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WFMT Orchestra Series

Saturdays at 7pm
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Klaus Mäkelä photo by Mathias Benuigui/Pasco and Co

The WFMT Orchestra series continues this fall with broadcasts from the European Broadcasting Union. The season begins with Riccardo Muti leading the Vienna Philharmonic at the scenic Waldbühne, an iconic outdoor venue near Berlin.

Keep scrolling for the full season of exciting new concerts from Europe!

Schedule
  • October 5
    Waldbühne I: Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic

    Situated in a wooded area just outside Berlin, the Waldbühne is one of Europe’s largest and most popular open-air concert venues. With seating for an audience of more than 22,000, orchestral concerts at the Waldbühne are major occasions. The autumn season opens with a two-week visit to this epic outdoor space. First up, Riccardo Muti leads the Vienna Philharmonic in a festive program of classical favorites, performed last May.

    ORCHESTRA

    Vienna Philharmonic

    CONDUCTOR

    Riccardo Muti

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Overture to La Forza del destino

    Manuel de Falla

    The Three-Cornered Hat, Suite No. 2

    Emmanuel Chabrier

    España

    Johannes Brahms

    Hungarian Dance No. 1

    Johannes Brahms

    Hungarian Dance No. 4

    Edvard Grieg

    Morning, from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46

    Antonín Dvořák

    Slavonic Dance No. 1, Op. 72

    Ottorino Respighi

    Excerpts from Pines of Rome

  • October 12
    Waldbühne II: Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmonic

    The second week at the Waldbühne brings the Berlin Philharmonic and Kirill Petrenko to the stage in a program pairing Maurice Ravel with music by Modest Mussorgsky and Sergei Prokofiev. Superstar pianist Yuja Wang brings palpable urgency to Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

    ORCHESTRA

    Berlin Philharmonic

    CONDUCTOR

    Kirill Petrenko

    SOLOIST

    Yuja Wang, piano

    Modest Mussorgsky

    Night on Bald Mountain

    Serge Prokofiev

    Piano Concerto No. 1 in D flat, Op. 10

    Maurice Ravel

    Pavane pour une infante défunte

    Maurice Ravel

    Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

    Maurice Ravel

    Boléro

  • October 19
    Manze Leads the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

    Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason brings Mieczysław Weinberg’s Cello Concerto to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Andrew Manze leads the orchestra through a concert that also includes music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and a seldom-heard Elgar symphony.

    ORCHESTRA

    Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

    CONDUCTOR

    Andrew Manze

    SOLOIST

    Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello

    Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

    Ballade, Op. 33

    Mieczysław Weinberg

    Cello Concerto, Op. 43

    Sir Edward Elgar

    Symphony No. 1, Op. 55

  • October 26
    Spanish Flare with the BBC Philharmonic

    The BBC Philharmonic offers a program mixing Spanish music with Spanish influence. First, music by three French composers captivated by the music of Spain: Hector Berlioz, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Maurice Ravel. The Philharmonic completes the program with Manuel de Falla’s music from The Three-Cornered Hat and the Carmen Fantasy by fellow Spaniard Pablo de Sarasate.

    ORCHESTRA

    BBC Philharmonic

    CONDUCTOR

    Juanjo Mena

    SOLOIST

    James Ehnes, violin

    Hector Berlioz

    Roman Carnival Overture

    Camille Saint-Saëns

    Violin Concerto No. 3, Op. 61

    Maurice Ravel

    Alborada del gracioso, version for orchestra

    Pablo de Sarasate

    Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25

    Manuel de Falla

    The Three-Cornered Hat, Suite No. 1

    Manuel de Falla

    The Three-Cornered Hat, Suite No. 2

  • November 2
    The German Symphony Orchestra and Dvorak’s Fifth

    Pianist Daniil Trifonov takes you on a journey from the Renaissance to modern times in Mason Bates’s expansive Piano Concerto. Rounding out the program is Om fotspår och ljus (Helsinki Variations) by Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski and Antonín Dvořák’s colorful Symphony No. 5.

    ORCHESTRA

    German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin

    CONDUCTOR

    Ruth Rheinhardt

    SOLOIST

    Daniil Trifonov, piano

    Lotta Wennäkoski

    Om fotspår och ljus (Helsinki Variations)

    Mason Bates

    Piano Concerto

    Antonín Dvořák

    Symphony No. 5, Op. 76

  • November 9
    Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in Wales

    Sergei Rachmaninoff’s glorious Second Symphony is the cornerstone of this program from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Also featured is Grace Williams’s Elegy for Strings, and Carl Nielsen’s Violin Concerto with violinist Liya Petrova.

