Space-encompassing sounds
Anna Vinnitskaya
Holst's "Planets" and Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2
Programme
Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 83
Gustav Holst “The Planets”, orchestral suite, Op. 32
Cast
Michael Francis - Conductor
Anna Vinnitskaya - Piano
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Concert with
Concert with
Bridges of sound to the cosmos
CONCERT TO LISTEN TO
with starry sky projectors
Broadcast on Thu 2 April 2020 – 8 pm
€ 16
Tickets at the Stiftung Planetarium Berlin
Here you will find out more about our concert broadcasts into the Zeiss-Großplanetarium.
Artists
Michael Francis
Conductor
Michael Francis - Conductor
Michael Francis has quickly established himself internationally. Known for maintaining a diverse repertoire while paying particular homage to the composers of his native Britain, Francis enjoys great reception throughout North America, Europe and Far East Asia.
This season, Francis has been appointed the new Chief Conductor of Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. He returns with MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and debuts with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as well as Phoenix and San Diego symphonies.
Other guest and return appearances in North America have included Cleveland Orchestra, New York, Cincinnati, Houston, Atlanta and Pittsburgh, as well as the symphonies of Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. His European engagements have included Bavarian Radio, Berlin Radio, Dresden Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE Madrid and Mariinsky Orchestra. In the UK, his has worked with London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and BBC Scottish Symphony. In Asia, Maestro Francis has conducted the NHK Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan as well as Hong Kong and Japan philharmonics and has returned to Malaysia and Seoul philharmonics.
Working with young musicians has always been a priority for Maestro Francis. He will return to the National Youth Orchestra of Canada during the summer 2019. Francis has made frequent visits to Miami’s New World Symphony and recently returned to the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. He also works regularly with young musicians in Florida as part of the orchestra’s community engagement initiative.
After several years as a tenured double-bass player in the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), he came to prominence as a conductor in January 2007, replacing an indisposed Valery Gergiev for concerts with the LSO during the BBC’s Gubaidulina festival at the Barbican Centre. Just one month later, Francis was asked, this time with only two hours’ notice, to replace the composer/conductor John Adams in a performance of his own works with the LSO with the Philharmonie Luxembourg. Soon after in January 2009, he replaced André Previn leading a German tour of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony with Anne-Sophie Mutter.
Soloists that he works with include Lang Lang, Arcadi Volodos, Itzhak Perlman, Christian Tetzlaff, Vadim Gluzman, Nicola Benedetti, Javier Perianes, Jamie Barton, Truls Mørk, Håkan Hardenberger, Daniel Müller-Schott, Miloš, Benjamin Grosvenor, Emanuel Ax, Ian Bostridge, James Ehnes, and Rufus Wainwright.
Francis’ discography includes the Rachmaninov piano concertos with Valentina Lisitsa and the London Symphony Orchestra, Wolfgang Rihm’s Lichtes Spiel with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the New York Philharmonic, and the Ravel & Gershwin piano concertos with Ian Parker.
Now entering his fourth season as Music Director of The Florida Orchestra, he has led a transformative community engagement initiative, which has included statewide residencies, programmatic collaborations with local museums, and a hugely expanded lecture series. He is also Music Director of the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, where he has launched an ambitious multi-year exploration of Mozart’s life. He was previously Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra from 2012 to 2016.
Francis makes his home in Tampa, FL with his wife Cindy and four-year-old daughter Annabella.
Anna Vinnitskaya
Piano
Anna Vinnitskaya - Piano
Whoever witnesses Anna Vinnitskaya in concert is inevitably enthralled by the aura of this artist. Audiences and critics alike celebrate her ability to paint grand canvases and spark spectacular fireworks. Her technical splendour is not a virtuosic means in itself, but blends with a natural, always colourful sound. Anna Vinnitskaya is a major pianist of our time who tells stories with her music.
Vinnitskaya’s repertoire spans from Johann Sebastian Bach to Sofia Gubaidulina. Her particular emphasis lies on the great Russian piano composers such as Rachmaninov, Prokofiev or Shostakovich, as well as the piano works of Ravel, Debussy and Chopin. In the past few years, her readings of Brahms and Bartók have caused a stir.
The first prize at the Concours Reine Elisabeth in Brussels in 2007 marked the beginning of Anna Vinnitskaya’s international career. Among the conductors with whom she has collaborated are stars of the younger generation such as Andris Nelsons, Kirill Petrenko or Krzysztof Urbanski, as well as seasoned masters such as Charles Dutoit, Vladimir Fedoseyev and Marek Janowski.
Highlights of the 2018-19 season will include Vinnitskaya‘s debuts with Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. She return to the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg for three major projects – with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester – as well as to the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, SWR Symphonieorchester and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Anna Vinnitskaya’s recordings have been recognized with numerous awards, such as the Diapason d’Or, the Gramophone Editor’s Choice and the ECHO Klassik.
Born in the Russian city of Novorossiysk, Anna Vinnitskaya has called Hamburg her home since 2002. A former master student of Evgeni Koroliov at the Hamburg conservatoire, she now is a professor there herself.
Ticket information
Sun 29 March 2020 - 8 pm Konzerthaus Berlin
- from € 20
- Introduction with Steffen Georgi: 7 pm, Ludwig-van-Beethoven-Saal (free, limited number of seats)
Ticket Sales
It is possible to buy your tickets online at www.rsb-online.de , by telephone, email or in person at our visitor service, or at the daytime or evening box office. Book your tickets until the last working day before the respective concert on our homepage and simply print them out at home in A4-format. Payment is by credit card; a processing fee of 2 € will be charged. This possibility is available for concerts in the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Philharmonie Berlin. All theatre box offices, travel agents and advance ticket sales offices in Berlin and Brandenburg affiliated to “eventim” also sell tickets for concerts by the RSB. The customary advance ticket fees and, where relevant, costs for postage will be charged. The evening box office opens one hour before the concert starts on the day of the concert. If an introductory event is taking place before the concert, the evening box office will open 90 minutes before the concert begins.
