Welcome, Joana Mallwitz – our new principal conductor starts her journey with us! For the beginning, she has chosen three first symphonies: „Prokofiev’s Symphony no. 1 is inspirational and has the intimate quality of chamber music, both things I always look for when making music. It is a bow to the past, with great respect for the classical period, but at the same time, it is edgy and full of wit.“ Then you can discover the rarely performed Symphony No. 1 by Kurt Weill, written in Berlin in 1921. The composer is a focus of Joana Mallwitz's inaugural season: „This work speaks of a great longing for peace and the will to achieve it. For me, the ending of the first Weill symphony is the only positive minor chord I know. It's a big 'yes', but in a minor key.“ Our concert concludes a powerful work of the core symphonic repertoire: Gustav Mahler's first symphony, written in 1889, with its nature sounds and the famous funeral march in the 3rd movement, based on the canon „Frère Jacques“.