Sixth Symphony Concert

Bruckner is known as one of the great symphonic composers after Beethoven, although it was not until he was almost 40 years old that he wrote the first of his nine symphonies. By the time his 7th symphony was published, he had established worldwide fame. The 8th would be his last completed work in the genre, with the 9th remaining incomplete at the time of his death. The highly self-critical composer had been unsettled by initial feedback he had received to his 8th Symphony, and spent the years from 1886 creating a second, revised version. As a result, the second version (also played here) only received its first performance in Vienna in 1892. Bruckner draws on a full range of emotions in this grand work: the first movement concludes with a haunting pianissimo, while the second resounds – in the style of Beethoven – as a pulsating Scherzo, contrasted with a transparent Trio. The expressive Adagio third movement is followed by a majestic finale, containing weighty, triumphant writing for the brass. Fittingly, the symphony was dedicated to Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, to whom Bruckner personally handed a copy of the score. The conductor of the 6th symphony concert is Michael Hemrath, a well-known Bruckner devotee, who regards the 8th Symphony as “the crown of symphonic creation”. He was General Music Director of the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra from 2003 – 2015 and is currently GMD at Theater Nordhausen. Maestro Hemrath is no stranger to Wiesbaden, having conducted “The Tales of Hoffmann” and “Hänsel und Gretel” in previous seasons. This season, he will return to conduct the new production of “Die Fledermaus”.