Reductions
Special group rates are available for school pupils and travel groups, companies, societies and major customers. Please contact our visitor service directly if you are interested.
School pupils, trainees and students up to the age of 27, as well as the unemployed, can buy tickets for the RSB's own concerts for 10 € each at the evening box office before the respective concert. This offer applies only when tickets are still available. The organisers take responsibility for the disposition of the tickets. Reductions can be granted only when buying tickets personally and presenting the corresponding documents and personal identification. No more than one reduced ticket per person may be purchased. This ticket is non-transferrable. Severely disabled persons entitled to an escort can address their request for tickets to the visitor service. This service is happy to offer advice regarding the contingent of places available.
Classic Card
› for all those under 30
› Sit in the best seats for one year as from date requested
› Fixed price of 8 € for concerts or 10 € for opera and ballet (depending on availability at the evening box office)
› valid all participating ensembles' own events and venues: RundfunkSinfonieorchester Berlin, Rundfunkchor Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Konzerthaus Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Staatsoper im Schiller Theater, Staatsballett Berlin › Monthly bonus and visits to rehearsals, raffle to win a role as an extra etc. › All advantages for only 15 €, further information: www.classiccard.de
berlinerjugendabo
› for young people aged 14 to 21 › Experience Berlin's top musicians: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Berliner Philharmoniker, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Bundesjugendorchester › Six concerts per season for a package price of only 36 € › Additional bonus as well as special concert introductions, talks with musicians etc., further information: www.berlinerjugendabo.de
Route directions & parking location
Konzerthaus Berlin
Gendarmenmarkt
10117 Berlin
The Konzerthaus can be accessed easily by the following means of public transport:
Bus M48 to U Stadtmitte/Leipziger Straße + 5 minutes walk, 100 to Unter den Linden/Friedrichstraße + 5 minutes walk, 147 to Französische Straße, 200 to Unter den Linden/Friedrichstraße + 5 minutes walk
Underground U2 to Hausvogteiplatz + 3 minutes walk or Stadtmitte + 5 minutes walk, U6 to Französische Straße + 4 minutes walk or Stadtmitte + 5 minutes walk, U55 to Brandenburger Tor + 10 minutes walk
S-Bahn (city railway) S1, S2, S25, S26, S3, S5, S7, S9 to Friedrichstraße + 15 minutes walk, S1, S2, S25, S26 to Brandenburger Tor + 10 minutes walk
Car Parking
For those arriving by car, the following underground car park is available : Taubenstraße/Jägerstraße run by Contipark Parkgaragengesellschaft mbH (address of entrance: Taubenstraße 14, 10117 Berlin, The-Q). The cost of parking here is 2.00 Euros per hour. Exclusively for concert audiences: the Konzerthaus rate is 5.50 Euros for a full six hours parking. Simply get your parking ticket marked at the service desk in the foyer of the Konzerthaus.
Admission
For concerts with an introduction by our dramaturge, admission begins 75 minutes before the concert.
The building opens one hour before the start of concerts without such introductions.
Barrier-free accessibility
A lift, accessible via the stage entrance (Charlottenstraße), is available for the use of the physically disabled. Disabled toilets can be found close to the stage entrance and at Café Konzerthaus. Identified parking for the disabled is available in Charlottenstraße (close to the stage entrance) and Markgrafenstraße (near Taubenstraße).
Concert visitors with severely disabled passes marked B will receive a free ticket for their escort when buying a ticket. Our visitor service is happy to assist with any further questions. On site, you can contact the staff of the events service ARTIS, who will be happy to help you in any way.
Cloakroom
Please note that visitors may not take large bags, rucksacks or coats into the concert hall with them. However, coats can be handed in, free of charge at the cloakrooms in the entrance foyer. Please collect your coats and items of luggage as soon as possible after the end of the concert. Personal items which are not collected in good time will be left with the stage porter (rear entrance) and can be collected there upon presentation of your cloakroom ticket.
There is no fixed dress code for concerts by the RSB. Depending on your taste and how you feel most comfortable, you can attend in suit or evening gown, or in jeans and a T-shirt, for example.
Catering
The gastronomic offers at the Konzerthaus, including refreshing drinks and delicious snacks, can be found in the Ludwig-van-Beethoven-Saal or Carl-Maria-von-Weber-Saal, as well as in the snack foyer. It is possible to reserve a table in advance and pre-order drinks and a snack for the interval, personally or by telephone: tel. 030 848 55 666.
No food or drinks may be taken into the concert hall.
Concert Lenght/Duration
Symphonic and chamber music concerts generally take 2 hours including a 20-minute interval.
Attention is drawn to significant deviations from this rule in the concert calendar.
Late Admission
Should you arrive too late for a concert, it will depend on the works being played when and whether there will be late admissions. Please speak to the staff of the respective venue. It may not be possible for you to take up your actual seat until the concert interval, as the music cannot be disturbed. No refund on ticket prices is possible.
Programmes
Our programmes are sold by the admission stewards before each concert and in the interval, costing 3 € each.
RSB subscribers receive a free copy of the relevant programme on presentation of a voucher.
Introductions
Steffen Georgi, dramaturge of the RSB, offers free introductory talks to most symphonic concerts in the auxiliary rooms of the Konzerthaus or the Philharmonie. These take place 50 minutes (in the Philharmonie) or 60 minutes (in the Konzerthaus) before the start of the concert. The introductory talks will take place in German language. All relevant details may be found in our annotated concert calendar; see entries on respective concert dates.
