MIDEM Classical Award 2010 won by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Bavarian State Philharmonic and Jonathan Nott for Mahler’s Ninth
The verdict is in: on Sunday 24th January 2010, the jury of this prestigious French prize has given the 2010 MIDEM Classical Award in the category "Symphonic Works" to the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Bavarian State Philharmonic and its chief conductor Jonathan Nott, for their recording of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.9. In the words of the jury’s citation: "Every recording of a Mahler Symphony by Jonathan Nott confirms his status as an exceptional Mahlerian. This performance commands attention for its very individual angle on the work, never recherché or histrionic but derived 100% organically from its very substance." The award is yet another indication of the global interest and excitement generated by the artistic partnership between Jonathan Nott and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. MIDEM’s annual Classical Award is bestowed only on the world’s very finest and most significant classical recordings. The award ceremony takes place on Tuesday 26th January 2010, in the Debussy Auditorium of the Palais du Festival MIDEM in Cannes. This award follows the nomination, in 2008, of the recording by Jonathan Nott and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.4 for the MIDEM Classical Award in the category "Symphonic Works".
The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra’s Mahler Ninth was released in July 2009 and promptly won the 2009 Toblach International Composing Hut Record Prize in the category "New Productions". The release forms part of an ambitious Mahler cycle led by Jonathan Nott, embracing concerts both at home and abroad as well as the Bavarian State Philharmonic’s recording activities. So far Mahler’s Symphonies Nos.1, 4, 5 and 9 have already appeared on CD, to be followed in March 2010 by No.2 (the "Resurrection Symphony"). Later this year Nos.3 and 8 (the "Symphony of a Thousand") will also be recorded for release on CD. All the Mahler Symphonies, including No.9, have been recorded by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in co-production with Bavarian Radio and the Swiss label Tudor.
Read more:
http://www.midemclassicalawards.com
Fellow music-lovers,
A very warm welcome to the 2009-2010 season! There is great music on the horizon: with the forthcoming Mahler anniversaries, in 2010 and 2011, bound to renew worldwide interest in the composer, we in Bamberg continue our much-praised exploration of his work. The season is framed by the Third Symphony, his most substantial and in many ways most ambitious, which will receive two performances: one at the reopening of our concert hall and one to close our richly varied offering of concerts.
Another focal point is the music of Brahms, whose symphonies will be performed as a cycle during the first subscription series as well as on our twelfth Japanese tour; in addition, the season also offers a chance to sample some of his less often heard works.
Throughout our programming we’ve tried to mix the well known with the not so well known and the old with the new, so as to open up new sightlines through the familiar and thread surprising continuities through the unfamiliar and even unknown.
You’ll discover many gems in 2009/2010, such as Reger’s Symphonic Prologue and his wonderful Mozart Variations, or Lutoslawski’s magical song-cycle Chantefleurs et chantefables. With Sibelius’s rarely heard Sixth Symphony we continue another cycle which has taken shape over the years; and I’m especially excited about the debut of our Baroque Orchestra, making its first appearance at a subscription concert.
We can look forward to a wonderful season, to renewing old friendships, and to forging new ones with a distinguished line-up of artists, who are as excited to be visiting Bamberg as we are to receive them here.
I would like to thank all our political partners who have supported us so magnificently over the last year and have also helped to shoulder the burden of the building and structural works which are so vital for the Orchestra’s reputation; and, of course, my thanks also go to you, our cherished audience. The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra’s uniqueness is intimately bound up with the loyalty of the Bamberg audience and is a crucial part of our identity. Long may that continue!
I look forward to seeing you all at the concerts,
Wolfgang Fink
General Manager and the Director of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra Foundation
Ladies and Gentlemen,
For more than six decades the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Bavarian State Philharmonic has been a central pillar of the cultural life of Bamberg, Bavaria and Germany as a whole. The Orchestra’s interpretations of the masterpieces of the past and of contemporary music make it a source of inspiration and a trend-setter, rightly admired the world over for its traditions and unique sound.
Alongside the Orchestra’s artistic achievements, the high point of 2009 is the renovation of Bamberg’s concert hall, which will enhance the Orchestra’s permanent home in two ways: the Joseph-Keilberth-Saal, after its acoustical optimisation, is already considered one of the best in Germany, while this summer a new foyer is being built and the hall’s interior remodelled.
Both projects will play a vital part in making Bamberg’s concert hall a better-looking, better-designed cultural venue and an artistic base for the Orchestra worthy of its unique reputation.
The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra enjoys the status of ‘world cultural ambassador for Bavaria’ and is welcomed in the world’s leading musical cities and concert halls. This season the Bambergers will be making their twelfth tour of Japan, and, in January and February, an extended tour of Spain. Such prestigious engagements demonstrate once more the worldwide recognition and appreciation achieved by Jonathan Nott’s artistic work with his Orchestra.
I wish the gentlemen and ladies of the Orchestra and management a brilliant season; and to you, our audience, as ever, the very best that music can offer!
Dr. Wolfgang Heubisch
Bavarian State Minister/Secretary for Science, Research and the Arts
Concerts 2009/10
You can find all our concerts of the new season in our concert calendar. To download the complete season's brochure as a pdf-document (in German), please click here.
Modification of Bamberg's Concerthall
The Concert Hall in Bamberg has been modified and partly rebuilt in 2009, based on a concept by the international known designer Prof. h.c. Peter Schmidt. Read more.
Conducting Competition
The next Gustav Mahler Conduction Competition will take place from 26 Feb - 5 March, 2010. You find more information here.