Klaus Mäkelä is without a doubt one of the most talented and visionary conductors of our time. His brilliant debut in 2020 prompted the Concertgebouw Orchestra to invite him back several times. Now he leads the orchestra in The Firebird, the colourful ballet music which marked Igor Stravinsky’s international breakthrough. After the premiere, Serge Rachmaninoff allegedly exclaimed, ‘Great God! What a work of genius this is! This is true Russia!’ Instead of the shorter suite which is usually performed in concert, the Concertgebouw Orchestra will perform the complete ballet score.

Before the interval, we will have the opportunity to wtness the world permiere of Alexander Raskatov’s Oboe Concerto, composed for the Concertgebouw Orchestra and its principal oboist, Alexei Ogrintchouk. Klaus Mäkelä opens the concert with an exciting work by his young compatriot, Sauli Zinovjev. Although inspired by recent dramatic historic events, Batteria is not a political statement, but, according to the composer, ‘purely and simply humane art from one individual to another, privately and personally’.