The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie unveils its 2025/26 season
The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie presents its 2025/26 season, the first to be planned entirely under the artistic and musical direction of Josep Pons. Following his appointment as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, the new programme reflects a balance between the great symphonic repertoire, the rediscovery of less frequently performed works and collaborations with some of today’s leading international soloists.
The season opens with Die Welt von Gestern (“The World of Yesterday”), a programme inspired by the cultural landscape of early twentieth-century Europe. It combines Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto, featuring Arabella Steinbacher, Ferruccio Busoni’s Berceuse élégiaque and Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 4.
The season explores a broad range of Central European repertoire, including works by Mahler, Bruckner, Strauss, Schumann, Brahms, Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel and Bartók, alongside music by twentieth- and twenty-first-century composers. The programme combines established masterpieces with lesser-known works, reflecting one of the defining characteristics of Josep Pons’s artistic vision.
International soloists appearing during the season include Arabella Steinbacher, Javier Perianes, Martin Helmchen, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Nicolas Altstaedt, Camilla Tilling, Christiane Karg and Daniel Müller-Schott, among many others.
Education and outreach remain central to the orchestra’s activity through family concerts, educational projects, radio broadcasts and recordings, reinforcing the public-service mission of the orchestra shared by SR and SWR.
For Josep Pons, this is the first complete season leading the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and marks the beginning of a new artistic chapter following his fourteen years as Music Director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu. The programme reflects a long-term vision centred on artistic excellence, orchestral identity and a broad exploration of the European repertoire.