A cultural-historical monument
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is the absolute world top. Composers such as Strauss, Mahler and Stravinsky have stood in front of the orchestra more than once, which gives around 120 concerts on all the major stages of the world each year. A stage that is never missing from the concert agenda is Theater Heerlen, which is praised by this world-famous orchestra for its acoustics and attentive audience. This time too, the orchestra is coming to Heerlen with a grand line-up.

Bychkov and Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony
In the run-up to the appointment of Klaus Mäkelä as chief conductor in 2027, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will be playing as ‘orchestra in residence’. In 2025, it will be conducted by Semyon Bychkov. As a pupil of the legendary Russian pedagogue Ilya Musin, Bychkov is one of the select group of great conductors who were trained at the Leningrad Conservatory. His strong ties with the city and especially the current political situation explain why Bychkov insists on playing Dmitri Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony, Op. 60, ‘Leningrad’. Shostakovich completed the piece on 27 December 1941. Since then, the work has enjoyed extreme popularity as a cultural-historical symbol of resistance to fascism and militarism.

Source : PLT website