BOULEZ ENSEMBLE & GEORGE BENJAMIN

PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD & GEORGE BENJAMIN

When experiencing Pierre Boulez’s First Piano Sonata, one should leave all listening habits behind and become a blank page, as the composer himself intended to be—says Pierre-Laurent Aimard, long considered one of the most erudite performers of Boulez’s music. He presents this radically unconventional 1946 work together with George Benjamin’s Shadowlines and a new piece for piano duet, for which he is joined by the composer.

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France / George Benjamin

Debussy’s shimmering, pictorial score finds resonance with the work of Olivier Messiaen, a great colourist of orchestral material, at his best in Chronochromie, rich with the sounds of nature.

BOULEZ ENSEMBLE & MATTHIAS PINTSCHER

A few days before Pierre Boulez’s 100th birthday, Matthias Pintscher and the Boulez Ensemble celebrate the composer, who passed away in 2016, with a perfor­ mance of sur Incises, his last major ensemble work. The program also includes Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp as well as Pintscher’s own beyond II (bridge over troubled water). Scored for the same combina­ tion of three instruments, it received its premiere as part of the digital Festival of New Music in the summer of 2020 and is now heard live at the Pierre Boulez Saal for the first time.

BOULEZ ENSEMBLE & MICHAEL WENDEBERG

“Fold by fold”—pli selon pli—Pierre Boulez reveals a portrait of the poet Stéphane Mallarmé, arguably the most important literary influence on his music, in his eponymous work for soprano and orchestra. Michael Wendeberg, who worked closely with Boulez as pianist of the Ensemble intercontemporain, conducts excerpts from the composer’s most expansive score, in the piece’s Pierre Boulez Saal premiere. The program also includes the 1965 ensemble work Éclat as well as compositions by Maurice Ravel and Austrian composer Thomas Wally, born in 1981.

Lakecia Benjamin

Alles nur Pose? Mitnichten. Lakecia Benjamin kann zwar jede Menge optische Pluspunkte sammeln, weiß jedoch auch musikalisch zu überzeugen. Die Saxofonistin erlebt mit dem aktuellen Album »Phoenix« einen furiosen Karrieresprung, der sogar in einer Grammy-Nominierung mündet.Seit 2020 geht es rasant aufwärts: Mit ihrem Album »Pursuance«, eine Hommage an John und Alice Coltrane, sorgte Lakecia Benjamin international für Aufsehen. Aber nicht nur mit beeindruckender Livepräsenz, sondern auch als charismatische Integrationsfigur setzt die Altsaxofonistin Akzente. Als Arrangeurin vereint sie wie selbstverständlich verschiedene Musikergenerationen, Genres und Kulturen. Keine Frage, Lakecia Benjamin ist eine Persönlichkeit, die dem Jazz völlig neue Impulse geben kann.

Lakecia Benjamin

A winner of the German Jazz Prize 2023 is headed for the Elbphilharmonie, with saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin set to take to the stage. Born in New York in 1982, she is performing her politically motivated concept album »Phoenix«, which responds to a post-Covid America where racism and poverty are on the rise, as well as dealing with the self-confidence of black women. Just a cursory glance at the cover of »Phoenix« makes it clear where Lakecia Benjamin sees her roots. Resplendent in gold costume and white boots, she proudly shows off her instrument like a sceptre, referencing the fighting spirit of Black Power activist and singer Betty Davis, the Afrofuturism of Sun Ra and the importance of ancient African kingdoms. Benjamin grew up in New York’s Latino neighbourhood Washington Heights, playing in salsa and merengue bands there and establishing herself as a session musician after graduating from music school. She has performed with Stevie Wonder and Harry Belafonte, and has toured with Alicia Keys and Missy Elliot. After two funk-heavy albums, she turned her attention to the cosmic phase of Alice and John Coltrane. This influence can also be heard on »Phoenix«, in Benjamin’s furious yet lyrical intonation with the alto saxophone and through the dense interplay with her band – with Victor Gould on piano, Ivan Taylor on bass and the fabulous drummer E.J. Strickland. This is music serving as a spiritual, healing force!

Benjamin Kruithof

Kickstart your morning with music from some of the most influential composers of the late 19th and 20th centuries, performed by cellist Benjamin Kruithof.

Roulez Boulez

Anniversaire Boulez

Far from beginning with a clean slate, Pierre Boulez drew on ancient forms as foundations for his music, such as the liturgical forms at the heart of Répons—placed here in perspective alongside Debussy and Ravel, and a new work by Charlotte Bray.

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!