Wiener Philharmoniker Week in Japan 2023

Daiwa House Special
Franz Welser-Möst conducts Wiener Philharmoniker
12 – 19 November 2023

Suntory Hall hosts Wiener Philharmoniker Week in Japan 2023 this November.

Founded in 1842, the Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic) has been closely associated with the rich musical history and tradition of Vienna, the capital city of music, and it continues to enthrall audiences all over the world with its unique and incomparable sound.

Suntory Hall has been hosting Wiener Philharmoniker Week in Japan since 1999, giving the Japanese audiences a regular opportunity to enjoy this renowned orchestra, and this year is its twentieth edition. At the helm will be Austrian Maestro Franz Welser-Möst, who enjoys a particularly close and productive artistic partnership with the Wiener Philharmoniker, and the soloist is the celebrated pianist Lang Lang.

As former Music Director of the Vienna State Opera, Welser-Möst has often performed with the orchestra, including the Summer Night Concert at Schönbrunn, the Wiener Philharmoniker Ball, and at many festivals including the Lucerne Festival and the BBC Proms. On New Year’s Day this year, he made his third appearance at the prestigious New Year’s Concert at the Musikverein, which was highly praised particularly for the bold and attractive programming. Welser-Möst and the orchestra last performed together in Suntory Hall in 2018.

The three orchestra-only programmes on 12, 18, and 19 November feature masterpieces by Beethoven, Brahms, Dvořák, and Richard Strauss. Lang Lang is the soloist in Saint-Saëns’s virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 2, which is followed by Prokofiev’s mighty Symphony No. 5 on 14 November.

As in previous years, there are education and outreach events including a free open rehearsal, an instrumental masterclass by one of the principal players, and a school programme. As a new initiative, 90 Youth tickets will be available for the concert on 12 November.

The Wiener Philharmoniker has built close ties with Japan, and after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the orchestra offered a donation of one million euros to help people recover from the disaster. The Suntory Group matched the amount and set up the “Wiener Philharmoniker and Suntory Music Aid Fund”, which continues to provide support through music in the Tohoku region as well as in Kumamoto. Support programmes for the affected areas are being planned during this year’s visit.

Text by Nahoko Gotoh

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Suntory Hall Concerts: Dates and Programmes

Sunday, 12 November
Wiener Philharmoniker
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor

• Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
• Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68

Tuesday, 14 November
Wiener Philharmoniker
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Lang Lang, piano

• Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor, Op. 22
• Serge Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, Op. 100

Saturday, 18 November
Wiener Philharmoniker
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor

• Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60
• Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68

Sunday, 19 November
Wiener Philharmoniker
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor

• Richard Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30
• Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 (B 163)

Full listings of the Wiener Philharmoniker Week in Japan 2023 can be found at the following:
https://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/suntoryhall/article/detail/001191.html

For further information and press photos, please contact:
suntoryhall-pr@suntory.co.jp
Public Relations, Suntory Hall

Website: http://suntory.jp/HALL-e/
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