Classical Concerts in

Hamburg

China NCPA Orchestra / Bruce Liu / Myung-Whun Chung

When Sergei Prokofiev was commissioned to write a ballet and was given a choice of three different stories, he immediately opted for »Romeo and Juliet«: »I ›bit‹ straight into the plot, it would have been hard to find a better one!« No wonder, as perhaps the world’s most famous love story by William Shakespeare delivers plenty of drama, great emotions and an exciting, eventful plot. The orchestra of the spectacular National Centre for the Performing Arts – Beijing’s Elbphilharmonie, so to speak – can unfold its full potential here. Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major is just as enjoyable to listen to: The French composer was inspired by American music, more specifically jazz. He skilfully transfers the lascivious jazz sounds to the orchestra, just as George Gershwin had done a few years earlier in his Rhapsody in Blue. Bruce Liu is a true high-flyer at the keys. Born in Paris in 1997 and raised in Montreal, Canada, he impressed with breathtaking performances at the prestigious Chopin Competition in 2021. Deutsche Grammophon immediately signed him. NDR Kultur called his first studio album with solo works by Maurice Ravel »an event in every respect!« He now follows this up with the composer’s solo concerto, accompanied by one of the best orchestras from China under the direction of South Korean star conductor Myung-Whun Chung.

Arctic Philharmonic / Eldbjørg Hemsing / Nicolò Foron

The world beyond the Arctic Circle is a realm like no other – vast expanses, majestic mountains and crystal-clear fjords define its breathtaking beauty. The Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing has captured these landscapes in music, performing alongside the Arctic Philharmonic, the world’s northernmost professional orchestra. Their programme combines Nordic classics from composers like Grieg and Rautavaara with specially commissioned pieces by film composers including Frode Fjellheim (title song to »Frozen«) and Jacob Shea (»Planet Earth II«). Eldbjørg Hemsing describes the programme as »film music for the concert hall or a soundtrack for an inner journey«. The violinist seeks to give voice to her Norwegian homeland, challenging misconceptions: »It’s very easy to think about the Arctic as a rugged, uninhabitable place, but in fact it is a region of stunning beauty that is full of life and shows how everything is connected in fragile cycles. With this project I wanted to create a lush, majestic soundscape that pays tribute to the beauty of it all, and raise awareness for the urgent threats posed by climate change.« Accompanied by the Arctic Philharmonic, based in Bodø and Tromsø, the performance is deeply rooted in Norwegian and Nordic traditions. »Arctic« also shines a spotlight on the musical heritage of the Sámi people, who have lived in harmony with the landscape of the Arctic Circle for centuries. With atmospheric lighting and thoughtful narration, the concert becomes an immersive journey into the magic of the polar night and endless Arctic daylight.

Maria Stuarda

Maria and Elisabetta: two queens fight for power and love. Between them stands Count Leicester, Elisabetta's lover, who is attracted to Maria. The two women meet in the park of Fotheringhay Castle - a duel of emotions, fought with the weapons of bel canto, coloratura on a knife's edge. In the end, the Catholic Maria will ascend the scaffold with her head held high, while the Protestant Elisabetta will keep her throne but lose her love. Musical Direction: Antonino Fogliani Production: Karin Beier Stage: Amber Vandenhoeck Costumes: Eva Dessecker Lighting: Annette ter Meulen Video: Severin Renke Dramaturgy: Rita Thiele

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Klaus Mäkelä

There are few orchestras that can boast as long a Mahler tradition as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam. Even during Gustav Mahler’s lifetime, the orchestra regularly performed his symphonies and helped the composer achieve the fame he enjoys to this day. Klaus Mäkelä, who takes over as the orchestra’s chief conductor in 2027, continues this tradition with a performance of Mahler’s First Symphony. The composer wrote about his work: »It has become so overpowering – it flowed out of me like a mountain stream!« Also on the programme is Arnold Schönberg’s early work »Verklärte Nacht« for string orchestra, based on Richard Dehmel’s poem of the same name. Before Schönberg climbed to the top of the avant-garde and shocked the music world with his twelve-tone music, he wrote deeply Romantic pieces in his younger years, in which he endeavoured to unite the styles of Wagner and Brahms.

