Vienna Philharmonic
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

A standout season highlight! “Devoted to tending the fire of tradition” (The New York Times), the magnificent Vienna Philharmonic returns to Berkeley with three electrifying programs of symphonic masterworks with maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin at the podium. With his signature energy and dramatic flair, Nézet-Séguin leads the Philharmonic through repertoire at the very core of the ensemble’s more than 180-year history.

One of the most in-demand conductors in the world, Nézet-Séguin seems to be everywhere at once—the Grammy winner also leads the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and was musical advisor for the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, for which he also recorded the soundtrack.

The March 5 concert matches Mozart’s brilliant Jupiter Symphony with Mahler’s dramatic and ambitious Symphony No. 1, and the March 6 performance pairs the sweet lyricism of Schubert’s Symphony No. 4 with Dvořák’s well-loved New World Symphony, the orchestra’s honeyed brass section featured in the work’s haunting slow movement.

The final concert in the series welcomes esteemed pianist Yefim Bronfman for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, an intensely dramatic work that grabs on and doesn’t let go. Bronfman has said of this concerto, “You listen to it, [and] time stops…there’s only you and this music.”

“Nézet-Séguin didn’t merely keep time or hold the Philharmonic together; he led them with passion and decisive interpretation…. The finale’s final bars were so rousing, the audience began to cheer before Nézet-Séguin had even lowered his baton.” —The New York Times

The spring 2025 Vienna Philharmonic residency in California is the vision of Cal Performances Executive and Artistic Director Jeremy Geffen and Philharmonic Society President and Artistic Director Tommy Phillips. The residency will conclude following their visit to Berkeley in Orange County with two performances at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, on March 9 and 11, hosted by Philharmonic Society. It is made possible by major funding from longtime leading California arts philanthropists Maria Manetti Shrem from the San Francisco Bay Area and Elizabeth Segerstrom of Orange County.

Major support for this performance is provided by Diana Cohen and Bill Falik (March 5), Jerome and Thao Dodson (March 5), Beth DeAtley (March 6), and an anonymous patron sponsor (March 7).