ensemble unitedberlin

Ensemble Resonanz

Why would an ensemble that made its name performing rarities from early and contemporary music then turn to the most successful oratorio of the Baroque? Ensemble Resonanz would presumably answer, »Christmas without the Christmas Oratorio is only half the story. As often as you may have heard or played the piece, you still want to hear or play it again.« The ensemble has been performing its own version of Bach’s Christmas classic for six years now – pared down and with unconventional instrumentation, a little like a concert at home for friends. The concert hall becomes a sitting room, the musicians become a choir, and the work becomes chamber music with Baroque violas, electric guitar and vintage keyboards.

AsianArt Ensemble

Asian zithers such as the Japanese koto, which takes centre stage in this concert, have movable bridges and their strings have two parts: On the one hand the sounding part, on the other hand the part that is used to modulate the plucked or struck string. On the koto in particular, the bridges are easy to move, so that this instrument can be brought into a different tuning very quickly and even while playing. This can be clearly observed in this concert. The aesthetics of Asian music differ from Western music primarily in the design of the individual tone. Detached from its integration into a harmony system, it can unfold its own life, which can be heard particularly clearly on a koto. This forms a bridge to contemporary music, which also focuses more strongly on the tone colours and progressions of the individual note.

AsianArt Ensemble

ensemble unitedberlin

The program includes a world premiere by Ehsan Khatibi, the content of which has not yet been announced. In a text sent to ensemble united in advance, Khatibi quotes an interview with Mithu Sanyal in which the writer talks about how her works are often viewed through the filter of identity politics. It was only after she had been nominated for the German Book Prize that this perspective changed: there was more talk about the aesthetics of the work. This change in perception is also very important to Khatibi.

Ensemble Micrologus

The rediscovery of music from the Italian Middle Ages – over the last 40 years, nobody has clothed it in such exciting and varied sounds as the Ensemble Micrologus. In their programme »Napoli aragonese«, the musicians travel back to the heyday of courtly music in 15th century Naples, where the entire panorama of French, Italian and Spanish styles mingled. The musicians led by singer Patrizia Bovi have been performing theme programmes since 1984. In their varied concerts, it is first and foremost the music of Italy between the 12th and 15th centuries, from both the secular and sacred spheres, that they bring to life for our times. Patrizia Bovi, wind player Goffredo Degli Esposti and Gabriele Russo, who focuses on the strings, attach great importance to new interpretations: They use ethno-musicological research to develop these into singing and playing techniques and by reconstructing old instruments. The Venetian carnival, the story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian or the music in the Tuscan novels of the Trecento have already been the subject of Bovi’s many stage productions. In the »Napoli aragonese«« programme, everything revolves around secular music at the Aragonese court in Naples. In the 15th century, the court band was leading among Europe’s royal orchestras. In a fruitful exchange, they cultivated a variety of Italian, Spanish and French styles such as ballata and barzelleta, canción and roundeaux.

armonia ensemble

Ensemble Resonanz & Guests

A story about friendship and betrayal, violence and denunciation, crucifixion and violent death. Ensemble Resonanz dives into the heated events of Bach’s St John Passion and presents its own, intimate version with a chamber-music line-up. The notes remain unchanged, but there is no turba choir. Instead, a guitar and electronic continuo head off together on spheric forays.

Hamburg Stage Ensemble

The Hamburg Stage Ensemble is made up of young, highly qualified instrumentalists who, together, pursue the vision not only of playing music, but also of sharing its magic with as many people as possible. In that, their focus is on the joy of making music together. The small number of musicians and the conscious decision to do without a conductor are intended to allow the audience to participate directly in the concert programme.

modern art ensemble

“Yol - The Path” by Zeynep Gedizlioglu describes the path of a sound, but also the artistic path of the Berlin composer of Turkish descent. Born in Moscow, Alexandra Karastyaneva Hermetin grew up in Sofia and now lives in Vienna. Her piece “Polynj” (Wermut) cleverly surrounds the solo tone of the cello with the timbres of the rest of the ensemble - a work in a reduced, impressive tonal language, whose motifs seem to move around a mysterious core. Michael Quell's “energeia aphanés” is also on the trail of a secret: it deals with “black energy”, which plays a central role in theories about the universe. Invisible and not directly detectable, “energeia aphanés” is the force that holds the structures of the universe together. We see the trace of its presence, but not itself. Next on the program is the world premiere of Makiko Nishikaze's “fantasie-fuge”, which is based on Bach's unfinished Fantasia and Fugue for Organ BWV 562. Nishikaze first orchestrated it for ensemble, then wrote it to completion and finally transformed it entirely into her own sound cosmos. The final piece is Helmut Zapf's composition “Heimat”, in which he asks about the location of himself and his musical world and provides a possible answer.

Ensemble Berlin PianoPercussion