Peter und der Wolf

Peter und der Wolf

Falstaff

Sir John Falstaff is an anarchist who obeys only the reign of his own enjoyment, an egoist who feeds only his power-hunger and his own flesh, and who would prefer to raze the small-minded morals of his contemporaries like the walls of a fortress – by seducing two women at the same time. Needless to say, his plan is thwarted, but those trying to expose him also fail to emerge unruffled from the confusion they unleash around him – which only the audience can keep track of, barely. “Tutto nel mondo è burla,” but these jokes are only funny because falling into the abyss actually does pose quite a serious risk. Arrigo Boito, the librettist of “Otello”, distilled a sophisticated, ingenious libretto from Shakespeare’s original, driving Verdi to highly complex compositional heights. Director: Calixto Bieito Set Designer: Susanne Gschwender Costume Designer: Anja Rabes Dramaturgy: Bettina Auer Lighting Designer: Michael Bauer Premiere: January 19th 2020

Jewish Chamber Orchestra Hamburg

The Jewish spring festival of Passover is not only a religious festival, but above all a cultural event that celebrates renewal and freedom. In keeping with this, the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Hamburg (JCOHH) is opening its new concert series »BÜSCHEN MESCHUGGE« under the motto »Hope. Blossom. A new beginning.«

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Steven Isserlis / Elim Chan

»I want interaction. I want people to feel something. I want them to ask questions,« explained Elim Chan in an interview. The Hong Kong-born conductor is currently one of the most sought-after musicians of her generation. The Vienna Musikverein dedicated a three-part portrait series to her in the 2022/23 season. And after Elim Chan’s debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2022, the press wrote euphorically of a »miracle of control and understanding«. In this concert, Elim Chan has a musician at her side who is one of only two living cellists to have been inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame and who continues to captivate audiences with his unique musicianship: Steven Isserlis. He plays Joseph Haydn’s long-lost Cello Concerto in C major, in which late Baroque solemnity is combined with the virtuosity of Viennese Classicism. The elegant lightness of the concerto conceals highly demanding passages that require a great deal of dexterity from the soloist.

Fado ao Centro

The musical ensemble Fado ao centro presents its audience with urban and emotional fado from the Portuguese university city of Coimbra – a city with its very special fado tradition. The male line-up shines with its differently tuned guitars, which radiate warm tone colours and penetrate deep into the hearts of the listeners. But the passion for their music is best described by the members of Fado ao centro themselves: »We carry our genuine love for fado deep in our souls and want to share this with other people – whether with other musicians, local fans or visitors who may never have heard of Coimbra Fado.« Fado is mainly associated with the Portuguese capital Lisbon. However, the university city of Coimbra has its very own fado tradition. The most decisive difference is the exclusively male line-up with guitars in different settings.

Twinkle Concert S / Pepephon & Percussion

It sounds, whistles, rings, throbs, grooves and swings! From a mini-clarinet called clarineo to the double bass clarinet, from triangle to tam-tam – the biggest for the little ones, but also fine little things for the big ones! Two musicians with lots of instruments (some of them homemade) invite you to listen and marvel, to feel and savour. And to enjoy a musical chocolate cake. »Twinkle Concerts« is the series of children’s concerts at the Elbphilharmonie that brings the most successful productions from all over Europe to Hamburg. At times funny and playful, at others thoughtful and reflective, the series introduces children to the world of music in a special and unique way. In addition, the popular Elfi Baby Concerts for expectant mothers and parents with babies up to one year of age continue to take place at the Elbphilharmonie and in many Hamburg districts.

