Johannes Brahms - Symphony No. 1 (Kirill Petrenko)

Information

Composer: Johannes Brahms

• Tragic Overture in D Minor, Op. 81
• Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68

Berliner Philharmoniker

Kirill Petrenko, conductor

Date: 2025

Label: Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings

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For his interpretation of Brahms’s symphonies, Kirill Petrenko returns to Meiningen, where Hans von Bülow first performed Brahms and Fritz Steinbach, as court conductor from 1886, recorded the composer’s performance notes. These annotations offer Petrenko invaluable insight into Brahms’s stylistic intentions. Now general music director in Meiningen, Petrenko emphasizes Brahms in his repertoire, bringing particular attention to variable tempos in his performance of the First Symphony, which he presented with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the start of the 2025/26 season. This recording pairs the First Symphony with the Tragic Overture, accompanied by essays exploring Brahms’s compositional process and the Meiningen tradition.

Kirill Petrenko (b. 1972, Omsk, Siberia) trained in Russia and Austria before building his operatic career with the Meininger Theater and Komische Oper Berlin. He later served as general music director of the Bayerische Staatsoper (2013–2020), while also conducting at leading houses including the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, Paris Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and Bayreuth Festival. Since 2019/20, he has been chief conductor and artistic director of the Berliner Philharmoniker, focusing on the Classical-Romantic repertoire and championing overlooked composers such as Josef Suk and Korngold. His acclaimed work includes Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Strauss operas Die Frau ohne Schatten and Elektra.

High Resolution 24-bit / 96 kHz