ANDRIS NELSONS. HÅKAN HARDENBERGER. Leipzig GEWANDHAUS Orchestra.

The Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, led by the new artistic director Andris Nelsons, brings two different programmes to Riga, featuring two rising stars in the music world. These concerts are included in the Latvian centenary concert series “Born in Latvia”.

The concerts are organised in collaboration with Andrejs Žagars Cultural Support and Development Foundation and the Baltic Musical Seasons Foundation.

In the first part of the concert on 14 October, the charismatic Swedish trumpeter, one of the most prominent trumpet masters of our time, Håkan Hardenberger, will perform with the orchestra, reminding us that in Andris Nelsons’ hands, the trumpet occasionally sounds brilliant once again. The chosen piece is the “Trumpet Concerto Nobody knows de trouble I see” by the well-known 20th century German avant-garde composer Brend Alois Zimmermann. The part of the concert is devoted to Gustav Mahler’s five-movement Symphony No.5, which listeners will recognise both for its famous mournful march, and the even better known Adagietto.

Andris Nelsons will begin his new position as the artistic director of the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester on 22 February, with a series of concerts in Leipzig; this year’s concerts will also take place in London, Stockholm, Moscow, St Petersburg, Helsinki and Latvia. The concert cycle “Born in Latvia” is a commemorative event for Latvia’s centenary, supported by the Ministry of Culture. The concert series provides Latvian audiences with the opportunity to see performances by both young Latvian talent and internationally renowned and sought-after music stars in Latvian concert halls during Latvia’s centenary year.