Gospel Train

When Hollywood star Whoopi Goldberg filled cinemas worldwide in 1992 with the blockbuster »Sister Act«, a middle-grade choir was founded shortly afterwards at the Goethe School in Harburg, a neighbourhood in Hamburg. Today, Gospel Train stands for sophisticated arrangements and innovative cover versions of world-famous hits. The international youth choir is now one of the best youth gospel choirs in Germany. This benefit concert takes place in support of the houseless initiave »Herz As«.

Jewish Chamber Orchestra Hamburg

The Jewish spring festival of Passover is not only a religious festival, but above all a cultural event that celebrates renewal and freedom. In keeping with this, the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Hamburg (JCOHH) is opening its new concert series »BÜSCHEN MESCHUGGE« under the motto »Hope. Blossom. A new beginning.«

La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West)

California in 1850: hundreds of thousands have fallen for the gold rush – and some of them also for the barkeeper Minnie, at whose saloon various fortune seekers meet every evening. Among them is Sheriff Jack Rance. Minnie, however, falls in love with the stranger Dick Johnson. It soon turns out that Johnson is a wanted robber: the sheriff wants to see him hang and have Minnie to himself. A round of poker is to decide about Dick’s life: is there yet another trump up Minnie’s sleeve? Puccini certainly held a trump with his Fanciulla, and even considered the piece his best: after world hits such as La Bohème and Madama Butterfly he had reinvented himself with this “spaghetti western”. In La Fanciulla del West, he combined ragtime rhythms, allusions to gospel singing and the music of the native Americans with Italian melodiousness, resulting in a lushly orchestrated broadband sound. This did not fail to affect the audience at the first performance at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1910. And yet, compared to Puccini’s major hits, the piece languished in the shadows for a long time – until the musical gold diggers set out to reclaim it… Director: Vincent Boussard Set Designer: Vincent Lemaire Costume Designer: Christian Lacroix Lighting Designer: Guido Levi Premiere: 01.02.2015

Bennewitz Quartet / Veronika Hagen

They have only just celebrated their 25th anniversary – and are still going, stronger than ever. The Bennewitz Quartet, made up of four gentlemen from the Czech Republic, has established a superb reputation in the quarter of a century it has been performing. Its members are regarded as the cultural ambassadors of their homeland, revered for their warm, homogeneous sound. Now they have invited Veronika Hagen, violist in the legendary Hagen Quartet, to expand their line-up into a quintet. Their concert promises a programme full of contrasts, fluctuating between idylls of nature, the innate lifeforce, and moments of farewell. Antonín Dvořák spent his first summer in the USA not amid the hustle and bustle of New York City, where he ran the conservatory, but surrounded by the tranquillity of Iowa. A Czech community had formed in the small town of Spitville and they invited the composer to stay with them. He must have heard not only the sounds of the »New World«, but also plenty of familiar Bohemian music. At its premiere the following winter, his quintet even transported New Yorkers to this rural summer idyll, and proved an instant success. »Our will for culture was just as great as our will to exist!« wrote the Polish-Austrian composer Viktor Ullmann, recounting his time in the Theresienstadt ghetto. His third string quartet was composed there: gripping music full of a desire to survive. Johannes Brahms, by contrast, wrote his string quintet as a farewell to composing and perhaps even to life itself. Though he would go on to compose other works, his quintet is full of gentle melancholy, a look back over Brahms’ legacy.

Junge Deutsche Philharmonie / RIAS Kammerchor / Roderick Cox

The premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet »Le sacre du printemps« in Paris in 1913 was one of the biggest scandals in music history: the radically modern choreography and music prompted the audience to heckle, whistle and even start scuffles. But today, »The Rite of Spring« regularly receives standing ovations for its gripping rhythms and dramatic intensity. As Germany’s national orchestra of music college students, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie under the baton of Roderick Cox has the talent and youthful vigour to perform Stravinsky’s masterpiece to perfection. »Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres)« by US composer Missy Mazzoli orbits like a planet in the solar system. Compound rhythms and stylised Baroque ornaments become intertwining passages. »The piece is stirring and agitated at the same time,« says the composer. While »Sinfonia« in Mazolli’s title refers to the Baroque elements in the score, for Luciano Berio, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday in 2025, it refers to the origin of the word – harmony. In Berio’s »Sinfonia« for orchestra and eight voices, the orchestra joins forces with the renowned voices of the RIAS Kammerchor to present exciting music full of quotes from Samuel Beckett to Gustav Mahler.

