Calendar

Fri 13.09.24 20:00

A Hero’s Life

STRAUSS & BORIS GILTBURG PLAYS PROKOFIEV The Belgian National Orchestra starts its new season with the Belgian premiere of Eco ... del vuoto, a work written by Annelies Van Parys in tribute to her late teacher Luc Brewaeys. As in Luc Brewaeys' spectral work, Annelies Van Parys focuses not on themes

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Mon 23.09.24 20:00

Opera Gala with Roberto Alagna & Ludovic Tézier

ALAGNA & TÉZIER Roberto Alagna and Ludovic Tézier offer a delicious play of baritone and tenor in a sampling of the male roles they have played on the international opera stage. Two charismatic figures in the French lyric scene; two Mediterranean temperaments at the peak of their art. In opera, the

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Sat 28.09.24 20:00

Enigma Variations

ELGAR & IAN BOSTRIDGE SINGS BRITTEN In 1942, Benjamin Britten met the virtuoso horn player Dennis Brain, who served in the Royal Air Force Music Services. Brain convinced Britten to write a new work for him. This did not result in a horn concerto, however, but in the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and

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Sun 29.09.24 15:00

Enigma Variations

ELGAR & IAN BOSTRIDGE SINGS BRITTEN In 1942, Benjamin Britten met the virtuoso horn player Dennis Brain, who served in the Royal Air Force Music Services. Brain convinced Britten to write a new work for him. This did not result in a horn concerto, however, but in the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and

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Fri 04.10.24 20:00

Fountains of Rome

RESPIGHI & ANDREI KOROBEINIKOV PLAYS GRIEG No work embodies Norwegian national romanticism more than Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto. He composed it at the age of 24, during a long holiday in the Norwegian countryside just after the birth of his only daughter. Grieg's Piano Concerto shares many

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Fri 18.10.24 20:00

Song of the Night

MAHLER 7 & CHRISTIANE KARG SINGS STRAUSS Richard Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder poignantly explore the themes of farewell and death. The composer wrote them in 1948 in Switzerland, after the Second World War which had left Europe in ruins. At the age of 84, Strauss was keenly aware of his own imminent

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Thu 24.10.24 20:15

From the Sad Years

DVOŘÁK 7 & LIEBRECHT VANBECKEVOORT PLAYS TCHAIKOVSKY "Throw it away!" exclaimed the pianist and composer Nikolai Rubinstein when his friend Tchaikovsky played him his First Piano Concerto in 1875. A slap in the face for Tchaikovsky, who at the time was quite psychologically fragile. However

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Fri 25.10.24 20:15

From the Sad Years

DVOŘÁK 7 & LIEBRECHT VANBECKEVOORT PLAYS TCHAIKOVSKY "Throw it away!" exclaimed the pianist and composer Nikolai Rubinstein when his friend Tchaikovsky played him his First Piano Concerto in 1875. A slap in the face for Tchaikovsky, who at the time was quite psychologically fragile. However

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Fri 08.11.24 20:00

Wounded Dragon

BEETHOVEN 2 & PABLO FERRÁNDEZ PLAYS SCHUMANN Spanish star cellist Pablo Ferrández returns to Bozar! Together with the Belgian National Orchestra conducted by Matthew Halls, he performs Schumann's Cello Concerto. This highly romantic composition avoids excessive virtuosity and fully commits to warm

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Sat 16.11.24 20:00

Metropolis

KATIA & MARIELLE LABÈQUE PLAY GLASS In the world of DC Comics, ‘Metropolis’ stands as one of the largest and wealthiest. In the 1980s, the American composer Michael Daugherty dedicated a symphony in five movements to it. The first movement of this Metropolis Symphony – ‘Lex’ – takes its name from

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Fri 22.11.24 20:00

Ukrainian Symphony

TCHAIKOVSKY 2 & VERONIKA EBERLE PLAYS SHOSTAKOVICH Conductor emeritus Hugh Wolff begins this concert with Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov's Farewell Serenade,an ode to his friend, fellow composer and compatriot Ivan Karabits. In 1948, while composing his uncompromising First Violin Concerto

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Fri 06.12.24 20:00

Heavenly Life

MAHLER 4 & REGULA MÜHLEMANN SINGS MOZART It has not taken long for Swiss soprano Regula Mühlemann to conquer almost every major opera and concert stage. Audiences and critics alike praise her exceptionally beautiful timbre and deeply moving interpretations. At the well-known Wiener Staatsoper, she

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Sun 15.12.24 15:00

Bohemian Folk

DVOŘÁK 8 & LAWRENCE POWER PLAYS BARTÓK Fleeing World War II, Hungarian composer Béla Bartók spent his final years in America. Initially, he did not find it easy to settle there. Besides homesickness, illness and a desperate lack of money depressed him. However, his situation improved significantly

