2018 will be branded as “Gewandhausjahr”: Gewandhausorchester celebrates its 275th birthday and the inauguration of Andris Nelsons as new Gewandhauskapellmeister.

39 year-old conductor Andris Nelsons takes on the prestigious position as the 21st Gewandhauskapellmeister, kicking-off this new era with concerts during the Festival in Leipzig from 19 February to 11 March 2018.

Bruckner’s 7th Symphony had its world premiere in 1884 under Artúr Nikisch – so it’s no surprise that the 7th Symphony is on the program of Andris Nelsons’ inauguration and the orchestra’s anniversary concerts!

Andris Nelsons brings youthful energy, fluidity and rhythmic impulse, while still leaving room for Bruckner’s music’s monumental sound blocks that gives these works a completely new flavour.

By including selected instrumental works by Wagner in the Bruckner Symphony Cycle, his idea is to demonstrate the influences but more importantly their differences, for clearly the two men could not have been more disparate in character.

This second ambitious long-term recording project is consciously combined with the production of DG’s first complete Shostakovich cycle that Andris Nelsons is recording with the Boston Symphony Orchestra which has already been awarded with two Grammys as well as various other awards.