Works by Piazzolla, Reich a.o.

Steve Reich

At the time when he established minimal music, he was in his late twenties. Now, he is 87 years old: Steve Reich, according to the New York Times »one of the greatest living composers« and according to the New Yorker the »most original musical thinker of our time«. The ensemble unitedberlin led by Austrian conductor and composer Christoph Breidler presents no less than three of his works, which emerged between 2007 and 2019 – for one of them, there is a film which plays with colours and shapes. For his five-movement piece »Radio Rewrite«, Reich was inspired by two songs by the rock band Radiohead: from »Everything in Its Right Place« and »Jigsaw Falling into Place«, he made avant-garde music and wrote a new piece »for an ensemble of musicians who play non-rock instruments« with harmonious and melodic fragments. His colourful »Double Sextet« follows, for which Reich received the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2009. It can be performed with two identical sextets or with six musicians who play along with their own recording. Inspired by Gerhard Richter’s famous strip paintings, the old master of minimal music returns in »Reich/Richter« to play with small motif cells. You can experience this piece in combination with the film »Moving Picture« by video artist Corinna Belz, who created a whirring world of shapes and colours in moving image from photos of Richter’s cropped pictures.

Works by Haydn and Schubert

Works by Dvořák, Wagner and Brahms

Works by Bartók, Janáček and Dvořák

Works by Dmitri Shostakovich

Works by Dmitri Shostakovich

Piazzolla for eight cellos

That many cellos? Whoever heard of such a thing? And yet, the repertoire for cello ensembles continues to grow. It is not only about elaborations but also brand new songs because bands are still being formed, and they must have something to play. Where did this come from? If one were to look back in the history of music, an association with viola consorts comes to mind. In the Renaissance and Baroque periods, this was the name given to ensembles of related instruments of different sizes and scales, which evolved into the violins, violas, cellos and double basses we know today so well. However, music for ensembles of violins or violas alone exists today in marginal quantities. At the same time, cello groups are flourishing! In this way, cellists make up for themselves years of existence in the shadow of violinists. Their instrument has an extensive scale, which is very friendly to our ears and similar to the human voice. The sound of the cello has a warm and dark, deep tone. Its singing impresses us. The singing of five, six, or eight cellos is already a real choir, especially when they are NOSPR cellos ... Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes

Works by Ishii, Dun, Reich, Kodály, Say, Copland, Xenakis, Debussy, Bjarnason and Corigliano

Works by Haydn and Schumann