Concertgebouw Orchestra Christmas matinee: Klaus Mäkel��

Christmas Matinee: A Hero's Life

The Christmas Matinee is traditionally the domain of the chief conductor – and today of the future chief conductor, Klaus Mäkelä. He leads the Concertgebouw Orchestra in a programme full of love. With Siegfried-Idyll Wagner surprised his wife Cosima on Christmas Day 1870. Marital love also inspired Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben , dedicated to the Concertgebouw Orchestra: the beating heart of this autobiographical work is a lovely violin solo, which represents the hero's life partner.

Klaus Mäkelä with Unsuk Chin

With subito con forza, Unsuk Chin declares her love for Beethoven's music. The work opened Klaus Mäkelä's debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2020, when the spark between conductor and orchestra first flew. That was during corona time, in the presence of a small audience. Time to perform it again and – thanks to radio and television – share the love with the whole world