreau have been making music together since childhood. Beethoven's Triple Concerto makes it possible for us to experience all three of them together as soloists.

Among composers, only Richard Strauss has managed to reveal family secrets musically - in his Sinfonia domestica. In doing so, he took his role model Goethe as his starting point, who believed that an artist should first and foremost draw «from the poetic content of his own life».

Mittwoch, 28. Februar 19:30
Stadtcasino Basel

Sinfonieorchester Basel
Basler Madrigalisten
Time for Three, violine, viola and double bass
Krzysztof Urbański, conductor

György Ligeti
Atmosphères (1961)

Kevin Puts
Contact (2022), Swiss premiere

Gustav Holst
The Planets (1916) 

5.30 pm: Discovery programme with Benjamin François

Even the ancient Greeks believed that the movements of the celestial bodies create a harmony of the spheres that has an influence on the human soul. In his seven-movement programme music The Planets, Gustav Holst took up mythological ideas people had about the planets: from the warlike Mars to the dissolute pleasure of Jupiter.

Before that, you will experience the Basel debut of the American string trio Time for Three, TF3 for short. The American composer Kevin Puts imagined that the refrain of his concerto for TF3 and orchestra could be a message sent into space, containing references to our DNA, to our nature as earthlings.

Mittwoch, 10. April 19:30
Stadtcasino Basel

Sinfonieorchester Basel
Allan Clayton, tenor 
Zoltán Mácsai, horn 
Ivor Bolton, conductor

Benjamin Britten
Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, op. 31 (1943)

Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 7 E major, WAB 107 (1883)

6.45 pm: Concert introduction with Hans-George Hofmann

Shortly before the end of the Second World War, Benjamin Britten wrote his Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings on six texts by English poets from different centuries. The result is a touching piece of night music, which is turned into a special experience by the tender, gentle and pure tenor voice of the British Allan Clayton.

Bruckner achieved his breakthrough with the public with his 7th Symphony. It was the turning point for the better in his life.

Mittwoch, 15. Mai 19:30
Stadtcasino Basel