Venue: Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg

At the Elbphilharmonie, Joana Mallwitz treats Mahler's Fifth as an argument to be won, and she knows exactly how it will end.

From Berg’s crystalline intimacy to Dionysian Mahler, Teodor Currentzis and Utopia defy orchestral tradition with standing musicians, spatial acoustics and an emotional intensity that breathes new life into the concert life.

Jonathan Nott and the OSR bring surgical precision to Debussy’s vivid sketches, while Khatia Buniatishvili’s Brahms evokes the soulful, improvisational warmth of a pre-war piano legend at the Elbphilharmonie. 

In Hamburg, Kazuki Yamada and the CBSO navigate the thorny brilliance of Walton’s First Symphony, proving that ‘difficult’ music can offer an evening’s most profound human connection.

Anne-Sophie Mutter’s commanding presence meet the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s exceptional adaptability, yielding a concert that balances tradition-steeped authority with modern transparency, rhythmic vitality and the orchestra’s own electrifying spontaneity.