Simon Rattle and Chamber Orchestra of Europe | Bologna Festival 2026

On Wednesday, 29 April 2026, at 8:30 p.m. at the Teatro Auditorium Manzoni in Bologna, Rattle and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe will perform in concert: Bartók, Busoni, Dvořák and Brahms.

PROGRAMME:

• Béla Bartók Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
• Ferruccio Busoni Sarabande from the opera Doktor Faust
• Antonín Dvořák Slavonic Dances Op. 46: Polka in A flat major Op. 46 No. 3
• Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor Op. 98

Since their first meeting in 2020, a rare harmony has emerged: Sir Simon Rattle and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe share a vision of sound that combines precision, transparency and interpretative audacity. The ideal bridge between them is Claudio Abbado: mentor to one of today's most refined ensembles in its early days and Rattle's predecessor at the Berliner Philharmoniker.

The result is a programme designed to bring together different languages without forcing them: the geometry of Bartók, the unresolved tensions of Busoni, the “folk” vitality of Dvořák's Slavonic Dances and that synthesis, both classical and incandescent, that is Brahms' Symphony No. 4.