This December, Andris Nelsons joins the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO) for an eclectic program of late-19th, 20th, and 21st century compositions. Nelsons has a significant relationship with the BRSO, and has conducted several concerts with the orchestra and recorded multiple award-winning albums with them, including Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony No. 9. 

The program opens with Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances, which was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where Nelsons is Music Director, in 2023. Each movement represents a distinct style of dance: the spiritual “Ring Shout,” the elegant “Waltz” that recalls the Black debutante balls of the 1930s, the percussive “Tap!” dance, and the exuberant “Holy Dance,” inspired by the Pentecostal church. 

Trumpet player Håkan Hardenberger joins Nelson and the BRSO for Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Trumpet Concerto, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” a 20th-century work for trumpet and orchestra that blends the spiritual with 12-tone techniques and jazz elements. 

In the second half of the program, the orchestra will play Richard Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, a witty symphonic poem that depicts the adventures and pranks of the German folk hero Till Eulenspiegel. The piece is known for its vivid musical storytelling, which portrays Till’s pranks, his capture, and a final, unexpected escape. 

Finally, Nelsons and the orchestra will play Maurice Ravel’s La valse, which serves as an homage to and a deconstruction of the Viennese waltz. Composed in 1921, the La valse comments on the decline of a society that, on the surface, appears refined but is internally crumbling (and ultimately collapses). 

Nelsons and the BRSO will give three performances of this exciting program, appearing on December 4 and 5 at the Herkulessaal der Residenz, and on December 7 at Isarphilharmonie Concert Hall.