Beethoven: Missa solemnis / Thomas Hengelbrock

Date & Time

Thu, Mar 6, 2025, 20:00

Venue

Ludwig van Beethoven’s »Missa solemnis« is a superlative work. The technical and physical demands on the orchestra and choir as well as the conductors, who must be experienced in both fields, are tremendous – which almost predestines Thomas Hengelbrock, and his intimately familiar Balthasar Neumann Choir and Orchestra he established, for this performance. The performers are assisted by an acoustically powerful line-up of top-class soloists. »From the heart – may it return to the heart« noted Beethoven about the score... Read full text

Keywords: Early Music, Vocal Music

Info & Ticket (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

Musicians

Balthasar-Neumann-Chor und -Orchester
Regula Mühlemann	Soprano
Eva Zaïcik	Alto
Julian Prégardien	Tenor
Gabriel Rollinson	Bass
Thomas Hengelbrock	Conductor

Program

Missa solemnis for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra in D major, Op. 123

Ludwig van Beethoven

Give feedback

Last update: Sat, Nov 23, 2024, 10:27

Similar events

These events are similar in terms of concept, place, musicians or the program.

Balthasar Neumann Choir & Orchestra / Thomas Hengelbrock

Mon, Nov 25, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Balthasar-Neumann-Chor und -Orchester, Carolyn Sampson (Soprano), Eva Zaïcik (Mezzo-Soprano), Benjamin Bruns (Tenor), Tareq Nazmi (Bass), Thomas Hengelbrock (Conductor)

Coincidence or fate? No other work in music history allows this question to be discussed as emotionally as Mozart’s unfinished Requiem. Mozart died at the age of just 35 while composing the requiem mass – what sounds like the stuff of a great tragedy is a reality. But despite all the legends, one thing remains above all: Mozart’s music, which is probably one of the most moving settings of the liturgical requiem text. The wrath of God, human grief, fear and hope – Thomas Hengelbrock and his ensembles are exactly the right cast to bring all the emotions of the music to the stage. Hengelbrock precedes the famous dirge with the early Bach cantata »Christ lag in Todesbanden«. The composer was probably applying for his first organist’s post with this cantata and proves that he had mastered all the rules of the art. Following the old form of the choral cantata, the choir takes centre stage and sings movingly and powerfully about the resurrection of Jesus at Easter. In the version from 1724, Bach added a cornett and three trombones to the orchestra, providing even more goosebump-inducing moments. Death and resurrection – these central themes of Christianity are perfectly suited to the time around the last Sunday before Advent (Sunday in commemoration of the dead) at the end of November. On period instruments and with their characteristic tonal fusion between choir and orchestra, the Balthasar Neumann Choir and Orchestra, complemented by outstanding vocal soloists for Mozart’s Requiem, trace the spirituality of the overwhelming music.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride / Thomas Hengelbrock

Sat, May 3, 2025, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Balthasar-Neumann-Chor und -Orchester, Gaëlle Arquez (Mezzo-Soprano), Armando Noguera (Thoas), Domen Križaj (Orest), Paolo Fanale (Pylades), Marianne Croux (Diana), Thomas Hengelbrock (Conductor)

Christoph Willibald Gluck wanted his operatic music to be entirely focused on the gripping depiction of the plot. In the process, he revolutionised the overly long, extravagant baroque models. He set the ancient subject matter of »Iphigénie en Tauride« – a bloodthirsty family tragedy – to music, with finely rendered character studies that portray in gripping ways their personal inner conflicts in beautiful arias. It is an ideal template for Thomas Hengelbrock and his ensembles, who have long been a fixture in European musical life with their synthesis of historically informed interpretations and high-energy music-making. He has invited one of the most moving soprano voices of our time to Hamburg for the starring role in this opera-themed concert: Gaëlle Arquez, who last dazzled as Carmen in the Elbphilharmonie. The plot offers her and the other singers ample opportunity to perform across the full range of emotions. King Agamemnon was once prepared to sacrifice his daughter Iphigénie to the goddess Diana to win the war against Troy. In return, his wife Clytemnestra kills him on his return and their son Orest avenges his father by killing his mother. Diana, however, rescued Iphigénie at the last moment and took her to the island of Tauris as her priestess. This is where Orest comes to escape from the goddesses of revenge who torment him. Iphigénie, who is supposed to sacrifice all strangers on the island to Diana, recognises her brother and, overwhelmed with forgiveness, brings the spiral of violence to an end.

