Set your preferred locations for a better search. You can sign up here.

Olivier Latry, Organ

Date & Time
Tue, Apr 22, 2025, 20:00
Olivier Latry, one of the most acclaimed organists of our time, returns to play the organ at the Elbphilharmonie. As one of the organists of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, he represents one of the oldest and most important musical traditions in the history of music. This is reflected too in his programme, which consists exclusively of works by former Notre-Dame organists or, to put it another way, Latry’s esteemed predecessors. There is Louis Vierne, for example, whose organ symphonies rank... Read full text

Keywords: Organ Concert, Symphony Concert

Artistic depiction of the event

Musicians

Olivier LatryOrgan

Program

Symphony for Organ No. 3 in F-sharp minor, Op. 28Louis Vierne
Boléro sur un thème de Charles Racquet for Organ and PercussionPierre Cochereau
Final Movement / from: Sonata No. 1 for OrganJean-Pierre Leguay
Give feedback
Last update: Thu, Nov 21, 2024, 15:06

Similar events

These events are similar in terms of concept, place, musicians or the program.

Artistic depiction of the event

Karol Mossakowski, Organ

Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 20:00
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
Karol Mossakowski (Organ)
France and Germany – today, these two countries are best friends. The long-standing rivalry between them has, however, not only led to many a disagreement in politics. Even in the field of organ music, they took different paths for a long time: in France, people celebrated sound and tone colour; in Germany, virtuosity and counterpoint. Karol Mossakowski showcases the best of both worlds: a sedate organ symphony in the style of Widor, sound magic in the style of Fauré and visionary music in the style of Alain – all of them first-rate musical gems. Fauré clad the myth of Pelléas and Mélisande in subtle, highly sensitive sounds, Alain paved the way for the 21st century with his organ music widening the musical horizon. Not for nothing are the moving Litanies on the foundation of human existence some of the most widely played organ works of all for instance. Mendelssohn and Liszt are bywords for the German Romantic school. The variations sérieuses as well as the Mephisto Waltzes had originally been written for piano, but the art of arrangement has a long tradition especially in organ circles. What is not playable will be made playable – that is the motto here. After all, compared with pianists, organists also have two feet and an enormous pool of tonal colours at their disposal. Karol Mossakowski will also make use of this when he pursues another tradition cultivated by organists: improvisation. Here too, he is a true master of his trade.
Artistic depiction of the event

David Briggs, Organ

Thu, Feb 6, 2025, 20:00
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
David Briggs (Organ)
The first part of David Briggs’ concert proceeds majestically, the second part is symphonic. With this British organist, one of the stars of the organ world is gracing the Elbphilharmonie: previously a cathedral organist in Truro and Gloucester, then as artist in residence in New York and Toronto, he is in demand worldwide when the king of instruments is to sound. Because if there is one thing that the British can do it is this: royal splendour! The baroque composer Jeremiah Clarke had already elegantly celebrated this in his »Prince of Denmark’s March«. This is why the contemporary composer Patrick Gowers has written a humorous remark in the rumba rhythm. The story of Pelléas and Mélisande, which Claude Debussy immersed in impressionistic orchestral colours and David Briggs arranged for organ, also plays in the royal atmosphere. Furthermore, Briggs is devoted to Symphony No. 1 by Johannes Brahms. Because this is his speciality: arranging big orchestral symphonies for symphonic organ. Primarily, the symphonies of Gustav Mahler impressed the Brit, but also Brahms is eminently suitable, especially his first symphonic opus. The tremendous pedal point for instance (fittingly the name for accompanying repeated notes) with which the first movement begins is really made to be played on the eponymous instrument. And with a skilful arranger such as David Briggs we can be certain: the other three movements will also sound as if they were composed for the organ. Especially when he has such a symphonic instrument as the organ of the Elbphilharmonie under his feet and hands.
Artistic depiction of the event

Zuzana Ferjenčíková, organ

Mon, Mar 11, 2024, 20:00
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
Zuzana Ferjenčíková (Organ)
When a composer writes a work they have a clear idea or vision of how they want it to sound. Sometimes though, other tonal ideas emerge in retrospect, or history decides that a work can, in fact, sound quite different. That is the moment for the arranger to step in and tailor a new »tonal garment« for the piece, as it were. In the case of Franz Liszt’s symphonic poems, for instance, this was done by his contemporary Alexander Winterberger and the modern visionary Jean Guillou. Winterberger turned the piano variations on »Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen« into a veritable organ work – so successfully, in fact, that the original piano version is hardly ever played nowadays. Guillou, on the other hand, himself a first-rate virtuoso, took Liszt’s vision of the Orpheus saga and expanded on it to create a fabulous orgy of sound for organ. Now the Slovak organist and former Guillou student Zuzana Ferjenčíková is just the right person to perform this repertoire. Blessed with a phenomenal technique and driven by an incessant inner passion, she breathes new life into these arrangements at her Elbphilharmonie debut – which includes Sergei Rachmaninov’s famous »Isle of the Dead« and keyboard works by Mozart, one of which Ferjenčíková has arranged herself. Finally, Guillou’s truly titanic fantasy on Hyperion, the divine messenger of light, is an original work written for the organ.>
Artistic depiction of the event