    ORCHESTRA

    BBC National Orchestra of Wales

    CONDUCTOR

    Martyn Brabbins

    SOLOIST

    Liya Petrova, violin

    Grace Williams

    Elegy for strings

    Carl Nielsen

    Violin Concerto, Op. 33

    Sergei Rachmaninoff

    Symphony No. 2, Op. 27

  • November 16
    Bavarian Radio Symphony I: Muti Conducts

    In the first of three concerts with one of Europe’s leading radio orchestras, Riccardo Muti leads the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in music that highlights the ensembles’ combined forces. Haydn’s glorious Te Deum opens the program, with Richard Strauss’s Aus Italien concluding. The program’s centerpiece, Franz Schubert’s Second Mass, features vocalists Siobhan Stagg, Julian Prégardien, and Vito Priante.

    ORCHESTRA

    Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

    CONDUCTOR

    Riccardo Muti

    SOLOISTS

    Siobhan Stagg, soprano; Julian Prégardien, tenor; Vito Priante, bass-baritone

    Joseph Haydn

    Te Deum No. 2, Hob. XXIIIC:2

    Franz Schubert

    Mass No. 2, D. 167

    Richard Strauss

    Aus Italien, Op. 16

  • November 23
    Bavarian Radio Symphony II: Eastern European Flavor

    Sir Simon Rattle became Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in September 2023. In our second week with the BRSO, Sir Simon’s artistic leadership is on full display in a program of Eastern European music recorded just a few months later, in April 2024. Violist Timothy Ridout joins in for Bohuslav Martinů’s rousing Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, bookended by Antonín Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances Op. 72 and Janáček’s gleaming Sinfonietta.

    ORCHESTRA

    Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

    CONDUCTOR

    Simon Rattle

    SOLOIST

    Timothy Ridout, viola

    Antonín Dvořák

    Slavonic Dances, Op. 72

    Bohuslav Martinů

    Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, H. 337

    Leoš Janáček

    Sinfonietta, Op. 60

  • November 30
    Bavarian Radio Symphony III: Kissin Plays Rachmaninoff

    Our closing week with the Bavarian Radio Symphony brings international sensation Evgeny Kissin to the stage for Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto. Polish conductor Krzysztof Urbański also leads the orchestra in the gripping Symphony No. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

    ORCHESTRA

    Bavarian Radio Symphony

    CONDUCTOR

    Krzysztof Urbański

    SOLOIST

    Evgeny Kissin, piano

    Sergei Rachmaninoff

    Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 30

    Dmitri Shostakovich

    Symphony No. 10, Op. 93

  • December 7
    Tchaikovsky in Berlin: Stravinsky, Bartók, and Tchaikovsky

    Maria Dueñas shines in Béla Bartók’s darkly beautiful Violin Concerto No. 2 with conductor Elim Chan. The Berlin Radio Symphony rounds out the program with works by Igor Stravinsky and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

    ORCHESTRA

    Berlin Radio Symphony

    CONDUCTOR

    Elim Chan

    SOLOIST

    Maria Dueñas, violin

    Igor Stravinsky

    Suite No. 2

    Béla Bartók

    Violin Concerto No. 2

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Symphony No. 2, Op.17

  • December 14
    In Switzerland with Mäkelä and Andsnes

    A journey to Switzerland with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra begins with the lush Hebrides Overture by Felix Mendelssohn. Then Leif Ove Andsnes tackles Grieg’s famous Piano Concerto before the program concludes with Schumann’s Symphony No. 2. The fast-rising Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä conducts.

    ORCHESTRA

    Lucerne Festival Orchestra

    CONDUCTOR

    Klaus Mäkelä

    SOLOIST

    Leif Ove Andsnes, piano

    Felix Mendelssohn

    The Hebrides Overture, Fingal’s Cave

    Edvard Grieg

    Piano Concerto, Op. 16

    Robert Schumann

    Symphony No. 2, Op. 61

  • December 21
    A Legendary Love Story at the Royal Concertgebouw

    Love is in the air in this all-orchestral program from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor Elim Chan leads the ensemble in Hector Berlioz’s Le Corsaire Overture and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, with Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet concluding the program.

    ORCHESTRA

    Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

    CONDUCTOR

    Elim Chan

    Hector Berlioz

    Le Corsaire

    Felix Mendelssohn

    Symphony No. 4, Op. 90, Italian

    Sergei Prokofiev

    Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64

  • December 28
    Gilbert and Ax Play Mozart and Mahler

    It’s one of the most satisfying pairings in all classical music: Mozart and Mahler. Our series of concerts from Europe and Britain concludes in northern Germany with the NDR Radio Philharmonic, pianist Emanuel Ax, and conductor Alan Gilbert exploring music by both composers. First, Ax takes the stage for Mozart’s elegant Piano Concerto No. 25, followed by the epic Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler.

    ORCHESTRA

    NDR Radio Philharmonic

    CONDUCTOR

    Alan Gilbert

    SOLOIST

    Emanuel Ax, piano

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto No. 25, K. 503

    Gustav Mahler

    Symphony No. 5