Symphony Concert

Conductor: Gero Wittich

M. Bruch
Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 88
Lyuta Kobayashi (clarinet), Benjamin Rivinius (viola)

P. Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36

A summer evening, an orchestra, and major works - summer without music is no summer at all!

When the Bodensee-Kammerorchester takes the stage in August 2026, classical music becomes a shared event. Under the baton of Gero Wittich, the ensemble rehearses in Gaienhofen ahead of concerts in Friedrichshafen and Beuren an der Aach - with openness, precision, and audible joy. What began in 2002 as a circle of friends has grown into a full-scale symphony orchestra: the BKO brings together professional musicians from ensembles such as the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, and the Nationaltheater-Orchester Mannheim alongside music students and committed amateurs. Different paths, one shared standard: music at the highest level - alive, intense, and genuine.

The programme pairs two works that speak of inner tension and musical dialogue in very different ways. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony is among his most personal compositions, shaped by the idea of inescapable fate and the shadow of his deeply unhappy marriage, contracted shortly before. Between dramatic force and lyrical intimacy, a symphony of sharp contrasts unfolds - one that draws on every colour of the orchestra and invites the audience into direct emotional contact with the music. Max Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra offers a chamber-music counterpoint. Two instruments that usually stay in the background here share the spotlight as equals. Clarinet and viola move through the three movements together, alternating between parallel lines and genuine dialogue, with the orchestra in support. The soloists are Benjamin Rivinius, principal violist of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, and Lyuta Kobayashi.