Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn

Brahms Violin Concerto

Brahms Symphony No. 1

About the Conductor

Vladimir Jurowski

Vladimir Jurowski has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB) since 2017. In 2023/24, his concerts, tours and recordings were the highlights of the ‘RSB100’ anniversary season. His current contract in Berlin runs until 2027, while he has also been General Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich since 2021.

Vladimir Jurowski, one of the most sought-after conductors of our time, who is celebrated worldwide for his innovative musical interpretations and equally for his courageous artistic commitment, was born in Moscow in 1972 and completed the first part of his music studies at the Music College of the Moscow Conservatory. He moved to Germany with his family in 1990 and continued his studies at the music academies in Dresden and Berlin. In 1995, he made his debut at the Wexford Festival in Ireland with Rimsky-Korsakov's ‘Mainacht’ and in 1996 at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden with ‘Nabucco’. He was then First Kapellmeister of the Komische Oper Berlin (1997-2001).

The joint CD recordings by Vladimir Jurowski and the RSB began in 2015 with Alfred Schnittke's Symphony No. 3, followed by works by Britten, Hindemith, Strauss, Mahler and again Schnittke. Vladimir Jurowski has been honoured many times for his achievements, including numerous international record awards. In 2016, he received an honorary doctorate from the Royal Philharmonic Society from the hands of the current King Charles III. In 2020, Vladimir Jurowski's work as Artistic Director of the George Enescu Festival was honoured by the Romanian President with the Order of Cultural Merit.

About the Violinist

Ray Chen

Violinist and online personality, Ray Chen redefines what it means to be a classical musician in the 21st century. With a global reach that enhances and inspires a new classical audience, Ray Chen's remarkable musicianship transmits to millions around the world, reflected through his engagements both online and with the foremost orchestras and concert halls around the world. Beyond the performing arts, his work has also contributed to philanthropy, popular culture and educational technology.

Initially coming to attention via the Yehudi Menuhin (2008) and Queen Elizabeth (2009) Competitions, of which he was First Prize winner, he has built a profile in Europe, Asia, and the USA as well as his native Australia both live and on disc. Signed in 2017 to Decca Classics, the summer of 2017 has seen the recording of the first album of this partnership with the London Philharmonic as a succession to his previous three critically acclaimed albums on SONY, the first of which (“Virtuoso”) received an ECHO Klassik Award. Profiled as “one to watch” by the Strad and Gramophone magazines, his profile has grown to encompass his featuring in the Forbes list of 30 most influential Asians under 30, appearing in major online TV series “Mozart in the Jungle”, a multi-year partnership with Giorgio Armani (who designed the cover of his Mozart album with Christoph Eschenbach) and performing at major media events such as France’s Bastille Day (live to 800,000 people), the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm (telecast across Europe), and the BBC Proms.

Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Ray was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15, where he studied with Aaron Rosand and was supported by Young Concert Artists. He plays the 1714 “Dolphin” Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. This instrument was once owned by the famed violinist, Jascha Heifetz.

About the Orchestra

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB)

In October 2023, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin celebrated its 100th anniversary. The history of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin also began with the birth of public radio in Germany on 29 October 1923. Since that day, radio pioneers such as Otto Urack, Bruno Seidler-Winkler, Kurt Weill and Paul Hindemith as well as chief conductors such as Eugen Jochum, Sergiu Celibidache, Hermann Abendroth, Rolf Kleinert, Heinz Rögner and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos have formed an orchestra that has experienced the highs and lows of German history in the 20th century more closely than almost any other German orchestra.

In the 21st century, Marek Janowski (2001 to 2016) was succeeded in 2017 by Vladimir Jurowski, who as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director will play a key role in shaping the transition from the first to the second century of orchestral history, at least until 2027.

The RSB is highly committed to young people, including with its sponsor orchestra, the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie, its own orchestra academy and its family, school and children's concerts. The very successful ‘Concert for All’ series, which also enables people with cognitive and other disabilities to enjoy intensive concert experiences, will be continued. Almost all of the RSB's symphony concerts are broadcast on radio, namely by Deutschlandfunk and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, the main broadcasters of Rundfunk Orchester und -Chöre GmbH, of which the RSB is an institutional member. In addition, the RSB realises numerous studio recordings, often with valuable repertoire rarities. After the major Wagner and Henze editions with Marek Janowski, a new chapter in recording activity has begun with Vladimir Jurowski.