A new take on Donizetti: Dalinda

A Night on Broadway

The SummerConcerts powered by VriendenLoterij presents two months of wonderful concerts, from classical to jazz and from pop to film music. Top musicians from the Netherlands and around the world bring you all your favourite classical pieces, as well as video game music and hits from Broadway musicals.We also present a host of young talent in our summer concerts, including youth orchestras from Greece, Australia and Cuba, and top young classical soloists. After many of the concerts, we offer a meet-and-greet with the artists in an informal setting, or an afterparty with DJ in the Entrance Hall. In one of the world’s finest concert halls, there’s something for everyone this summer at The Concertgebouw!

On the way to a new opera: Whip or lash?

The language of Ed Atkins' libretto is highly poetic, visually stunning and plays with double meanings and the interweaving of different language levels, from slang to high register. The poet and translator Odile Kennel was therefore entrusted with the translation of the text into German – for surtitles and printed text, among various other uses. She will read from her translation and discuss the peculiarities of the libretto text and its translation.

On the way to a new opera: with skin and hair?

One of the approaches taken in Rebecca Saunders's compositions is to make sound immediately tangible and at the same time to make the body tangible through sound. Her pieces are titled ‘Skull’, ‘Scar’, ‘Skin’, ‘Wounds’ or ‘Hauch’ – and move in a field of tension between direct physical and sonic experience on the one hand and a nuanced listening to textures, a detailed compositional work and the examination of authors such as Samuel Beckett and Ed Atkins on the other. This portrait invites you to explore the musical cosmos of Rebecca Saunders – in conversation with the composer and through her music, played and sung by long-standing artistic companions such as the soprano Sarah Maria Sun and the pianist Ernst Surberg, both of whom will also be performing in the world premiere of LASH.

Bang on a Can All-Stars / Trio Mediaeval

Even for the state of the art, there are legends – such as the Bang on a Can All-Stars, who are always in search of very up-to-date, exciting music, regardless of genre categories. Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk and Ornette Coleman are just a few of the artists who have already collaborated with the New York collective. For their Elbphilharmonie debut, the musicians have chosen a work by founding member and Pulitzer prizewinner Julia Wolfe, which traces the myth surrounding the American folk hero John Henry as an oratorio between minimal music and country. There are hundreds of versions of this story, passed down by word of mouth and already cast in music many times whether by Johnny Cash, Van Morrison or Bruce Springsteen: at the end of the 19th century, a worker is supposed to have competed against a new kind of steam-driven hammer in railway construction with his muscle strength and won – to pay with his life as a result. Julia Wolfe has composed a meta myth with »Steel Hammer«: »The work is inspired by my love of legends and the music of the Appalachian Mountains. I fragmented the many different and somewhat contradictory versions of the ballad and wove it into a completely new format. The music often circles around individual words or phrases to tell the ultimate story and its different paths.« The Appalachian dulcimer (a kind of zither) joins the usual line-up of Bang on a Can with clarinet, a lot of percussion, guitars, piano, cello and double bass and provides for the American country sound. Trio Mediæval, a top-class a-cappella ensemble from Norway, completes the overall sound with its clear soprano and alto voices, which Julia Wolfe particularly appreciates for their great wealth of experience in the vocal tradition of their homeland.

On Tour: Carnegie Hall New York

USA TOUR

New Year's Concert

Mateusz Molęda, photo: Alexej Gorlatch Instead of waiting for the usual broadcast of the New Year’s concert from the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein to hear Strauss waltzes, polkas and showstopping numbers from operettas, the musical atmosphere of Vienna can be experienced during the New Year’s Eve concert at the Warsaw Philharmonic. It is not easy to grasp the genealogy of the Strauss family. Josef, Eduard and as many as three Johanns are among the most famous members of the enterprising Austrian family with Hungarian roots, which over the course of the nineteenth century produced an abundant corpus of popular songs that resounded at carnival balls. The progenitor of the musical dynasty was the first of the Johanns, who was said to have been inspired by the music of bands wandering between the Viennese taverns along the Danube. However, it was his first-born son, also Johann, who made a name for himself as the ‘king of the waltz’ and the composer of numerous popular operettas, to mention but titles such as Die Fledermaus and Wiener Blut. Another descendant, Josef, the most universally talented of the siblings, planned a different career for himself, successfully completing studies in engineering. However, a sudden substitution for the sick Johann II turned his fortunes to music for life. After Josef’s death, the youngest of the brothers, Eduard, took over the responsibility of leading the family orchestra. Together with the orchestra, he visited the most diverse corners of the world, and at the beginning of the twentieth century, he published his written history of the musical Strauss family.

Chief of Navy’s Concert – A Tribute to Music of New York

Welcome to the Chief of Navy’s Concert with the Royal Swedish Navy Band, presenting music that takes us to New York, a fascinating, energetic and diverse city of endless possibilities. The music of this concert captures the essence of New York City – from intimate jazz clubs and glittering Broadway musicals, all the way to Liberty Island’s Statue of Liberty, a symbol of freedom and democracy. Countless composers have worked and been inspired in the bustling metropolis of New York, including George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber and John Corigliano, all of whom have captured in one way or another the soul of the city in their work.The concert’s soloist is jazz singer Rigmor Gustafsson, who took the step from the forests of Värmland to the pavement of New York, settling afterwards in Stockholm to perform on Europe’s stages.Join us on a musical journey to the Big Apple – the city that never sleeps!

Guest performance Songs on New Year's Eve Highlights from Musicals, Operettas and Films

Guest performance Songs on New Year's Eve Highlights from Musicals, Operettas and Films