WDR SINFONIEORCHESTER SPAIN TOUR AND SEASON CLOSE

Jukka-Pekka and the WDR Sinfonieorchester return to Spain for 5 concerts
 
 
 
 
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JUKKA-PEKKA EXTENDS CONTRACT WITH THE WDR SYMPHONY

The WDR Symphony announces that Jukka-Pekka has signed a new agreement with the orchestra through 2018/19
 
 
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Axel Carpelan: mentor and spiritual ally of Sibelius

Axel

Axel Carpelan was a nobleman; a lonely individual who was too frail and weak to work. Yet he was very highly educated and was self-taught in the arts. He became acquainted with Sibelius, embarking on a friendship with the composer which involved not only being an admirer of his talent, but also intuitively seeing where he should be going and which choices he should make. He even offered his personal opinion on the different versions or solutions in the compositions which Sibelius presented to him.

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BRAHMS/SCHOENBERG/TCHAIKOVSKY – COLOGNE PHILHARMONIE, GERMANY

20 & 21 March 2015
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Minguet Quartet

“In Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony – the “Pathétique” – Jukka-Pekka Saraste assumed a very clear approach…with a very sober tone and subdued emotions, and maybe precisely because of this, achieved an incredibly impressive overall effect. No laments in the outer movements, no worldly melancholy in the waltz, no infernal cheers of triumph in the march. … a surprising performance”

23 March 2015
Gerhard Bauer, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger

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SIBELIUS/NIELSEN/TCHAIKOVSKY – WIENER KONZERTHAUS, BREGENZ FESTSPIELHAUS, INNSBRUCK CONGRESS

24, 25, 26, 30 January 2015
Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Marina Piccinini

“Saraste assumes full risk here, chasing the orchestra into a trapeze act without a net…much ventured, much gained!”

2 February 2015
hd, Die Presse

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Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Profil Medien – PH14045

“Instinctive Mahlerians take their time, they breathe in the atmosphere and feel the subtext. In the midst of the second movement’s impassioned onslaught…Saraste finds within it something so personal and so inward-looking that it is as if he is placing all his Mahlerian credentials on the line in that one passage.

But there is better to come…Saraste’s reading dances through the finale, which feels, as it should, thoroughly liberating. The playing of the WDR SO, always top-class, has acquired an irresistible sweep along the way and the glorious release of the coda (given an expansive embrace by Saraste) is as good as it gets.

..Saraste has the insight and individuality…Mahler collectors would be well-advised to give him a spin.”

Gramophone Magazine, Edward Seckerson, January 2015

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CELEBRATING SIBELIUS 150 YEARS

“It’s not easy to describe his work. There is some kind of intensity in it that isn’t related to anything else in music”
 
Plans for the Sibelius anniversary year in 2015
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SIBELIUS/SHOSTAKOVICH – COLOGNE PHILHARMONIE, GERMANY

16 & 17 January 2015
WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Frank-Peter Zimmermann

“Saraste controlled the waves of sound with a sure and sharpening hand”

19 January 2015
Christoph Zimmermann, Kölnische Rundschau

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MAHLER – GOTHENBURG CONCERT HALL, SWEDEN

11 & 12 December 2014
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

“A mesmeric Mahler Sixth”

“In Jukka-Pekka Saraste’s hands, Mahler’s Sixth Symphony is an unrelenting work which left the audience gasping for air at its stunning conclusion”
Five stars

12 December 2014
David Karlin, Bachtrack.com