Finnish shooting star organizes concert in Essen

Essen. The Finnish rising star Klaus Mäkelä is the portrait artist of the Essen Philharmonic this season. The 28-year-old is giving a total of three concerts this season, starting on Saturday, September 21st, from 7 p.m. (6:30 p.m. introduction) with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam.

In 2027, Klaus Mäkelä will become the new chief conductor of the noble orchestra from Amsterdam, which is one of the best in the world. This special relationship between the Finnish conductor and the orchestra began in 2020 – since then, the music of Gustav Mahler has been on the program again and again, such as an electrifying performance of the 6th Symphony or the longest and most demanding 3rd Symphony. Klaus Mäkelä is performing Mahler’s debut at the Philharmonie Essen. “The highest glow of the most joyful vitality and the most consuming longing for death: both are enthroned in my heart,” said the young Mahler. The inner conflict, but also the emotional contrasts characterize this powerful and wonderful music. Something similar can also be found in Arnold Schönberg’s “Verklärte Nacht”, the second work of the evening, with its movingly mature and fragile sound texture. After the approximately two-hour program in the Alfried Krupp Hall, Klaus Mäkelä on the cello and musicians from the orchestra can be experienced with a “Late Night”: Concertgoers are invited to this musical extra with selected movements from the String Quintet in C major by Franz Schubert in the RWE Pavilion (limited seating capacity).

The conductor Klaus Mäkelä, born in Helsinki in 1996, began studying with the educational legend Jorma Panula at the age of twelve. Via the Helsinki Philharmonic, his path soon led him to the Oslo Philharmonic, which he has led since 2020. Since 2021 he has been music director of the Orchestre de Paris. In 2022, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra announced that Mäkelä would take up the position of chief conductor in 2027 and that he would already have a close working relationship as an artistic partner by then. And in 2027 he will also take over as head of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Klaus Mäkelä has performed with many top orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin and Munich Philharmonic, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Vienna Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Tickets are available by phone at 0201 81 22-200 or online at www.theater-essen.de.

…often takes photos at an angle to illustrate the local news from the Mettmann district and then calls it “photo art”. His specialties are legal issues, the Internet, technology and entertainment. He is often out and about in Neviges with his camera. He plays board games and video games.

motto: “There’s room for everything online”

Likes: Games | Public transport | Weather | Nature

Would you like to receive a weekly greeting from the editorial team? Subscribe to our newsletter: Join for free.