Recital

Michelangelo String Quartet & Friends

Michelangelo String Quartet

Jens Peter Maintz / Kateryna Titova

Jens Peter Maintz violoncello

Sào Soulez Larivière, viola

Experience the most exciting young personalities of the classical music world for a whole week – the Rising Stars Festival makes this possible. Chosen from the most famous concert halls in Europe, six excellent young musicians use the Elbphilharmonie Recital Hall to give the Hamburg audience sonic samples of their star potential. The festival kicks off with the Franco-Dutch violist Sào Soulez Larivière, whom the Elbphilharmonie itself nominated as its personal Rising Star for the 2024/25 season and who was already a guest in the »Teatime Classics« series. Larivière builds his programme around an equally rare and fascinating combination: the sonorous sound of the viola impacts on the kaleidoscope of sound of the percussion. The violist gets support from drummer and former Rising Star Christoph Sietzen – and this extraordinary line-up naturally does not offer standard repertoire, but a programme selection full of surprises and discoveries, which Larivière presents as a young artist with an open mind and mature personality.

Carlos Ferreira, clarinet

The illustrious circle of »Rising Stars« 2024/25, selected from the great European concert halls, includes clarinettist Carlos Ferreira – although the title of a Rising Star almost seems too small. Solo clarinettist of the Orchestre National de France, prize winner of the famous ARD Music Competition and recipient of the solo artist prize from the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – the Portuguese star is already high in the sky! Ferreira presents a broadly-based programme that he designed together with pianist Pedro Emanuel Pereira. Both of them had already recorded an album together in 2023 and, as a well-functioning duo, carry off the Hamburg audience into the most diverse soundscapes. The spectrum of the evening ranges from the supple elegance of Claude Debussy via the warm melancholy of Johannes Brahms to the charming preposterousness of Francis Poulenc. If that is not enough variety for anyone, they can look forward to brand new music by young Chinese composer Lanqing Ding with the commissioned work for Carlos Ferreira.

Klavierabend

Quatuor Agate

At the Rising Stars Festival, the Elbphilharmonie Recital Hall again becomes the stage for the most exciting musicians of the young generation in January 2025. Amongst these stars of tomorrow is the Quatuor Agate, as the only ensemble. The string quartet formed in Berlin in 2016 and the musicians’ joint career long since assumed an international format. The Guardian enthuses about the Brahms debut album by the four Frenchmen: »Warm, wonderfully refined sound, impeccable intonation and punctilious attention to detail.« Under the heading »Outlaws«, the Quatuor Agate presents a well-thought out concept programme in Hamburg with String Quartet No. 8 by Dmitri Shostakovich at its heart. Under the impact of the tyranny of his Russian homeland, Shostakovich created a piece of bloodcurdling intensity in 1960 that he saw as his own musical obituary. Adrien Jurkovic, Thomas Descamps, Raphaël Pagnon and Simon Iachemet surround this confessional music with a broad-based programme combination which ranges from the Renaissance to the present day. Projections accompany the programme and shine a light on the life of the composers. With singing, the musicians rise far above their usual role as instrumentalists in the commissioned composition by Anna Korsun.

Mandelring Quartett / Roland Glassl

Mandelring Quartet

Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Jan Willem de Vriend

Good news for all fans of Sebastian Knauer - the pianist is back at the Konzerthaus with Mozart's Concerto in D minor, premiered in 1785. Compared to earlier works in this genre, the orchestra is increasingly taking on the role of piano partner, which is of course good news for the Konzerthausorchester.Under the Dutch conductor Jan Willem de Vriend, however, our musicians will first play the inter-act music to a drama about the Egyptian King Thamos, which is set in the sun city of Heliopolis and was first performed in 1774. There is little to say about the plot - apart from the fact that the right people get each other and the schemers die by their own daggers or by being struck by lightning. Finally, Haydn's No. 99 from 1793, one of the „London“ symphonies, is played. In it, he used clarinets for the first time and (whether because of this or anyway is not known) had considerable success with the public.

Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Jan Willem de Vriend

Good news for all fans of Sebastian Knauer - the pianist is back at the Konzerthaus with Mozart's Concerto in D minor, premiered in 1785. Compared to earlier works in this genre, the orchestra is increasingly taking on the role of piano partner, which is of course good news for the Konzerthausorchester. Under the Dutch conductor Jan Willem de Vriend, however, our musicians will first play the inter-act music to a drama about the Egyptian King Thamos, which is set in the sun city of Heliopolis and was first performed in 1774. There is little to say about the plot - apart from the fact that the right people get each other and the schemers die by their own daggers or by being struck by lightning. Finally, Haydn's No. 99 from 1793, one of the „London“ symphonies, is played. In it, he used clarinets for the first time and (whether because of this or anyway is not known) had considerable success with the public.

