Concerts with works by

Franz Liszt

Concert de midi et demi avec Cristo HARIJAN, Timothée MOSER et Benjamin BRUNET

Festival Élite 2025 – Dominic Chamot

Gewandhausorchester, Cristian Măcelaru Dirigent

Liszt composed tone poems about Orpheus, who overcomes death with music, and Prometheus, who inspires humanity with art. Orpheus's music is harmonious, while Prometheus's is dissonant, reflecting his suffering. Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto, sometimes called the "Orpheus Concerto," may be inspired by Orpheus. Leó Weiner, a Liszt admirer, orchestrated Liszt's B minor Sonata for the Liszt centenary in 1956.

Gewandhausorchester, Cristian Măcelaru Dirigent

Liszt composed tone poems about Orpheus, who overcomes death with music, and Prometheus, who inspires humanity with art. Orpheus's music is harmonious, while Prometheus's is dissonant, reflecting his suffering. Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto, sometimes called the "Orpheus Concerto," may be inspired by Orpheus. Leó Weiner, a Liszt admirer, orchestrated Liszt's B minor Sonata for the Liszt centenary in 1956.

Drame

A passionate programme from Orchestre Pasdeloup, with an anthology of 19th- and 20th-century works and a new piece by Béchara El-Khoury, with soloists François Dumont on piano and Arnaud Nuvolone on violin.

Orgelkonzert: Nathan Laube

Don't miss it – because in this concert in our popular organ series, a phenomenal artist unleashes a musical firework: our guest is the American Nathan Laube, who holds a professorship at the Eastman School of Music in New York and is also a consultant for organ studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. As a famous organist, he performs internationally in renowned concert halls and loves to engage his audiences and inspire them for the organ world. The programme is very romantic with outstanding works: His varied recital begins with a vibrant play of colours – in the concert overture written around 1885 by the blind composer Alfred Hollins. César Franck wrote an epic tone poem with orchestral effect with his Fantasie aus den drei Stücken für große Orgel in 1878 for the official opening of the first concert hall organ in France. Nathan Laube then also demonstrates his outstanding virtuosity with two arrangements of significant piano works. Mendelssohn wrote his glowing »Variations sérieuses« in 1841 with »true passion«: In the course of the work, a highly original theme is increasingly harmonically veiled and the expressive range is constantly widened. Liszt pointed far into the future with his »Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses« – and the piece »Funérailles« from this monumental cycle is also one of his most tragic compositions. The programme concludes with a highlight from the oeuvre of French composer Maurice Duruflé: with his three-movement organ suite, he created a milestone of the 20th century – and the finale toccata is still one of the most technically demanding pieces ever written for this instrument.

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.

Concert de midi et demi avec Cristo HARIJAN, Timothée MOSER et Benjamin BRUNET

Guest performance

Nuits du Piano Paris – Plamena Mangova

Guest performance Chopin Gala Concert

Rising Stars: Lukas Sternath

For lovers of chamber music the Recital Hall is the venue of choice. You can hear the musicians breathe and you can practically touch them. This hall is also cherished by musicians for its beautiful acoustics and direct contact with the audience. In the Recital Hall you can hear the best musicians of our time. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Recital Hall for yourself!

Khatia Buniatishvili

The fiery pianist Khatia Buniatishvili possesses not only talent but also the rare gift of charisma. At ease in the spotlight, her exuberance, showmanship and communication skills have won her a wide audience.

Echo Rising Stars with piano

Pianist Lukas Sternath is on the path to a brilliant career. He has performed in renowned concert halls such as Vienna's Musikverein, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and Tonhalle in Zurich. Sternath was a member of the famous Vienna Boys' Choir and later trained at the Conservatory in Vienna, as well as studying under Igor Levit in Germany.Sternath eagerly tackles the hyper-virtuosic repertoire, including Franz Schubert's heroic and extremely challenging Wanderer Fantasy. Schubert himself couldn't play it well enough and is said to have remarked, "The devil can play this piece!" In addition to a newly composed piece, Sternath also takes on Franz Liszt's monumental B minor Sonata, a captivating and forward-looking work filled with drama, beauty, power, and contemplation.Rising Stars is a unique and forward-looking collaboration between 24 of Europe’s leading concert halls, all members of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO). A handful of young musicians and ensembles from various countries are selected each year and given the opportunity to tour the concert halls and perform before international audiences. Experience shows that those who are selected as Rising Stars also have internationally successful careers.Lukas Sternath was nominated by Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, and Philharmonie du Luxembourg.

Festival Élite 2025 – Dominic Chamot

Yoav Levanon, piano

Yoav Levanon is an extremely young specialist in the entire virtuoso piano repertoire: in the 2023/24 season, he debuted at the Elbphilharmonie with no lesser work than the monumental Sonata in B minor by Franz Liszt. The 20-year-old Israeli now builds on this great success with a technically challenging programme, at whose heart is again a magnum opus by Liszt. The »Études d’exécution transcendante« can logically be translated as »cross-border studies« and thereby Franz Liszt chose an eminently suitable name for these twelve short pieces. They are not strictly speaking studies, which practise a particular playing technique, but in fact character pieces, which in each case circle around a poetic idea. Be it a wild death ride in »Mazeppa« or whirring wills o’ the wisp in »Feux follets« – Franz Liszt, known as the piano equivalent of the devil’s violinist Paganini, composed this music for himself using a lot of finger-breaking refinements on the body. Yoav Levanon, whom Warner Classics contracted as an exclusive artist at just 17 years old, begins the first half of this concert with two romantically dreamy Bach arrangements for grand piano. The following studies by Frédéric Chopin are also far more than mere technical exercises, Robert Schumann even described the first of them as »more a poem than a study« – no wonder when you consider that Chopin dedicated this cycle with twelve pieces to his mistress Marie d’Agoult.

