Freischütz - Closing Concert

MDR-Sinfonieorchester | MDR-Rundfunkchor
Dennis Russell Davies - conductor

Ethel Smyth (1858-1944)
Prolog from the opera
"Der Wald"

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Overtures and hunting choruses from "Der Freischütz", "Euryanthe" and "Turandot"

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
"Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber"

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
"Vom Pagen und der Königstochter" op. 140
Four ballads to texts by Emanuel Geibel for soloists, choir and orchestra

MDR-Rundfunkchor
MDR-Sinfonieorchester
Dennis Russell Davies - conductor

Carl Maria von Weber's work is inseparably linked with a new musical aesthetic in which nature holds a central place. Der Freischütz stands as a key work: here the motif of the forest develops into a symbol of the uncanny and supernatural, often interwoven with other major themes of Romanticism, such as forbidden love transcending social boundaries. Robert Schumann expresses the same in his powerful cycle Vom Pagen und der Königstochter. Conductor Dennis Russell Davies places Weber's work in a dynamic dialogue with modernity.