Paavo Järvi conducts the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra

"Schumann's music opens up a whole new world of musical forms for us, striking chords that his great predecessors had not yet touched." None other than Peter Tchaikovsky raved about his German colleague in these terms. In fact, Schumann—alongside Mozart and Mendelssohn—was a major inspiration for the composer of “Pathétique,” “Swan Lake,” and other works. In the music of the older Romantic composer, Tchaikovsky found “the echo of mysterious processes in our inner lives that move the hearts of people today.” So there are plenty of reasons to directly juxtapose selected works by these two “kindred spirits.” In Hanover, this is taking place at a dedicated NDR Festival. But at the Elbphilharmonie as well, the NDR Vocal Ensemble under Kaspars Putniņš—currently chief conductor of the Swedish and Latvian Radio Choirs—and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under star conductor Paavo Järvi are exploring this kinship of the soul.

Schumann's choral music

First, the NDR Vocal Ensemble will perform several of Schumann’s choral works, which explore the full range of a vocal ensemble’s sound—from women’s voices to men’s choruses to mixed choirs. As Schumann so aptly put it: “The best way to develop one’s own melodic sense is always to write extensively for voice and for independent choral ensembles.” And that’s exactly what he did! In doing so, he set poems to music by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Rückert, and Eduard Mörike, among others. Art could hardly be more “Romantic”—culminating in the famous Eichendorff setting “Mondnacht,” which Putniņš and the NDR Vocal Ensemble present in an arrangement for choir.

Tchaikovsky's "Polish Symphony"

After the intermission, Paavo Järvi and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra will perform a work for full orchestra that is equally rarely heard: Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Third Symphony—the only one in his oeuvre written in a major key and featuring five movements instead of four. The comparison with Schumann is therefore particularly obvious in this work, for the Third Symphony by “the most significant symphonist of the German school since Beethoven” (Tchaikovsky) also presents itself as optimistic and features a relaxed, five-movement structure. Instead of the misleading nickname “Polish”—due to the polonaise in the finale—Tchaikovsky’s symphony should actually be called the “Schumannian”!

Program

Robert Schumann
Four Songs, Op. 141
*Die Capelle*, Op. 69, No. 6
*Die Lotusblume*, Op. 33, No. 3
Four Songs, Op. 59
*Mondnacht*, Op. 39, No. 5

Peter Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 3 in D Major, Op. 29, "Polish"

Interpreters

Kaspars Putniņš, conductor
of the NDR Vocal Ensemble
; Paavo Järvi, conductor
of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra

Schumann-Tchaikovsky Festival 2026