Berliner Philharmoniker I

By and with Jörg Widmann: conducted by the composer and clarinettist, the Berliner Philharmoniker perform the concert overture “Con brio” which grapples with Beethoven’s Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, the Second Violin Concerto dedicated to his sister Carolin Widmann and the “Fantasie” for solo clarinet. In addition there is also a chance to hear Felix Mendelssohn’s “Reformation Symphony”.

“For me, the main impulse to compose is always emotional,” says Jörg Widmann, and this certainly applies to his orchestral piece “Con brio”. In this work, the composer and virtuoso clarinettist, born in Munich in 1973, uses the form of the concert overture, whose pioneers included Felix Mendelssohn: “I think it’s a shame that the overture is no longer a form that seems to challenge modern composers. Of course, there’s something unwieldy and traditional about it, if you want to see it that way. But I think it’s wonderful.” Widmann has described the violin concerto as a “sacred art form” in which “one confides the most personal things.” His second work in this genre was written for his sister, the violinist Carolin Widmann. In this brilliantly arranged piece, the “vocal instrument the violin” as the composer puts it, conveys “the most varied of human emotions” – especially in the expansive “Romance” section, which lays out a wide-ranging and minutely detailed cosmos of the soul. Under Jörg Widmann’s musical direction, the Berliner Philharmoniker present “Con brio” and the Second Violin Concerto. These are followed by the “Fantasie” for solo clarinet, whose “exaggerated virtuosity and essential character of cheerful irony” (Widmann) displays all the refinement of the contemporary clarinet sound. The main symphonic work is Felix Mendelssohn’s famous “Reformation Symphony”: a work in D minor turning spectacularly into major for the finale.