Program

11.13(Fri)

Mahler Symphony No. 2 ‘Resurrection’

About the Conductor

Sir Simon Rattle

With his captivating charisma, deep enthusiasm, great love of experimentation and meticulous artistic seriousness, it is no surprise that the Liverpool-born Sir Simon Rattle is one of the most fascinating conductors of our time. He first conducted the BR Chorus and the BRSO in 2010. This developed into an intensive collaboration, and his performances in Munich have always been true highlights. In 2023, the 71-year-old Brit with a German passport took over as Chief Conductor of the orchestra he has admired since his youth. He is equally passionate about music education, and challenging projects with the BRSO Academy, of which he is patron, are just as important to him as broader-impact projects that bring together professional and amateur musicians. These include the “Symphonischer Hoagascht” in 2024 and “Singen mit Sir Simon (Singing with Sir Simon)” in July 2026.

Simon Rattle has received numerous high honours, including the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in May 2025. Several of his CDs released with the BRSO have received awards: Mahler's Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Symphonies received a Gramophone Editor's Choice; the Sixth was included in the German Record Critics' Award list of the best recordings; the Seventh was awarded the Diapason d'or de l‘année and a Presto Award; and his recording of Haydn's The Creation received a Pizzicato Supersonic Award. At the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2025, Simon Rattle was honored as Artist of the Year.

About the Orchestra

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

With the 2023/24 season, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (BRSO) welcomed its new principal conductor: Sir Simon Rattle. As the sixth Chief Conductor in the line of important orchestra leaders after Eugen Jochum, Rafael Kubelík, Sir Colin Davis, Lorin Maazel and Mariss Jansons, he is a conductor personality of great openness to new artistic paths.

The BRSO has received many awards for its extensive recording activities, such as Grammy, the Diapason d’or and the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Simon Rattle has already added important milestones to the discography, including works by Mahler and Wagner.

Another focus of the BRSO is the promotion of young musicians. The BRSO Academy, one of the most renowned training facilities of its kind, and the ARD International Music Competition, which was founded in 1952, are dedicated to this. Music education “BRSO und du” also plays an important role in the orchestra’s program with various formats and offers for schools and families with children.

In an orchestra ranking by Bachtrack, the world’s leading website for classical music events for which internationally renowned music critics were asked about “The world’s greatest orchestra,” the BRSO came in third place in 2023.

About the Soloists

Soprano | Lucy Crowe

Widely regarded as one of the most versatile and respected singers of her generation, Lucy Crowe was awarded an OBE in the 2023 King's birthday honours.

2025/26 season Lucy returns to The Royal Opera and Ballet as Pamina Die Zauberflöte and made her role debut as Fiordiligi Così fan tutte for English National Opera, before her Santa Fe Opera debut as Rodelinda. On the concert platform she sings Messiah with both Rafael Payare and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and Yannick Nézet-Séguin with The Philadelphia Orchestra and appears with the London Symphony Orchestra in Strauss’s Four Last Songs and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 under Sir Simon Rattle.

Mezzo-Soprano | Karen Cargill

Described as having a voice that “dazzles” with a “treacle-rich middle register” and a “full and rich top”, Karen Cargill has firmly established herself as one of the leading singers of her generation with upcoming engagements at the Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Dutch National Opera, Canadian Opera Company and Norwegian National Opera. Equally established on the concert stage, Karen regularly appears with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Robin Ticciati, Rafael Payare and Edward Gardner.

About the Choirs

The National Chorus of Korea

Founded in 1973 to pursue the highest standards of professionalism and artistic excellence in choral music, the National Chorus of Korea has played a leading role in the development of Korea’s choral culture for more than five decades. In March 2000, the ensemble became an independent incorporated foundation under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea, further strengthening its institutional framework and artistic vision.

Seoul Motet Choir

Founded in 1989 and in its thirty-eighth year, the Seoul Motet Choir (conductor Park Chi-yong) is the only private professional choir in Korea that is highly regulated in the music scene in the country. In presenting the latest choir music to the audience and leading the Korean choir culture, the Seoul Motet Choir demonstrates natural vocalization, rich harmony, balance and consistency among different parts, uniform rhythm, and expressive performance.

In 2005, the Choir received the Presidential Prize for Contributions in Music in the Thirty-Seventh Korean Culture and Arts Awards, and in 2011 it was awarded the Performance Prize in the Sixth Daewon Music Awards for its significant role in the development of Korean and international classical music culture.