Bertrand de Billy starts the 2021/22 season
The first subscription concert of the season will be under the steady hand of Bertrand de Billy, the ISO’s new Principal Guest Conductor. De Billy performs regularly with the world’s foremost orchestras, including the Salzburg Festival and New York’s Metropolitan Opera. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Dresdner Philharmonie in Dresden.
In Iceland, Bertrand de Billy’s performances will include all of Brahms’ symphonies, so it is fitting that this programme should include Brahms’ Symphony no. 1. Brahms struggled with the symphony early on, finding it difficult to fill the undeniably large shoes of Beethoven, the master of the symphonic form, but the outcome was more than worth the effort. Indeed, some refer to Brahms no. 1 as “Beethoven’s Tenth”. The Academic Overture is one of Brahms’ liveliest symphonic works, a medley of rousing student songs providing the ideal segue from summer holidays to the new concert season.