Staatskapelle On Tour
Standing ovations for the Staatskapelle Berlin in Toronto, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia with Giedrė Šlekytė, Jakub Hrůša and Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Three conductors, four music centers in North America, six concerts celebrated with standing ovations: The musicians of the Staatskapelle Berlin have returned from their very successful tour in Canada and the USA, which the orchestra took from November 25th to December 3rd, on tour through Toronto, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia with Johannes Brahms' four symphonies.
After Daniel Barenboim unfortunately had to cancel his appearances on the Staatskapelle Berlin's North American tour for health reasons, a solution that was unique in the orchestra's 450-year history was found: Giedrė Šlekytė, Jakub Hrůša, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin (three outstanding conductors) took over the concerts and provided three different, exciting musical encounters. All six concerts were enthusiastically celebrated by the audience for several minutes.
“It was of course very regrettable that Daniel Barenboim could not take part in this tour as planned - we, the organizers in Canada and the USA and the conductors were thinking of him and wish him a speedy recovery from the bottom of our hearts! My big thanks go to everyone involved who helped make such a unique and musically outstanding tour possible, especially Giedrė Šlekytė, Jakub Hrůša and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. It was an incredibly great experience for the Staatskapelle Berlin to work with three conductors on an international concert tour over such a short period of time, all of whom worked out very different and extremely exciting interpretations with the orchestra in a very short space of time. But the wonderful sound of the Staatskapelle Berlin remained. This was ‘spontaneous’ music-making at the highest level and something that can hardly be planned in this form. The audience’s reactions showed that there was something special in the air. With all three encounters, the foundation stone was laid in the last few days for musical partnerships that are of utmost importance for the future and should be continued!”
The tour began in Toronto with a triple debut: The two sold-out opening concerts in Koerner Hall were the Staatskapelle Berlin's first ever appearances in Canada. The internationally sought-after Lithuanian conductor Giedrė Šlekytė made her North American debut - at the same time, this was the first time a female conductor could be seen conducting the orchestra on an international tour.
On November 28, just weeks after his US opera debut with JENŮFA at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and as a regular guest conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jakub Hrůša made his acclaimed Chicago debut with the Staatskapelle Berlin at the sold-out Chicago Symphony Center.
“Hrůša’s pinch hit a grand slam … The Staatskapelle performs like you can hear their hearts. That shouldn’t be as rare as it is… then came a DNA-shuffling fourth movement, one which vowed to change the way one hears that glorious music forever.”
At the sold-out concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall on November 30th and December 1st and at the Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia on December 3rd, there was a long-awaited and brilliant reunion: Yannick Nézet- Séguin, musical and artistic director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and music director of the Orchester Métropolitain and the Metropolitan Opera, returned to the podium of the Staatskapelle Berlin for the first time in ten years:
“Yannick Nézet-Séguin offers lush Brahms,” according to the Financial Times.
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“Yannick Nézet-Séguin offers lush Brahms,” according to the Financial Times. 〰️
In Philadelphia, the Staatskapelle Berlin was the first international orchestra to return since the pandemic. The Philadelphia Inquirer pointed out the importance of such cultural encounters:
“Philadelphia should be seeing other orchestras. This ensemble from Berlin showed us why… Cross-cultural experiences like this are absolutely critical in our age of political fracturing and social media siloing. Some of the differences between Staastkapelle Berlin and Verizon Hall’s resident orchestra were visually arresting: French horn players who floated their bells a few inches off their laps (as opposed to their American counterparts who kept them planted), and an ensemble of musicians who, at the end of the concert, all turned to each other for physical embraces and to thank one another. Musically… on this night in this program, the Staatskapelle Berlin came across a young, nimble ensemble with a pleasing, transparent sound.”