Concertgebouw Orchestra: Arnold Schoenberg 150

Ryan Wigglesworth, Sara Jakubiak and Pierre Audi

We proudly present a unique triptych to mark Arnold Schoenberg’s 150th birthday. Ryan Wigglesworth leads the Concertgebouw Orchestra in three widely different key works by the groundbreaking Viennese composer, performed in a visually captivating mise en espace created by Pierre Audi. The ominous one-act Erwartung, featuring soprano Sara Jakubiak, is framed by an attractive twelve-tone piece and the shimmering late-romantic orchestral work Pelleas und Melisande.

Arnold Schoenberg

The triptych sheds light on the fascinating development of Schoenberg’s music. In his great orchestral work Pelleas und Melisande, dating from 1902 and inspired by a tragic love story, we hear echoes of Wagner and Richard Strauss. The nightmarish Erwartung from 1909 probes the darkest caverns of the soul, which forced Schoenberg to abandon tonality. His search for a new musical language eventually led to the development of twelve-tone composition, of which his Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielszene (1930) is a compelling and highly engaging example. Nō actor Ryoko Aoki enriches Pelleas und Melisande with a dance performance inspired by the Japanese nō tradition.

This programme was made possible thanks to the financial support of Ammodo.