Symphony Concert N° 12

© Oliver Killig
Elim Chan, Dirigentin
© Todd Rosenberg Photography
Siobhan Stagg, Sopran

gespielte Werke

Paul Dukas

  • »Der Zauberlehrling«

Unsuk Chin

  • »Puzzles and Games« aus »Alice in Wonderland«

Sergei Prokofiev

  • »Romeo and Juliet«, excerpts from the ballet

Mitwirkende

  • Elim Chan Conductor
  • Siobhan Stagg Sopran

A colourful season finale with works of great imagination and formal diversity. The concert begins with a late Romantic masterwork in Paul Dukas’s »Sorcerer’s Apprentice«, a brilliantly orchestrated musical parable on power and its unintended consequences. »Puzzles and Games« features scenes from the opera »Alice in Wonderland« by Capell-Compositrice Unsuk Chin; at times poetic, grotesque and even playful, this is a veritable cosmos of sonic illusions and absurd humour. The programme is capped by Sergei Prokofiev’s thrilling suite from »Romeo and Juliet«. Here the great Russian composer created an enchanting score of ever shifting moods that marries classical dance with the sounds of the first half of the 20th century.

 

Sergej Prokofjew: »Romeo und Julia«

»Wenn ich in Zukunft nur noch ein einziges Werk hören dürfte, dann wäre es definitiv Sergej Prokofjews ›Romeo und Julia‹. Für mich persönlich ist das die schönste Musik, die jemals komponiert wurde!«

Constantin Hartwig 
Solo-Tubist

  • Sunday
    5.7.26
    11:00 Uhr
    Semperoper
    Ticket price:
    23 – 67 €
  • Monday
    6.7.26
    19:00 Uhr
    Semperoper
    Ticket price:
    20 – 58 €
  • Tuesday
    7.7.26
    19:00 Uhr
    Semperoper
    Ticket price:
    12 – 58 €

A concert introduction will be offered 45 minutes before the beginning of each performance in the opera cellar of the Semperoper.

Duration approx. 140 min - including a break

Elim Chan

One of the most sought-after artists of her generation, conductor Elim Chan embodies the spirit of contemporary orchestral leadership with her crystalline precision and expressive zeal. In May 2026 she became Music Director Designate of the San Francisco Symphony, and assumes the Music Director post from the 2027/28 season. She was also recently appointed Artistic Partner with the Wiener Symphoniker for the 2026/27 and 2027/28 seasons, following her residency as Portrait Artist at the Musikverein in 2022/23. She served as Principal Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra from 2019 to 2024 and Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra from 2018 to 2023. Elim Chan makes her Berliner Philharmoniker debut in 2026/27, alongside first appearances with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and NHK Symphony Orchestra. She also makes her staged opera debut conducting John Adams’s Doctor Atomic at Zurich Opera House in a new production. 

Recent debuts and upcoming re-invitations include leading orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Berlin, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Munich Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Elim Chan has appeared at both the Lucerne and Salzburg festivals, and conducted the First Night of the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2024, returning in 2025 to conduct the Last Night of the Proms. With the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, she recorded All These Lighted Things for Alpha Classics, pairing the titular Elizabeth Ogonek work with music by Prokofiev and Ravel. 

Born in Hong Kong, Elim Chan studied at Smith College in Massachusetts and at the University of Michigan. In 2014, she became the first female winner of the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and went on to spend her 2015/16 season as Assistant Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra, where she worked closely with ValeryGergiev. In the following season, Elim Chan joined the Dudamel Fellowship program of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also owes much to the support and encouragement of Bernard Haitink, whose masterclasses she attended in Lucerne in 2015.