Gewandhausorchester Leipzig Residency, Barbican Centre

Leipzig’s Gewandhausorchester is both one of Europe’s oldest orchestras and one of its greatest. Founded in 1743 inside a textile trading hall, it boasts the great romantic wunderkind Felix Mendelssohn as one of its former music directors. In the years since, principal conductors have included Wilhelm Furtwangler and Bruno Walter; since 2005, the magnificent Riccardo Chailly has led them through exemplary recordings of Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler.
Now, for the third occasion, they will come to London as Barbican international associates. Over the course of three concerts, they will present the tone poems of Richard Strauss (Salome), exploring the music’s story-telling power. Each night also features one of Mozart’s great concertos, played by a trio of world-leading guest musicians.
For the first concert, on Oct 20, the Gewandhausorchester will launch into Strauss’ thrilling Don Juan, before glorifying in the golden depths of Ein Heldenleben, a semi-autobiographical depiction of a life awash with echoes of his earlier works. Sandwiched in the centre is Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, led by the always graceful and often revelatory Maria Joao Pires, a Mozart interpreter without rival.
Two days later, on Oct 22, the supremely measured violinist Christian Tetzlaff will join Chailly for Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3, composed when the great Austrian was only 19. It will be paired with Strauss’ Macbeth, a seldom played treasure, and the rather more famous Also Sprach Zarathustra, whose opening has become one of the most iconic in musical history.
But it’s the finale, on Oct 23, that looks the most exciting. Opening with Strauss’ Tod und Verklarung, an early work of surpassing grandeur, it will then give the spotlight to an instrument seldom thrust centre stage – the clarinet. Mozart’s concerto, his final instrumental work, will be played with virtuoso Martin Fröst. Then, the whole season will conclude with two wildly different Strauss masterpieces – the troubled, melancholic Metamorphosen and the joyous Till Eulenspiegel. It promises to be a thrilling end to a first-rate residency.