Benjamin Kruithof, violoncello

Each year, the European Concert Hall Organisation selects six Rising Stars and sends them on a journey through its member concert halls. The young stars of 2024/25 also include cellist Benjamin Kruithof, who thanks to his »classy, cantabile and lovely tone« (bachtrack.com) emerged as the winner of the George Enescu Cello Competition in 2022. He can wholeheartedly display this beautiful tone at the Elbphilharmonie. After all, the programme culminates in the almost infinite melodies of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s cello sonata. However, first of all, Kruithof gives the evening a poetic start with the »Trois Pièces« by Nadia Boulanger and then presents his Rising Star commissioned work by British composer Sally Beamish. It continues with music by Benjamin Britten, who always knew how to produce a superb balance of modernity and sensuality in his works. In the five movements of his cello sonata, a real kaleidoscope of moods and textures evolves in which the melodic flair of the cello already appears several times. Rachmaninoff propelled this unrivalled ability to span the broadest arcs in his large-scale sonata to a glittering climax and lets the cello paint sensually over the edge – a fitting end!

Matilda Lloyd, trumpet

British trumpet player Matilda Lloyd looks self-confidently at her nomination as a »Rising Star«, which she brings to the big European concert halls within one season: »My future self inspires me. I have a very clear idea of where I want to go, what I want to do and who I want to be and that helps me to grow every day.« Inspired by this, she presents a complete audio-visual artwork. The seven movements of the »Framed« cycle by Cecilia McDowall structure the programme: played separately, they weave music by Claude Debussy, Enrique Granados, Amy Beach, Deborah Pritchard and others, complemented by projected images and videos. Matilda Lloyd not only plays the trumpet, but also reads poetry – a kaleidoscope of the most varied sensations!

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Jan Lisiecki and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields radiate pure joy of playing. This was already evident in 2018, when the young pianist saved a concert tour of the traditional British ensemble and stood in for Murray Perahia, who was ill, with all five Beethoven concertos - including at the Konzerthaus Berlin. The applause was enormous and the album with the live recording was a great success. Since then, this connection has been a very special one. Experience the Academy and the Canadian-Polish pianist once again with Beethoven: the fifth and final piano concerto and the triple concerto, in which concertmaster Tomo Keller and cello star Daniel Müller-Schott join Jan Lisiecki.

Lukas Sternath, piano

In 2025, giving the closing concert of the Rising Stars Festival and thereby bringing a crowning finale to a whole week of concerts by the most exciting young stars of the classical music world is the task of a young Viennese musician at his peak. Since Lukas Sternath discovered his love of music as a member of the Vienna Boys Choir, he soon arrived at the piano and so on the path to success. At the ARD International Music Competition in 2022, he did not just achieve first prize, but was also awarded with seven special prizes – unique in the history of the prestigious competition! He has since studied with Igor Levit and provides his recital with a challenging programme for the piano. Sternath goes all out and opens the programme with the »Chaconne« by Sofia Gubaidulina – a highly concentrated piece which evokes the spirit of Johann Sebastian Bach in a modern tonal language. Sternath does not seem to want to indulge in breaks and proceeds with the Handel variations by Johannes Brahms. He made a joke out of taking an artlessly dancing topic as the starting point of an absurdly virtuoso work. PatKop, as star violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja calls herself when she composes, writes the work commissioned for Lukas Sternath’s Rising Star concerts. Her works are consequently just as full of surprises as are her unconventional interpretations of other composers. With Franz Liszt’s legendary Sonata in B minor, the evening finds its brilliant end point with another pinnacle of the piano repertoire.

Igor Levit

Every pianist and soloist takes a risk with Franz Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. Few have dared to tackle this pianistic chunk, which demands everything at once: power, virtuosity, a sense of the piece's architecture, and a keen ear for detail. Igor Levit takes on this task. Liszt has long been a favorite in his repertoire. For a TV documentary, he already traced the composer's footsteps around 15 years ago. Levit's program for the Essen Philharmonic is brilliant: First, he takes us back to the starting point of all romantic piano virtuosity, Bach's "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue".

Alexis Cárdenas / Jorge Glem

A breathtaking musical journey that shows in a folkloristic and cheerful way the musical bridges that connect Bach and other classical European icons with the most beautiful Latin American rhythms. The concert begins with Bach and ends with him. In between, the musicians show the full richness of Latin American music.

