Hamburger Kammerballett / Leon Gurvitch Ensemble

Dr. Leon Windscheid

Whether it’s his #1 Spiegel bestseller »Besser Fühlen«, his completely sold-out master classes or his podcast »Betreutes Fühlen« with Atze Schröder, which already has over three million subscribers: Dr Leon Windscheid has put science-based psychology on the map and is undoubtedly the shooting star of science communication. And from spring 2023 he will really take off with his new live programme »Gute Gefühle« (»Good Feelings«)!

Leon Gurvitch: Bachomania

Classical music meets the art of improvisation: in his solo piano programme »Bachomania«, internationally acclaimed pianist and composer Leon Gurvitch brings the music of Johann Sebastian Bach to life in a completely new and exciting way. To mark the 340th anniversary of the great master’s birth, Gurvitch not only celebrates his timeless works, but also invites the audience to experience Bach through the lens of modern interpretation. With respect and imagination, he adapts compositions that were not originally intended for piano – including excerpts from the famous cello suites and chorales such as »Jesus bleibet meine Freude«. These works are revitalised by Gurvitch’s own handwriting and enhanced by spontaneous improvisations that make each concert unique.

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.

ensemble unitedberlin

When he founded minimal music, Steve Reich was in his late 20s. Today he is 87, “one of the greatest living composers” according to the New York Times and “the most original musical thinker of our time” according to the New Yorker. Two songs by the rock band Radiohead inspired Reich to write “Radio Rewrite”: “Everything in Its Right Place” and “Jigsaw Falling into Place”. The composer received the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2009 for the colorful “Double Sextet”, and in “Reich/Richter” the old master of minimal music returns to playing with small motif cells. The piece will be performed in combination with “Moving Picture” by video artist Corinna Belz. She creates a shimmering world of form and color from photos of sections of Richter's pictures.

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