Alan Gilbert returns for the first time in more than a decade to the Bamberg Symphony, where he will conduct a program of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 with pianist and long-time musical partner Inon Barnatan along with Shostakovich’s searing Symphony No. 10. Shostakovich likened the incendiary second movement to a depiction of the dictator Josef Stalin, who loomed threateningly over Shostakovich’s creative life for most of the composer’s career (two performances in Bamberg Oct 2 & 3, one in Erlangen on Oct 4).
After that, Gilbert leads concerts with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra (NDR EO) both at home and on tour. First up, at the Elbphilharmonie, a program featuring Missy Mazzoli’s Orpheus Undone, Walton’s Violin Concerto with soloist Frank Peter Zimmermann and Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter” (Oct 8 & 11). A second program at their home hall features artist in residence Leif Ove Andsnes joining Gilbert and the orchestra for Brahms’s magisterial Piano Concerto No. 2 and Gilbert conducting Debussy’s La Mer, and Suite No. 2 from Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé (Oct 15, 16 and 18). Works from this rich and colorful program will also be performed on the road soon after in Budapest, Hungary (Oct 21) and Vienna, Austria (Oct 22). Following a concert by Gilbert and the NDR EO on tour in Berlin, Bachtrack called their rendition of Brahms’ mighty Symphony No. 1, “A performance of an undeniably high order. Every section got huge cheers at the bow.”