Info & Ticket (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

POSTPONED: Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride / Thomas Hengelbrock

Fri, May 24, 2024, 20:00

Laeiszhalle, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Balthasar-Neumann-Chor und -Orchester, Carolina López Moreno (Iphigénie), Paolo Fanale (Pylade), Jean-Sébastien Bou (Orest), Thomas Hengelbrock (Conductor)

For organisational reasons, this concert will have to be postponed by one season, until 3 May 2025. Ticket buyers will be informed by e-mail. Under the following link you can request a refund of your ticket price: Information on tickets refunds Thomas Hengelbrock has long been one of the leading lights of the European music scene with his synthesis of historic performing practice and energetic music-making. For the lead role in his concert performance of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s captivating opera »Iphigénie en Tauride«, he has invited one of today’s most moving soprano voices to come to Hamburg: Carolina López Moreno. Gluck turned against the virtuoso excesses of Baroque opera with pared-down works concentrating on an absorbing depiction of the plot. He used the classical story of »Iphigénie en Tauride« for finely-drawn character studies that call for a high level of differentiation from all members of the cast. An ideal piece for Hengelbrock to work his magic on. Together with his top-class Balthasar Neumann ensembles and an excellent soloists’ line-up, he makes the audience’s hearts beat faster with superb playing and singing, and intense drama.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

Beethoven 9

Fri, Mar 21, 2025, 20:00

Philharmonie de Paris, Grande salle Pierre Boulez (Paris)

Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Collegium Vocale Gent, Philippe Herreweghe (Conductor), Eleanor Lyons (Soprano), Sophie Harmsen (Mezzo-Soprano), Benjamin Hulett (Tenor), Johannes Kammler (Bariton)

Uniting the vocal and orchestral forces of which he is the artistic heart and soul, Philippe Herreweghe celebrates solidarity, with Beethoven’s symphony inspired by Schiller’s Ode to Joy and Austrian composer Hanns Eisler’s pacifist oratorio Against the War.

Info & Ticket (philharmoniedeparis.fr)

Lea Desandre / Thomas Dunford / Song Recital

Mon, Mar 3, 2025, 19:30

Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Lea Desandre (Mezzo-Soprano), Thomas Dunford (Lute)

Jean-Baptiste Lully once mocked the sound of the lute as a »mosquito hum«. Fortunately, not all composers saw it like this and appreciated its bright and silvery sound very much. When Thomas Dunford strums the lute, it becomes a heavenly partner for Lea Desandre’s agile mezzo soprano. And does so through all eras: her programme »Idylle« (Paradise) bridges the baroque and chanson. Her programme includes composers such as Marc-Antoine Charpentier; the familiar Eurovision fanfare stems from his »Te Deum«. Above all, however, a lot that is unfamiliar and worth discovering rings out from the baroque via impressionism to the chanson of the 20th century, for instance by the two charismatic chansonnières Barbara and Françoise Hardy. Dunford also lets his lute sound solo from time to time, however – the perfect way to experience this exquisite instrument in all its facets.

Info & Ticket (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

Very British: Lea Desandre, Thomas Dunford and the Jupiter ensemble

Mon, May 13, 2024, 20:00

Philharmonie Berlin, Chamber Music Hall (Berlin)

Ensemble Jupiter (Ensemble), Thomas Dunford (Lute), Thomas Dunford (Director), Lea Desandre (Mezzo-Soprano)

They are one of the Early Music dream teams: mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre, lutenist Thomas Dunford and his French Ensemble Jupiter. What distinguishes them is their singular ability to perform Baroque works with so much energy and vitality that they sound newly-composed. In the final concert of the series Original Sounds, they will highlight two very different British composers: Henry Purcell, famous for his enthralling music for the stage, and John Dowland, best known for his intimate songs and instrumental works. Both shared a remarkable capacity for capturing emotions in music.

Info (www.berliner-philharmoniker.de)