Michelangelo String Quartet & Friends

Michelangelo String Quartet

Symphoniker Hamburg / Chamber Concert

This recital opens with Bach's trio sonatas for violin and harpsichord, highlighting the harpsichord's novel equality. Schubert's C-Major Fantasy for violin and piano, written for Josef Slavík, challenged audiences with its length and free form. Sibelius's Nocturne from "Belshazzar's Feast" follows Leschanah's palace dialogue with the stars. Saint-Saëns's first violin sonata, announced with humor, became a hit. Kroll's "Banjo and Fiddle" captures American folk music and gained popularity through Jascha Heifetz.

Julius Asal / Piano Recital

Menahem Pressler was deeply impressed by Julius Asal’s piano playing, describing the sound as uniquely sonorous. He wondered how Asal achieved this and felt the instrument shared a secret with him.

Songs and Poets: Histoires naturelles

Classical art songs and modern poetry – lieder recital meets poetry reading in this series of events organised jointly with the Haus für Poesie Berlin. Each of the four evening events held in the foyer of the Deutsche Oper Berlin will feature a poet reading original works whose themes complement the songs on the programme.

Kirill Richter Trio

The versatile award-winning composer and pianist Kirill Richter, who was already enthusiastically celebrated in the ProArte X series in 2019, is not considered one of the most exciting contemporary artists in Europe for nothing, as he succeeds like no other in combining form and emotion, magical sounds and fragility in his music. The young Russian has been working with his trio for many years, which is evident in the perfect harmony with which the three artists interact on stage. A highlight not to be missed!

Teatime Classics

Guido Sant’Anna »has charisma, stage presence and an astonishing maturity and depth in his playing,« wrote the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung after the young Brazilian violinist had opened the Rheingau Music Festival in 2023 together with the hr-Sinfonieorchester. Be it large concert stages or prestigious competitions – at not even 20 years old, Guido Sant’Anna wins over audiences, the press and judges equally. With Martina Consonni, sponsored by star pianist Sir András Schiff, who celebrated her debut at the Elbphilharmonie in 2024, he presents a programme from Schubert to Ravel, which entertains both with breakneck virtuosity and expansive melody arcs – and even blues. Both Guido Sant’Anna and Martina Consonni study at the prestigious Kronberg Academy. Guido Sant’Anna was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2005. He achieved international recognition when he was the first South American violinist to win the prestigious International Fritz Kreisler Competition in 2022. A historic success had already preceded this triumph in Vienna in 2018 when he was the first Brazilian violinist to be invited to the International Yehudi Menuhin Competition in Geneva and won both the audience prize and the chamber music prize. In October 2022, he filled in for Christian Tetzlaff at the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in São Paulo for which he received rave reviews. Praised for her innate musicality and overwhelming sensitivity, combined with exceptional instrumental technique and brilliant sound, Martina Consonni has established herself as one of the most promising young pianists of her generation. Born in Como in 1997, she achieved two Masters degrees at the Pavia Conservatory and at the HMTM in Hanover. She also received a Masters degree in chamber music at the National Academy »Santa Cecilia« in Rome and an Artist Diploma at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin under Sir András Schiff. She has been selected to participate in several master classes where she encountered musicians of international standing, such as Daniel Barenboim, Kirill Gerstein, Steven Isserlis and Christoph Eschenbach.

Philharmonic Chamber Music Recital

The works in this chamber music concert are all about love and connection, in words and through sound: when Johannes Brahms set about composing »Zwei Gesänge«, he had his close friendship with his long-time companion in mind, the violinist Joseph Joachim. Brahms wanted to create a musical memorial to his love and composed the »Geistliches Wiegenlied« for his wedding, based on a text by Emanuel Geibel, but he withdrew the composition and revised it. Together with »Gestillte Sehnsucht« based on a text by Friedrich Rückert, the composer later published both songs on the occasion of another happy event: the christening of Joseph Joachim’s son – and Brahm’s godson.

Discover Talent: Roman Fediurko / Piano Recital

The name Roman Fediurko is one to remember: at the beginning of 2023, the then 18-year-old won first prize and the audience prize at the Düsseldorf Robert Schumann Competition – by no means his first victory at a prestigious competition. His nuanced playing and interpretative maturity, which is far ahead of his age, were particularly impressive. The young Ukrainian has been studying with Milana Chernyavska in Graz since 2021 – as has his younger brother Oleksandr, with whom he presents captivating four-hand arrangements of works that are not typical for the piano, such as Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango, on a CD and in concert. This stylistic diversity and chamber music flair also characterise Roman Fediurko’s performance in »Discover Talent«: alongside piano classics such as works by Mozart, Rachmaninov, Chopin and Beethoven, he presents preludes by his compatriot Lewko Rewutzkyi – a tribute to the rich culture of his war-torn homeland.