Biennale of the Berliner Philharmoniker Piano recital with Alexander Melnikov

Was the world a better place in the Romantic era? Alexander Melnikov explores this question through his piano recital – following the theme of our Biennale entitled Paradise lost? On the threat to nature. With Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy, Melnikov leads you through idyllic landscapes and man-made chasms, reveals the poetry of Schumann’s Waldszenen, and shows atmospheric images of nature in Franz Liszt’s piano works. The forest appears here as a place of retreat – from the self and from encroaching industrialisation. By contrast, Alexander Scriabin prophesies the destruction of the world in the grand conflagration of Vers la flamme.

Strauß Liszt Strauss

Strauß Liszt Strauss

Anna Geniushene / Piano Recital

The NDR describes her as the »new star in the pianist sky« and in fact Anna Geniushene has already been attracting attention for several years. The long-standing American magazine »Musical America« selected her as the Young Artist of the Month in July 2022 and was particularly impressed by her »powerful sound« and her »musical personality«. Also, the young Russian landed in first place in major competitions, such as the Leeds Piano Competition, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition. The pianist is now a guest in the »Pianomania« series for the first time – with a varied programme fully in line with the theme of »Transcriptions«, which ranges from early Handel right up to the 20th century. In addition to two opera adaptations by Franz Liszt, you can also look forward to Fritz Kreisler’s bittersweet melodies »Liebesleid« and »Liebesfreud«, which none other than Sergei Rachmaninoff transposed from the violin to the piano. The six extremely solemn choral preludes from the quill of Johannes Brahms, which the Italian Ferruccio Busoni – perhaps the most ingenious arranger of the early modern period – arranged for the piano are in a completely different mood. Igor Stravinsky’s ballet fairy tale »The Firebird«, for which Italian pianist Guido Agosti created an extremely virtuoso piano arrangement from its flamboyant orchestral setting, is ultimately the brilliant conclusion.

Jacquot, Kholodenko · Wagner, Liszt, Holmès

Jacquot, Kholodenko · Wagner, Liszt, Holmès

Im Fluss - Liszt & Die Rheinische

Alexandre Kantorow, winner of the 2019 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition, performs in Cologne with a grand romantic repertoire. Liszt's second piano concerto, a dramatic interplay of poetry and virtuosity, takes center stage. Schumann's "Rhenish Symphony" and Wagner's rarely heard "Faust Overture" complete the program.

Gastspiel Antwerpen

Alexandre Kantorow, winner of the 2019 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition, performs a grand romantic repertoire in Cologne. Featuring Liszt's virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 2 alongside Schumann's "Rhenish" Symphony and Wagner's rarely-heard Faust Overture.

Organ concert: Schmitt Koch Kabadaić

The stage is set for our favourite organist, who is also in great demand on the international scene: In the last organ concert of this season, Christian Schmitt will play our large concert hall organ – accompanied by our solo flutist Daniela Koch and our deputy solo violist Branko Kabadaić. The concert begins with a fascinating etude for organ pedal, which Christian Schmitt premièred in Zurich in 2023 – and about which the composer Maximilian Schnaus writes: »The musical idea illuminates the peripheral areas of the organ sound and the peripheral areas of our perception.« Liszt studied Bach’s organ works and passions intensively, particularly during his time in Weimar – and his affection for this Baroque master found intimate expression in the Andante »Aus tiefer Not«, written in 1859. Paul Hindemith wrote this touching funeral music on a concert tour in London on 21 January 1936 within a few hours after King George V had died there on the previous day. Bach’s masterful Sonata in G major captivates with its skilful interweaving of voices between the two instruments. For César Franck, it was clear: »Mon orgue? – C'est un orchestre!« And that is exactly how his magnificent musical creations sound – including the »Grande pièce symphonique«, completed in 1862, which even bears the required orchestral gesture in its title. Tōru Takemitsu, the cosmopolitan and influential composer from Japan, created an almost revolutionary work in 1971 with his flute piece »Voice« – because the human voice is included here in an interesting way. To wrap things up, the concertino by Cécile Chaminade, written in 1902, impresses with its breathtaking virtuosity, passionate gestures, shimmering harmonies and yearning melodies.

Alexander Krichel / Sabin Tambrea

On this concert evening, pianist Alexander Krichel and actor and narrator Sabin Tambrea bring a forgotten genre back to the stage: melodrama. This unique form of art combines spoken text with music in a dramatic performance. In works by Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Richard Strauss and Max von Schillings, the two artists present both mystical, dark encounters and romantic, dramatic love scenes.

Symphoniker Hamburg / Sylvain Cambreling

Christoph Willibald Gluck's opera "Alceste" deeply impressed the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Years later, Mozart completed a symphonic trio. Franz Liszt, inspired by a drawing, revisited his symphonic poem form two decades later. Richard Wagner's "Tristan" prelude encapsulates the struggle of hopeless love.

Khatia and Gvantsa Buniatishvili

Our current Artist Spotlight, Khatia Buniatishvili, joins forces with her sister Gvantsa for an exhilarating evening of piano duo music from Mozart to Gershwin via Ravel.

Ein Klavierabend an zwei Flügeln

Klavierabend mit Nikolai Medvedev

Nikola Meeuwsen: Mendelssohn, Liszt and Schumann

For lovers of chamber music the Recital Hall is the venue of choice. You can hear the musicians breathe and you can practically touch them. This hall is also cherished by musicians for its beautiful acoustics and direct contact with the audience. In the Recital Hall you can hear the best musicians of our time. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Recital Hall for yourself!