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  • Wiener Philharmoniker Week in Japan 2025 Daiwa House Special Christian Thielemann conducts Wiener Philharmoniker November 11-16, 2025

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PRESS RELEASE

No.she058September 16, 2025

Wiener Philharmoniker Week in Japan 2025
Daiwa House Special
Christian Thielemann conducts
Wiener Philharmoniker
November 11-16, 2025

Suntory Hall hosts Wiener Philharmoniker Week in Japan 2025 in November.
Founded in 1842, the Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic) has been closely associated with the rich musical history and tradition of Vienna, the capital city of music, and it continues to enthrall audiences all over the world with its unique and incomparable sound. The orchestra first visited Japan in 1956, and this year marks the orchestra’s 40th tour to our country.

Suntory Hall has been hosting Wiener Philharmoniker Week in Japan since 1999, giving the Japanese audiences a regular opportunity to enjoy this renowned orchestra, and this is the 22nd edition. At the helm will be the charismatic German Maestro Christian Thielemann, who enjoys a particularly close and productive artistic partnership with the Wiener Philharmoniker. Thielemann and the orchestra last performed together in Suntory Hall in 2019.

On this tour, Thielemann and the orchestra will present three orchestral programmes. The first programme consists of Anton Bruckner’s monumental Symphony No. 5 (Nov 11, 15), a work that Thielemann is especially fond of. Moreover, he and the Wiener Philharmoniker have recorded the Bruckner symphony cycle, so the performance will surely be special. In the second programme, Robert Schumann’s sunny Rhenish symphony will be paired with Brahms’s sublime Fourth Symphony (Nov 12). Their performance of the latter work in Vienna earlier this year received glowing praise from the local press. The third programme, exclusive to Suntory Hall, celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of the composer Johann Strauss Jr. with a selection of his waltzes and polkas (Nov 16). Thielemann conducted this repertoire in the Wiener Philharmoniker’s New Year’s Concert in 2019 and 2024.

In addition to the four concerts at Suntory Hall, the orchestra will tour Nagoya, Osaka, Himeji (Hyogo), and Yokohama.

As in previous years, there are education and outreach events including a free open rehearsal, an instrumental masterclass (this year by double bassist Christoph Wimmer-Schenkel), and a school programme. Also, 90 youth tickets (from junior high school students to 25-year-olds) will be available for the concert on November 15.

The Wiener Philharmoniker has built close ties with Japan, and after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the orchestra offered a donation of one million euros to help people recover from the disaster. The Suntory Group matched the amount and set up the “The Vienna Philharmonic and Suntory Music Aid Fund”, which continues to provide support through music in the Tohoku region as well as in Kumamoto. In 2024, musicians visited the Noto Peninsula affected by a recent earthquake, and support programmes are being planned during this year’s visit as well.

Suntory Hall Concerts: Dates and Programmes
Wiener Philharmoniker
Christian Thielemann, conductor

Tuesday, November 11, 19:00
Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, WAB 105 (ed. Leopold Nowak)

Wednesday, November 12, 19:00
Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 97, “Rhenish”
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98

Saturday, November 15, 16:00
Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, WAB 105 (ed. Leopold Nowak)

Sunday, November 16, 16:00
Schubert: Symphony No. 7 in B Minor, D. 759, “Unfinished”
Johann Strauss Jr.: Der Zigeunerbaron, Overture
Johann Strauss Jr.: Nachtigall-Polka, Op. 222
Joseph Hellmesberger Jr.: Elfenreigen
Johann Strauss Jr.: Künstlerleben Waltz, Op. 316
Johann Strauss Jr.: Csárdás from Ritter Pásmán, Op. 441
Johann Strauss Jr.: Neue-Pizzicato-Polka, Op. 449
Ziehrer: Wiener Bürger, Op. 419

Full listings of the Wiener Philharmoniker Week in Japan 2025 can be found at the following:
https://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/suntoryhall/article/detail/001702.html

For further information and press photos, please contact:
suntoryhall-pr@suntory.co.jp
Public Relations, Suntory Hall

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