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Fri 20.12.24 18:00

Winter Concert

À LA VIE, A LA MORT / VOOR ALTIJD A heart-warming family performance about the beauty of grief and the inseparable love connected to it. The Belgian National Orchestra brings solace and joy with orchestral music by Purcell, Khachaturian and Saint-Saëns, arias by Mozart, Thomas and also music by

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Sat 21.12.24 18:00

Winter Concert

À LA VIE, A LA MORT / VOOR ALTIJD A heart-warming family performance about the beauty of grief and the inseparable love connected to it. The Belgian National Orchestra brings solace and joy with orchestral music by Purcell, Khachaturian and Saint-Saëns, arias by Mozart, Thomas and also music by

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Sun 05.01.25 15:00

New Year's Concert 2025

EMILIA HOVING & PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS The Spanish classical guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas is undoubtedly the world’s most renowned ambassador of Spanish guitar music. He has performed in legendary venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has also

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Mon 06.01.25 20:00

New Year's Concert 2025

EMILIA HOVING & PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS The Spanish classical guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas is undoubtedly the world’s most renowned ambassador of Spanish guitar music. He has performed in legendary venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has also

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Fri 10.01.25 20:00

New Year's Concert 2025

EMILIA HOVING & PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS The Spanish classical guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas is undoubtedly the world’s most renowned ambassador of Spanish guitar music. He has performed in legendary venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has also

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Sun 12.01.25 15:00

New Year's Concert 2025

EMILIA HOVING & PABLO SÁINZ VILLEGAS The Spanish classical guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas is undoubtedly the world’s most renowned ambassador of Spanish guitar music. He has performed in legendary venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has also

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Fri 17.01.25 20:00

Brahms Festival

ANTONY HERMUS & ALEXANDRE KANTOROW In this weekend, the Belgian National Orchestra, conducted by chief conductor Antony Hermus and in collaboration with Bozar, turns its attention to Brahms. Both piano concertos will be performed with French piano sensation Alexandre Kantorow as soloist, and there

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Sat 18.01.25 19:00

Brahms Festival

ANTONY HERMUS & ALEXANDRE KANTOROW The Hamburg composer Detlev Glanert subtitled his Brahms-Fantasie 'a heliogravure for orchestra'. By this, he refers to a 19th-century technique in which photographs were painted over using a chemical process. Detlev Glanert based his Brahms-Fantasie on the first

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Sun 19.01.25 15:00

Brahms Festival

ANTONY HERMUS & ALEXANDRE KANTOROW In this weekend, the Belgian National Orchestra, conducted by chief conductor Antony Hermus and in collaboration with Bozar, turns its attention to Brahms. Both piano concertos will be performed with French piano sensation Alexandre Kantorow as soloist, and there

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Fri 07.02.25 20:00

Forgotten Offerings

DEBUSSY & ALEXANDRE THARAUD PLAYS RAVEL Les Offrandes oubliées is Olivier Messiaen's first orchestral work, written at the age of 22 just after his graduation from the Paris Conservatory. In this three-movement composition, Messiaen first depicts the crucifixion of Jesus. Then, with a tangle of

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Sat 08.02.25 19:00

Forgotten Offerings

DEBUSSY & ALEXANDRE THARAUD PLAYS RAVEL Les Offrandes oubliées is Olivier Messiaen's first orchestral work, written at the age of 22 just after his graduation from the Paris Conservatory. In this three-movement composition, Messiaen first depicts the crucifixion of Jesus. Then, with a tangle of

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Sat 15.02.25 15:00

Chaplin in concert: With a Smile

FILM SYMPHONIC WITH DIRK BROSSE Chaplin is clearly much more than a tunesmith and filmmaker: his entire cinematic concept is rooted in a deep understanding of rhythm and emotion. His iconic appearance is perhaps the most poignant symbol of the average man struggling with love, hunger, poverty

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Fri 21.02.25 20:00

Response to Fair Criticism

SHOSTAKOVICH 5 WITH XIAN ZHANG Shostakovich composed his Fifth Symphony amidst the turbulent years of the Great Purge, a campaign of mass persecutions carried out between 1936 and 1938 in the Soviet Union. Through a critique in the official press titled "Chaos instead of Music," the authorities had

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Sun 23.02.25 15:00

Songs of a Wayfarer

SHOSTAKOVICH 5 & MAHLER Mahler’s first song cycle, the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, was composed between 1883 and 1885. At that time, the young composer fell in love with soprano Johanna Richter, who did not reciprocate his feelings. This cycle of sung poems expresses Mahler's disappointments

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Sat 08.03.25 20:00

Symphony of a Thousand

ALAIN ALTINOGLU CONDUCTS MAHLER 8 "All my previous symphonies were merely preludes to this symphony", Mahler once claimed, "it is my greatest achievement. Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound. There are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving". "The Eighth

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Sun 09.03.25 17:00

Symphony of a Thousand

ALAIN ALTINOGLU CONDUCTS MAHLER 8 "All my previous symphonies were merely preludes to this symphony", Mahler once claimed, "it is my greatest achievement. Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound. There are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving". "The Eighth

