What: NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester – Season Finale Concert
When: Friday, 27 June 2025, 20:00 CEST
Where: Elbphilharmonie Hamburg (Großer Saal)
Watch: NDR official stream / YoutTube
Programme:
Kayhan Kalhor – Venus in the Mirror (world premiere)
Hector Berlioz – Symphonie fantastique, op. 14
Artists:
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
Alan Gilbert, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Kayhan Kalhor, kamantsche
The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester marks its 80th anniversary with a season finale devoted to peace, memory, and creative friendship. Conducted by Alan Gilbert, the concert opens with the world premiere of Venus in the Mirror, a new double concerto by Iranian composer and kamantsche virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor. Written for his longtime friend and collaborator Yo-Yo Ma, the work is a co-commission of the Morgenland Festival Osnabrück, the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, and the NDR.
Kalhor and Ma have performed together for over 25 years as part of the Silkroad Ensemble, and their new collaboration reflects not only artistic affinity but also shared values. “Venus in the Mirror” was conceived “in the midst of a world in turmoil,” as a gesture of calm and human connection. It also resonates with current events in Kalhor’s home country.
In the second half, Gilbert leads Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique—a feverish tale of obsession and hallucination, inspired by lost love and opium dreams. Written in 1830, this Romantic landmark concludes with a witches’ sabbath and a condemned artist’s final vision. The drama is vivid, but the message—like the concert itself—reminds us how art transforms turmoil into meaning.
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