To date, there are hardly any works written for flute, harp and orchestra aside from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s popular concerto. Wuppertal composer Lutz-Werner Hesse has taken on the challenge to remedy this and has gone straight ahead with writing one of the most extensive works for this instrumentation. “In view of the tonal lightness of both instruments, great care must be taken with the instrumentation,” the composer says about the task he faced with his work. Two members of the orchestra, Catarina Laske-Trier and Manuela Randlinger-Bilz, are assuming the solo parts. Both share a long history of playing duets and are also familiar with the works of Lutz-Werner Hesse, who will be delighted to know that his new concerto will be followed by Gustav Mahler’s mighty Symphony No. 5. The Austrian composer is one of Hesse’s absolute favourites. The delicate tones of the harp also play a key role in the famous Adagietto of Mahler’s Fifth, known to many from the classic film “Death in Venice”. The overture to “Coriolan” at the beginning reveals a lesser known side to Mahler. As a highly regarded conductor, he saw it as his duty to “retouch” old works and adapt them to contemporary sound possibilities, focusing in particular on those by Ludwig van Beethoven