Workshop: Kosmos Sound

We don’t hear music with our ears alone: we can also experience it intensely with our whole body and with all our senses. In the workshop »Kosmos Klang« many special instruments are available for the purpose, such as sound chairs and vibrating water bowls. Participants experience the relaxing effect of the vibrations produced, and even make the sounds visible. Please note: this workshop is aimed at families with children aged six and above. Children younger than six may not participate in this workshop. All participants need a ticket.

Peter und der Wolf

Twinkle Concert S / Pepephon & Percussion

It sounds, whistles, rings, throbs, grooves and swings! From a mini-clarinet called clarineo to the double bass clarinet, from triangle to tam-tam – the biggest for the little ones, but also fine little things for the big ones! Two musicians with lots of instruments (some of them homemade) invite you to listen and marvel, to feel and savour. And to enjoy a musical chocolate cake. »Twinkle Concerts« is the series of children’s concerts at the Elbphilharmonie that brings the most successful productions from all over Europe to Hamburg. At times funny and playful, at others thoughtful and reflective, the series introduces children to the world of music in a special and unique way. In addition, the popular Elfi Baby Concerts for expectant mothers and parents with babies up to one year of age continue to take place at the Elbphilharmonie and in many Hamburg districts.

Hasi-Konzert

Children’s TV presenter Juri Tetzlaff and his best friend Hasi can once again look forward to amusing and exciting adventures this season in the popular children’s concert series »Hasi«. The young listeners are welcome to bring their favourite soft toys to the cosy cushion concerts at the Laeiszhalle, Studio E: they can even sit in their own »box«. The children get a letter from Hasi before each concert, and of course they can write back if they want to.

Peter und der Wolf

Il trovatore

For Leonora, the song of the troubadour Manrico holds the promise and glow of love; Manrico's rival Count Luna perceives in it threat and danger. Verdi's opera is a celebration of Italian opera singing at its best - so it is no coincidence that the title character is a singer himself. And yet for the composer, Azucena, Manrico's mother, was the real protagonist. Il trovatore is rich in dramatic intricacies and intense emotions, which Verdi abruptly juxtaposes in images and scenes. Tragedy relentlessly unfolds before our eyes and ears until the truth is revealed in the opera's final seconds. Stage: Alex Eales Costumes: Herbert Murauer Lighting: James Farncombe Video: Philipp Contag-Lada Dramaturgy: Ralf Waldschmidt Chorus: Christian Günther

übelst unverstärkt: Steven Isserlis

A long bar, dim lighting, beanbags and a relaxed audience. This is what concert evenings at »übelst unverstärkt« look like, where musicians from the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra perform with international soloists. Alan Gilbert, chief conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, has already dropped by with his viola. Martin Fröst, Joshua Bell, Daniel Müller-Schott, Anna Vinnitskaya and Augustin Hadelich followed with great live acts. And they all had a lot of fun performing in a neighbourhood club and presenting captivating chamber music up close.

