Programme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Klarinettenkonzert A-Dur
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 6 in A major
Artists
Tomáš Hanus Conductor
- Stephan Mörth Clarinet
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
About the concert
Musicologists often group Anton Bruckner’s Symphonies Three to Five and Seven to Nine together because of their stylistic similarities. The sixth contribution to the genre as a “solitaire” (Peter Gülke) does not fit in this order. Ironically, what has long been the least performed of the later symphonies is one of Bruckner’s most accessible works. The catchy rhythmic profile of the first movement creates high tension and an irresistible pull, and the sheer melodic beauty of the adagio’s drawn-out second theme goes straight to the heart. Bruckner himself described the composition as “cheeky”, the first complete performance of which was conducted by Gustav Mahler only after the composer’s death, in 1899. In any case, the scherzo, which consists of a montage of motifs that hardly develop into clearly defined thematic figures, is cheeky in the sense of daring. The composer has hidden a short quote from his Fifth Symphony in this movement for connoisseurs. The finale begins in a peculiarly restrained manner, but builds to an impressive climax with fanfares in the wind section and the contrast between chamber-musical and sonorously orchestrated passages, in which the main theme of the first movement is taken up again.