Max Reger 150 years

Top conductor Ingo Metzmacher, always good for fabulous performances, juxtaposes with Torstensson and Reger two composers who deserve more attention.

Hamelin - advocate for Reger's Piano Concerto
Born a hundred and fifty years ago, Max Reger is a celebrated name especially among organists, but his orchestral works and solo concertos also carry all the goodness of late Romanticism. Devil's Advocate Marc-André Hamelin is one of the few pianists to venture into the Piano Concerto, which is as beautiful as it is difficult. According to one reviewer of his CD recording, "he handles [the] extremely demanding pyrotechnics in absolutely breathtaking fashion.

Torstenson's Scandinavian ruggedness
City Imprints by Dutch-Swedish composer Klas Torstensson is another grand tour de force. The piece, in which his rugged Scandinavian background plays a role as in all his work, he wrote in 2021 for the quadrennial of the city of Gothenburg. Since the intended first performance had to be postponed due to corona, the Saturday Matinee may now host the world premiere. A composer who unites Scandinavian sonority, Dutch sobriety and tonal lilt into a unique contemporary voice.