HERBSTGOLD: this could almost be a synonym for Haydn’s last symphony in which, with deft hand, he works popular melodies into his masterful score, such as creating the final theme from a Croatian folk song with bagpipe sounds! With Beethoven's monumental 'Eroica', the genre has, so to speak, reached the next stage of its metamorphosis: originally dedicated to Napoleon, the symphony incorporates the myth of Prometheus, who transforms the human race through the gift of fire - whereupon mankind, through struggle and death, can enter a new life. An arch reaches from Beethoven's Funeral March to 'Metamorphosen' by Richard Strauss: completed in 1945, just a few weeks before the fall of the Nazi dictatorship and the Second World War, the work expresses a moving farewell in the face of death and ruins, the 'reflection of my entire past life', the 81-year-old composer confessed. Julian Rachlin, internationally celebrated violinist, violist, conductor and HERBSTGOLD's new Artistic Director, dedicates his first edition of the festival to 'Metamorphosen' - transformations. In this ceremonious opening concert, under Rachlin's virtuoso direction the strings of the Haydn Philharmonie will once again be transformed into a perfectly synchronised ensemble of soloists.

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