Igor Levit / Piano Recital

When listening to Igor Levit play Beethoven, you feel that you are being taken by the hand, that you are being led in a determined and yet extremely friendly manner on an exploration of a densely built-up terrain. An unexpected attraction captivates at every bend in the road, everything is there in its intimacy, grandeur, in its deep, ethical seriousness. And yet it seems close, accessible, completely present. This also applies when Levit takes on a work that was not actually intended for piano, such as Beethoven’s expansive »Eroica« Symphony: Beethoven is as direct, spontaneous and physical as life itself. But also as existential and uncomfortable as the things that determine our happiness and our worries. Igor Levit achieves that magical balance between the telling details and the meaningfulness of the big picture that characterises the classic Beethoven.

Elena Bashkirova & Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival Ensemble

Elena Bashkirova piano

Igor Levit / Piano Recital

He has become something of a travel guide through the often rocky and impassable terrain of Beethoven’s music. With his recording of all 32 Beethoven sonatas and the accompanying podcast, Igor Levit has developed into one of the best Beethoven interpreters and mediators of our time. It is absolutely logical that he is now venturing out of the carefully scrutinised cosmos of works originally written for piano and into more unexplored territory: Beethoven’s symphonies in the versions by piano virtuoso Franz Liszt – which were actually considered unplayable – are the common thread running through Levit’s current season. And who could be better suited to scaling these symphonic mountains than the exceptional pianist? After Brahms’ four ballads , his fingers should definitely be warm...

Xuefei Yang, guitar

»Fervent virtuosity, impeccable technique, sensitive musicality« – so enthuses the New York Times about the Chinese guitarist Xuefei Yang. This musician is a real pioneer of the guitar world: she was one of the first to start a global career as a classical guitarist from Peking after China’s cultural revolution (a period in which Western instruments and music were banned in China). When she performed in Madrid for the first time aged 14, at the epicentre of the guitar world, composer Joaquín Rodrigo came to hear her in person. She has now played concerts in over 50 countries, is not only a noteworthy virtuoso, but also constantly expands the guitar repertoire with new arrangements and commissioned works – as also in her new project that she presents at the Elbphilharmonie: »X Culture«. »X Culture is a homage to the variety and a sign of the creativity that arises if you open up to other cultures,« Yang says. Different cultures always blend in the works that she collated on her 2023 album of the same name: for instance, the Italian composer Carlo Domeniconi is evocative of a mysterious Turkish soundscape in »Koyunbaba«, there are European composers, inspired by the Far East (Steve Goss: »Chinese Garden« and Mark Houghton: »Dance of the Orient«), conversely Tan Dun’s »Seven Desires« draws from the soundscape of Spanish flamenco. »The album reflects my own intercultural journey,« says Yang. It has also always been a concern of hers to enhance the western ideas of »classical« music with Chinese traditions and sounds. She consequently also opens her Elbphilharmonie concert with arrangements of Chinese folk songs.

My Bloody Valentine

From a recital by an Aphrodite on the eve of Valentine’s Day, one might expect a classic ode to romantic love, but singer Aphrodite Patoulidou has something else in mind.

Elsa Grether / Mathias Weber

Three great works of chamber music that refer to the same basic note »A«. But what different worlds they come from in terms of character and form: Schumann's Sonata in A minor, Franck's in A major and Beethoven's monumental Opus 47 – the »Kreutzer Sonata« in A minor and A major. The sensational duo of internationally acclaimed artists, French violinist Elsa Grether and Hamburg Érard pianist Mathias Weber, captivates with its spirited, gripping, sensual and sensitive playing, in which both voices display equal flights of virtuosity as well as delicately merging magical passages. The Érard concert grand piano by César Franck from 1863, on which a breathtaking clarity and transparency of sound can be produced thanks to its parallel sides, lends the interpretation of these magnificent works a historical dimension.

Sachiko Furuhata / Piano Recital

Yokohama-born Sachiko Furuhata made her debut in 2017 at Carnegie Hall New York to standing ovations. Since then, she has made guest appearances at various major concert halls such as the San Francisco Herbst Theatre, the Edinburgh Usher Hall, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Berlin Philharmonie and the Hamburg Laeiszhalle. As a soloist she has played with orchestras such as the Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra or the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

Commemorating Shostakovich: Evgeny Kissin and friends

A glittering constellation of string players joins Evgeny Kissin for an immersive dive into three sonatas that together span Shostakovich’s creative evolution – the last a soul-searing farewell.