Wed, December 9th, 2026
Antje Weithaas & Leo McFall

Once upon a time… Anyone who titles a work “A Time There Was” must be feeling nostalgic. Indeed, in the 1970s, Benjamin Britten found himself in a period of intense reflection, caught between heart surgery, illness, and impending death. In his “Suite on English Folk Tunes,” folk music and dance set the tone, albeit as a double-edged construct from which the grotesque dance with death painfully shines through. This story also has a wistful ring to it: In his late twenties, the newly in-love Béla Bartók wrote a violin concerto for the violinist Stefi Geyer, who, however, ended the relationship shortly afterward. The affair, along with the manuscript, disappeared into Geyer's drawer – the concerto didn't premiere in Basel until 13 years after Bartók's death. The passionate love affair, however, has been immortalized by the recurring theme of D-F#-A-C#, a tribute to the violinist. From Basel, Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 3 travels some 500 kilometers down the Rhine to Düsseldorf. In this city, he was warmly welcomed with great fanfare. This is evident in the "Rhenish" Symphony: it flows in a constant, joyful rhythm and brims with newfound confidence.

Program:
Benjamin Britten - Suite on English Folk Tunes, Op. 90 "A Time There Was...";
Béla Bartók - Violin Concerto No. 1
; Intermission;
Robert Schumann - Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 97 "Rhenish"

; Performers
: Orchestra: Musikkollegium Winterthur;
Conductor: Leo McFall
; Violin: Antje Weithaas

Ticket office (Mon–Fri, 9:30–13:30):
Stadthaus Winterthur, Stadthausstrasse 4a, CH-8400 Winterthur, Tel. +41 52 620 20 20, konzertkarten@musikkollegium.ch

Other ticket outlets
- Winterthur Tourism, Main Train Station, CH-8400 Winterthur
- Ticket Corner, all Swiss ticket outlets