07:00 pm
Dirk Kaftan Conductor
Rachel Frenkel Mezzo-Soprano
FAZIL SAY · “Ana Tanriça (Mother Goddess)” Overture for Orchestra Op. 75 (2017)
LEONARD BERNSTEIN · Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah” (1943)
GUSTAV MAHLER · Symphony No. 4 in G-major (1899-1901)
Every time the National Youth Orchestra of Germany comes to Young Euro Classic at the Konzerthaus – as it does every summer, except in extraordinary circumstances – the ensemble plays unusual programmes! Their quality is beyond doubt, given that the “BJO” unites the best young musicians in Germany aged 14 to 19, who meet every year for several intense working sessions. This time, the orchestra begins by highlighting Fazil Say, the exceptional Turkish artist who enjoys blasting away at the boundaries of “classical” music, both as a pianist and composer. His paean to the “mother goddess” Ana Tanriça is followed by Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1, Jeremiah, a personal work in which a mezzo-soprano soloist sings texts from the biblical Lamentations of Jeremiah in the third movement. The symphonic finale is the Fourth Symphony by Gustav Mahler, a work with more of a chamber-music outlook, compared to the massive sonic eruptions of the Second and Third. With its finale “Das himmlische Leben”, it reflects once again Mahler’s predilection for the world of the romantic collection of poetry Des Knaben Wunderhorn.
The Bundesjugendorchester (National Youth Orchestra of Germany, or BJO) is not only Germany’s youngest top orchestra for rising talents, but also under the patronage of the Berlin Philharmonic – and a beloved regular guest at Young Euro Classic. Following its motto “Playing. Supporting. Raising Enthusiasm”, the young musicians aged 14 to 19, most of them first-prize winners of the “Jugend musiziert” competition, meet for several intense rehearsal periods per year. The orchestra presents compositions from all epochs, including contemporary works and world premieres. Founded by the German Music Council in 1969, the BJO has performed with numerous star conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Kirill Petrenko or Dirk Kaftan and with soloists such as Tabea Zimmermann, Sting or Peter Maffay. It has also become one of Germany’s most important cultural ambassadors, focusing on burning issues of our times: thus, it accompanied the founding of the national youth orchestra of Ukraine (2017), supported music education projects in the South African township of Soweto (2019) and reactivated its youth exchange with the United Kingdom after Brexit (2025).
Dirk Kaftan is one of the most intriguing German conductors of his generation: outstanding programming, world premieres, unusual opera productions and an imagination beyond the ordinary are all part of the profile of the musician, who was born in 1971. As general music director of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and the Bonn Opera since 2017, immediate exchange with people in the region is no less important to him than working with and on music. In Beethoven’s hometown, Kaftan has focused on a repertoire which the city’s great son would have performed during his youth with the Bonn Court Orchestra. In 2021, Kaftan and the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn won the European Cultural Award for these efforts. Earlier stations in Kaftan’s career were Augsburg and Graz, where he performed Schoenberg’s monumental Gurre-Lieder as his first concert. Nor is the conductor a stranger to Berlin: at the Komische Oper, he conducted Herbert Fritsch’s production of Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer, and this spring the premiere of the Grönemeyer-Fritsch production Pferd frisst Hut at the Schiller-Theater.
Born in Haifa, Rachel Frenkel grew up in a kibbutz before starting her musical training at the renowned Buchmann-Mehta School in Tel Aviv. The mezzo-soprano took her first professional steps at the Opera Studio of the Berlin State Opera from 2009 to 2011, where she was able to perform some of the roles that would become her signature ones, such as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Dorabella in Così fan tutte. Guest performances took Rachel Frenkel to the Semper Opera in Dresden, the Hamburg State Opera, the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, the Salzburg Festival, the Bregenz Festival and the Glyndebourne Festival. She has worked with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, Christian Thielemann, Iván Fischer, Gustavo Dudamel, Marc Minkowski, Simone Young, Thomas Hengelbrock, Emmanuelle Haïm and Robin Ticciati. The artist is also a sought-after concert performer: she has sung Berlioz’ song cycle Les nuits d’été with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 in Leipzig, Tokyo and Zurich, as well as Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with Concerto Köln under Kent Nagano’s baton.