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Fri 28.03.25 20:00

The Jungle

NICOLA BENEDETTI PLAYS MARSALIS American jazz legend Wynton Marsalis is not only a virtuoso trumpeter, a celebrated bandleader and composer, but also a fervent advocate for American culture. He is also the first musician to win multiple Grammy Awards in both the jazz and classical music categories

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Fri 04.04.25 20:00

Daphnis et Chloé

RAVEL & GEORGE LI PLAYS LISZT After some highlights from the ballet Bacchus et Ariane by French composer Albert Roussel, it's time for the young American piano prodigy George Li to tackle Franz Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1. Viennese music critic Eduard Hanslick ironically dubbed this work a

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Sat 12.04.25 20:00

Sheherazade

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV & BENJAMIN BEILMAN PLAYS STRAVINSKY Associate conductor Michael Schønwandt begins this concert with highlights from the ballet Callirhoë by French pianist and composer Cécile Chaminade. This work, which tells the story of the naiad Callirhoë - daughter of the river god Acheloüs – was

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Thu 24.04.25 20:00

Exchange Concert: Orchestre National de Lyon

BRUCKNER 7 & JULIA FISCHER PLAYS MENDELSSOHN "The Germans have four violin concertos," the famous violinist Joseph Joachim once claimed, "the greatest, most uncompromising one is Beethoven's. Brahms’ is the most serious. The richest, the most seductive, was written by Max Bruch. But the most

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Fri 25.04.25 20:00

Berenice

JULIA LEZHNEVA SINGS HAYDN AND BEETHOVEN In 1774, Haydn composed the incidental music for the comedy Le distrait by Jean-François Renard, a play that tells the story of a man so absent-minded that he almost forgets his own wedding. The protagonist's memory troubles are musically evoked in the finale

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Fri 02.05.25 20:00

Spring is Coming

BOULANGER & BERTRAND CHAMAYOU PLAYS SAINT-SAËNS Nadia Boulanger's younger sister Lili had a fragile health and passed away at the age of just 24. Nevertheless, she managed to establish a solid reputation as a composer. In 1913, she became the very first woman to win the prestigious Prix de Rome. D

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Fri 09.05.25 20:00

Battleship Potemkin

FILM SYMPHONIC WITH FRANK STROBEL Battleship Potemkin is considered one of the greatest films of all time. Russian director Sergei Eisenstein made this film at the request of the Soviet regime to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1905 Revolution. He chose to centre the action on the mutiny

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Sun 18.05.25 15:00

Peter and the Wolf

FILM SYMPHONIC WITH DIRK BROSSE Sergei Prokofiev’s musical tale Peter and the Wolf is given new life in this innovative new animated interpretation, which won the 2008 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. “Oldies will remember the work from school music lessons,” wrote London’s OBSERVER, “while those

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Fri 13.06.25 20:00

Four Temperaments

NIELSEN 2 & JEAN-GUIHEN QUEYRAS PLAYS STRAUSS Associate conductor Michael Schønwandt has long been an ambassador for Danish composer Carl Nielsen, and made celebrated recordings of all his symphonies and concertos. In this concert with the Belgian National Orchestra, he conducts the Second Symphony

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Sat 21.06.25 20:00

West Side Story

BERNSTEIN & DOMNIQ PLAYS EÖTVÖS Hungarian conductor and composer Peter Eötvös, who died in March 2024, has written more than ten operas and also numerous concertos. Speaking Drums is a 2012 percussion concerto whose title should be taken quite literally: the soloist not only plays a variety of

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Wed 25.06.25 20:00

Laureate Concerts

2025 QUEEN ELISABETH COMPETITION - PIANO The Queen Elisabeth Competition is a household name both in Belgium and abroad. Since its creation in the 1930s, the competition has become one of the most prestigious springboards for up-and-coming musical talent in the classical music world. Editions are

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Thu 26.06.25 20:00

Laureate Concerts

2025 QUEEN ELISABETH COMPETITION - PIANO The Queen Elisabeth Competition is a household name both in Belgium and abroad. Since its creation in the 1930s, the competition has become one of the most prestigious springboards for up-and-coming musical talent in the classical music world. Editions are

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Sat 28.06.25 19:00

Laureate Concerts

2025 QUEEN ELISABETH COMPETITION - PIANO The Queen Elisabeth Competition is a household name both in Belgium and abroad. Since its creation in the 1930s, the competition has become one of the most prestigious springboards for up-and-coming musical talent in the classical music world. Editions are

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Sun 29.06.25 15:00

Laureate Concerts

2025 QUEEN ELISABETH COMPETITION - PIANO The Queen Elisabeth Competition is a household name both in Belgium and abroad. Since its creation in the 1930s, the competition has become one of the most prestigious springboards for up-and-coming musical talent in the classical music world. Editions are

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