musica viva: Matthias Hermann

musica viva: Johannes Kalitzke

The Swedish composer Lisa Streich, winner of the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, has an avowed “interest in the beauty of the imperfect.” Her Jubelhemd, which blends together diverse sonic layers, is named after the work of the same name by Austrian artist Markus Schinwald: a shirt that, with its arms stretched upwards, can only be worn in a gesture of jubilation. After this “Concerto Grosso,” Johannes Kalitzke appears in a double role as conductor and composer in the premiere of his Zeitkapsel, a dance of death for large orchestra, commissioned by musica viva. The concert will conclude with Luc Ferrari’s Histoire du plaisir et de la désolation, a sonic search for “new sensuality” which brilliantly fails in the final Ronde de la désolation with the “rupture of all logic” (Ferrari).

musica viva: Sir Simon Rattle

Simon Rattle’s conducting career is characterized by openness and renewal – and modern music has also played an important role in this. No surprise, then, that when Rattle takes up his post as Chief Conductor of the Chor and Symphonieorchester des BR, he will also conduct a musica viva concert. On the programme: the world premiere of Automatones, written by Vito Žuraj and commissioned by Bavarian Radio’s musica viva series. Extraordinary things are to be expected, since the Rihm student, born in Maribor, Slovenia, in 1979, is always causing a stir: “Contemporary music can be a lot of fun.” (Offenbach-Post) After the intermission, Rattle will conduct Coro for Choir and Orchestra by Luciano Berio: a confessional work in a “tragic mood” (Berio) that has lost none of its relevance today.

musica viva: François-Xavier Roth

Somber thoughts centering on death’s finality form the core of Iannis Xenakis’ Aïs: the wind instruments’ highly expressive sounds in the very first bars decidedly establish the overall emotional atmosphere, which subsequently materializes in Odysseus’ agonizing encounter with his deceased mother. Xenakis’ stirring ombra scene was commissioned by musica viva of the Bayerischer Rundfunk in 1980, and will now be performed once again by baritone Georg Nigl with François-Xavier Roth conducting. Additionally, Antoine Tamestit will perform the solo part in the world premiere of Francesco Filidei’s new Viola Concerto. The concert will also feature Elizabeth Ogonek, a New York-based composer whose iridescent sound frescoes have been described by the Chicago Tribune as “shimmering” and “dramatic.”

musica viva: Duncan Ward & Lawrence Power

Collisions: Before “the combustion engine and radio monopolized earth and air” (Ives), one could experience the stillness of night even in New York. In Central Park in the Dark, stillness is interrupted by distant noises – including a passing street band. A second dimension is also present in Sofia Gubaidulina’s Concerto for Viola and Orchestra via a solo string quartet tuned a quarter tone lower than the other instruments of the orchestra. Both works provide the framework for this concert with internationally acclaimed guest conductor Duncan Ward. The centerpiece is the world premiere of sparks, waves and horizons by Minas Borboudakis, who describes his music as “a mixture of intensity, impulse and curiosity.” The concert also includes the work Čvor (Knot) by Serbian composer Milica Djordjević – named after the proverbial knot that bursts.

musica viva: Jörg Widmann

The clarinetist, composer, and conductor Jörg Widmann is one of the shining lights of contemporary music. His credo is to combine tradition with new developments, resulting in timbres whose virtuosity, intensity, and directness both surprise and oftentimes confront the listeners, but also challenge them with quiet, fragile moments. The transparent, ethereal orchestral piece Armonica seems to defy the laws of gravity as it emerges out of nowhere. In the Trumpet Concerto, composed for Håkan Hardenberger, the sounds wander through space – like the trumpeter through the orchestra. A labyrinthine journey extending from wild and rugged orchestral abysses all the way to an open, utopian state of suspension.

Matthias Pintscher

Eisler!

Pablo Heras-Casado & Anja Petersen

Jüri Reinvere is the third leading composer of his native Estonia, alongside Arvo Pärt and Erkki-Sven Tüür. He is also an accomplished concert pianist, lyric poet, journalist and essayist for newspapers in Estonia, Finland, Great Britain and Germany, where he has been living since 2005. Given this cosmopolitan life, it comes as no surprise that his music focuses on theological themes as well as touching on politics, history, and episodes from daily life. Arnulf Herrmann’s newly commissioned Tour de Trance draws inspiration from the verses of poetess and essayist Monika Rinck. His interest in language in all its guises has long stood in the foreground of his music. His special way of handling melody, rhythm and diction poses extraordinary challenges for the singer – challenges that soprano Anja Petersen is happy to confront.

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«.