On Tour: Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

»Mahler is a must!« That was absolutely clear to Jakub Hrůša when our journey together began in 2016 – as his late Romantic music is »genetically very close« to both him and ourselves. We have already performed five of his symphonies together in recent years. This programme includes the enchanting »Blumine« movement, which Mahler erased from his autobiographical first symphony and described himself as a »blissful infatuation«: he wrote it in 1884 as a young conductor when he had a crush on a soprano. However, his affection was not returned – and a year later, the »Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen« (»Songs of a Travelling Companion«) emerged from his emotional misery. Together with Konstantin Krimmel, we embark on the restless wanderings of the lovesick artist. After that we say: Not only Mahler is a must. For some time now, Jakub Hrůša has also been working more intensively on Bruckner, as he has recognised that only an orchestra that »really loves this music enough« will be able to make it work. He described the phase in which we immersed ourselves in the Symphony No. 4 in the 2018/2019 season as a »blissful experience with Bruckner« – and it was deepened even further: In the 2020 pandemic, we recorded our Chief Conductor’s personal take on all three versions of the work for a phenomenal and award-winning recording. In this programme, the »Romantic« is performed in the 1878/1880 version – first in Bamberg, as is traditional, of course. Then we will once again become »travelling companions« ourselves and present the works in two of the best halls in Europe: in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and (for the 10th time already!) in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie – where we have come to love and appreciate the inspiring acoustics.

Alexander Yakovlev / Klavierabend

Alexander Yakovlev is a graduate of the Rostov State Conservatory, where he also completed postgraduate studies with Sergei Osipenko and studied composition with Leonid Klinichev. He then studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum with Alexei Lyubimov and in Berlin at the University of the Arts with Pascal Devoyon. The pianist’s international career grew rapidly after he won the 2006 Chopin Competition in Rome, where he was presented with a grand piano as well as the Grand Prix.

Nai Barghouti, flute

Two musical hearts beat in the chest of Palestinian singer Nai Barghouti: one for the Arabic music of her homeland and one for jazz – her music is a unique combination of both genres. Not least because Barghouti has developed her own singing technique for this symbiosis, which her fans affectionately call »Naistrumentation«. Barghouti uses her voice as an instrument, very similar to »scat singing« in jazz, which instead of words improvises individual syllables into virtuoso melodies. Together with her band, a quartet comprising the Arabian box zither qanun, drums, bass guitar and piano, she transfers the jazzy influences very organically to the Arabian repertoire of her homeland. Nai Barghouti grew up in Palestinian Ramallah. At aged 14, she started studying singing and flute at the Edward Said National Conservatory in Jerusalem. In 2013, she went to the USA, where she discovered her passion for jazz, which she was to take to Amsterdam two years later. There, she studied jazz singing at the Amsterdam Conservatoire. Her exceptional talent and musical sense did not stay undetected for long: in 2019, she was a finalist in the Aga Khan Music Awards in Lisbon and, in 2020, Barghouti won the Concertgebouw Young Talent Award, which opened doors for her in Europe too.

Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra / Daniel Cho / James Conlon

In this concert with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra conducted by James Conlon, »the« Czech composer of the 19th century meets »the« Czech composer of the 20th. We are, of course, talking about Antonín Dvořák and Bohuslav Martinů. With his Seventh Symphony, Dvořák was keen to prove that he was far more than merely a master of local Czech influences. »My symphony should turn out in such a way that it moves the world,« and it has done so ever since its acclaimed premiere in London in the 1880s. »I cannot tell you how much the English honour me! I’m written about everywhere and they say I’m the lion of this year’s music season in London.«

Simeon-Orchester / Liv Migdal / Vilmantas Kaliunas

Simeon-Orchester

Hamburger Orchestergemeinschaft / Cornelia Monske / Wolf Tobias M. Müller

The Hamburger Orchestergemeinschaft e.V. has existed since 1904 and is thus the oldest amateur symphony orchestra in Hamburg. Today it performs at least two concerts a year and gives young, very talented conductors and soloists the opportunity to gain experience with orchestras and public performances in large concert halls.

Workshop: Kosmos Sound

We don’t hear music with our ears alone: we can also experience it intensely with our whole body and with all our senses. In the workshop »Kosmos Klang« many special instruments are available for the purpose, such as sound chairs and vibrating water bowls. Participants experience the relaxing effect of the vibrations produced, and even make the sounds visible. Please note: this workshop is aimed at families with children aged six and above. Children younger than six may not participate in this workshop. All participants need a ticket.

Peter und der Wolf