Lumière et Pesanteur

Ombres et lumière, récital de lieder allemands

De l’ombre à la lumière

Marina Chiche and Sodi Braide’s inquisitive approach to Beethoven brings together four figures from the American and English music worlds, including three women composers whose renown continues to grow year by year.

Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra / Nils Mönkemeyer / Kent Nagano

The Russian composer Vladimir Tarnopolski is certainly no stranger to contemporary music. His works have been performed at many major festivals over recent decades. He has received various prizes and released many of his works on CD. As a professor of composition at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, he has also passed on his knowledge to a whole generation of young composers. »Im Dunkel vor der Dämmerung« (»In the Dark before Dawn«) is the title of a new work commissioned by the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and premiered in this concert. »Sinfonia Eroica« was the title Ludwig van Beethoven gave his third symphony in 1804, a »heroic symphony composed to celebrate the memory of a great man«. Whether or not this »great man« was to be little Napoleon? At first it was, in all likelihood. But Beethoven probably decided to leave out any corresponding dedication, since the Corsican’s personal coronation as emperor was, in the composer’s eyes, a bitter betrayal of the republican ideas of the French Enlightenment. Was Beethoven himself perhaps the hero? An innovator in the context of music history? Whatever the answer, he certainly breaks new ground with his »Eroica«.

Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra / Nils Mönkemeyer / Kent Nagano

The Russian composer Vladimir Tarnopolski is certainly no stranger to contemporary music. His works have been performed at many major festivals over recent decades. He has received various prizes and released many of his works on CD. As a professor of composition at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, he has also passed on his knowledge to a whole generation of young composers. »Im Dunkel vor der Dämmerung« (»In the Dark before Dawn«) is the title of a new work commissioned by the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and premiered in this concert. »Sinfonia Eroica« was the title Ludwig van Beethoven gave his third symphony in 1804, a »heroic symphony composed to celebrate the memory of a great man«. Whether or not this »great man« was to be little Napoleon? At first it was, in all likelihood. But Beethoven probably decided to leave out any corresponding dedication, since the Corsican’s personal coronation as emperor was, in the composer’s eyes, a bitter betrayal of the republican ideas of the French Enlightenment. Was Beethoven himself perhaps the hero? An innovator in the context of music history? Whatever the answer, he certainly breaks new ground with his »Eroica«.

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Stefan Asbury

Born in Teheran, Sara Abazari is one of today’s leading voices in her country’s contemporary music. Her two latest compositions, which were recently premiered in the Berlin Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus, are directly connected with the movement »Woman, Life, Freedom« and the prominent role of women in Iran. »in solidum« is a piece that was premiered in its first version in autumn 2023; the new, large-scale orchestral work by the composer, who studied in Cologne and Vienna, is now being performed by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. With Galina Ustwolskaja (1919-2006), the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra preesents one of the 20th century’s most uncompromising composers after the interval. Ms Ustwolskaja gained a reputation for her visionary and always highly unusual combinations of instruments: »Dies irae« is scored for eight double basses, piano and a large, resonant wooden block, which the percussionist beats with enigmatic hammer blows. Performances of the work produce the picture, precisely calculated by the composer, of an archaic ritual that evokes a set of metaphors between death, protest and apotheosis: this is a »breakthrough piece«, a musical onslaught on all conventional boundaries, and indisputably Ustwolskaja’s most famous work. The evening opens with Edgar Varèse’s virtuoso piece »Intégrales« for wind instruments and percussion, one of the founding documents of 20th century music. Written for the avant-garde »International Composers’ Guild«, which was founded in 1921 by Carlos Salzedo and Varèse himself, »Intégrales« was given its first performance in March 1925 in New York’s Aeolian Hall.

Exile Orchestra MRIYA

To mark Ukraine’s Independence Day, the exile orchestra MRIYA will perform an extraordinary concert with works by German and Ukrainian composers. The ensemble was founded in March 2022 by professional musicians who had to flee to Germany to escape the horrors of the Russian war of aggression and, under the direction of violinist Kateryna Suprun, founded an ensemble that grew into the MRIYA exile orchestra with the support of the Hamburg-based funding organisation Culture Connects e. V.. With around 80 concerts in venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Gewandhaus Leipzig and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the orchestra has established an excellent reputation.

ensemble reflektor / David Orlowsky / Katharina Wincor

In this concert, clarinettist David Orlowsky is both soloist and composer. Together with ensemble reflektor, he premieres his own clarinet concerto »Shadow Dancer«, which was inspired by a quote from the famous psychiatrist C. G. Jung: »Anyone who perceives his shadow and his light simultaneously sees himself from two sides and thus gets in the middle.«

Philharmonic Academy

Two world premieres meet with a good old friend in the 3rd Academy Concert. Things kick off with Stefan Schäfer, principal double bass of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, besides being a passionate chamber musician and composer. His »Reflections on a Good Morrow« is a work commissioned by the orchestra. After something new there is something familiar to follow: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his »Nachtmusique«. A demanding work where Mozart – yet again – exceeded the expectations of his day, composing chamber music with an almost symphonic flair.

Festival Concert BDLO100

The festival concert will take place exactly on the 100th anniversary of the German Association of Amateur Orchestras. In addition to the Federal Amateur Orchestra as the sonorous representative of German amateur orchestras, the Hamburg State Youth Orchestra will also be performing with The Norwegian Youth Symphony Orchestra, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.