Iveta Apkalna, Organ

Mon, Apr 22, 2024, 20:00
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
Iveta Apkalna (Organ)
Franz Liszt was one of the greatest artists of his time. A marvellous virtuoso, a master of self-expression and, later in life, a monk-like recluse. That being the case, his music is both a playground for the piano virtuoso and a canon of equal significance on a metaphysical level too. And this is especially true of his organ music. Liszt’s programme music takes on a whole new dimension on this king of instruments – be it his portrayal of the titan Prometheus, the incredibly vivid vision of Francis of Paola walking on water, or the colossal »Funérailles«. In this solo performance, Iveta Apkalna, the organist-in-residence at the Elbphilharmonie, places the Hungarian-Austrian composer in context alongside French organ music. Works can be heard by the Romantics and by Liszt contemporaries Gabriel Dupont, Gabriel Pierné, Léon Boëllmann and César Franck, whose magnificent »Pièce héroïque« with its steadily intensifying dynamics closes the first half.
Artistic depiction of the event

Iveta Apkalna, organ

Tue, Jun 3, 2025, 20:00
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
Iveta Apkalna (Organ)
Iveta Apkalna pursues two milestones in organ music: Johann Sebastian Bach’s enormous Chaconne and César Franck’s ground-breaking »Grande pièce symphonique«, whose title alludes to the symphonic sound possibilities of the organ and fully exploits them. The titular organist of the Elbphilharmonie complements her solo programme with three further pieces, which also showcase »her« instrument in full splendour. Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne was originally composed for violin. The contrapuntal entanglements which Bach created within it have, however, inspired several composers to arrange this work for organ. Also, the »Danse Macabre« by Camille Saint-Saëns, originally composed for voice and piano, only became famous in its orchestral version and sounds just as very wonderfully eerie on the organ. César Franck dedicated his »Prélude, fugue et variation« to his friend and organ colleague Saint-Saëns; the three movements seem very different and yet hang together thematically. As one of the forefathers of organ symphony, Franck is at the inception of a development which had far-reaching consequences for organ building and organ music: to this day (and so also at the Elbphilharmonie), the thousand organ pipes of one instrument should ideally cover the full range of symphonic sound. Iveta Akpalna, who, as the titular organist, knows the Elbphilharmonie organ like hardly anyone else, can exploit the entire colourful richness of the instrument to perfectly set the scene for each piece of her programme.
Artistic depiction of the event

ORGAN CONCERT: Christian Schmitt & Stefan Kurt

Sun, Feb 26, 2023, 17:00
Konzerthalle Bamberg, Joseph-Keilberth-Saal (Bamberg)
Christian Schmitt (Organ), Stefan Kurt (Narrator)
On 26 February 2023, a special programme on the season's theme of "Creation" will be presented at the Bamberg Concert Hall. The well-known Swiss actor Stefan Kurt will be a guest in the organ series of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. In keeping with Bamberg, he will read "The Story of the Lost Mirror Image" by the well-known Romantic writer E.T.A Hoffmann. With his novellistic works, Hoffmann is considered the most influential German storyteller after Goethe and until the breakthrough of Kafka's works after 1945.For this purpose, the Principal Organist of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra has selected early and late masterpieces by composers such as Bach, Mendelssohn, Widor, Brandmüller and Reger, including the well-known Passacaglia by Johann Sebastian Bach and the monumental Fantasy and Fugue in D minor op. 135b by Max Reger.With his leading role in the successful TV multi-part "Der Schattenmann" directed by Dieter Wedel, Stefan Kurt became known to a wide audience and received the Adolf Grimme Award and the Telestar for his acting performance in 1997. This is followed by extensive film and television work. 2020 sees his first collaboration with Barrie Kosky at the Komische Oper Berlin with the operetta "Frühlingsstürme".Christian Schmitt has now been curating the organ series for seven years, with highlights this season including his debut at Carnegie Hall New York under Dennis Russell Davies, with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach, and in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's organ series.
Artistic depiction of the event

The greatest of symphonies / Widor’s organ symphony

Fri, Feb 28, 2025, 19:30
Daniel Roth (Organ)
Daniel Roth is currently one of the most exquisite organists of our time and a wonderful improviser. His talent and achievement inspire awe in both critics and melomaniacs the world over. Superficially calm and phlegmatic, at the keyboard he is transformed into a volcano of energy. He can bring any composition to life and render it moving for the contemporary listener as well. The coming organ recital is not just a musical event, but a true celebration of virtuosity for organ music aficionados. The programme of the recital includes works by Johann Sebastian Bach, but also those by lesser-known composers, such as Alexandre-Pierre-François Boëly and Jehan Alain. While Roth’s exceptional musical sensitivity can find its expression in interpretations of both romantic and contemporary works, the culmination of the concert will be his performance of Charles-Marie Widor’s Organ Symphony No. 10 in D major, “Romane”, considered one of the most important pieces in the composer’s entire oeuvre, and simultaneously one of the greatest achievements among all French organ compositions ever to have been created. [Alexandra Kozowicz]Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 120 minutes
Artistic depiction of the event

Paul Jacobs / Organ Concert

Sat, May 25, 2024, 20:00
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
Paul Jacobs (Organ)
Not only is »Livre du Saint-Sacrement« the final and most extensive organ work by Olivier Messiaen, it also marks the grand summation of his entire oeuvre, with the French composer delving right back to his early beginnings. Like his first composition for organ, »Le banquet céleste«, its subject matter is the Holy Communion. Though unequivocally theological, this music also has an overwhelming inner depth. It is an immense source of fascination and sensuality. And, lasting some two hours in total, it is also both a revelation and something of a challenge. The American organist Paul Jacobs, who has been described by the Washington Post as one of the »greatest living virtuosos« and is the first organist ever to win a Grammy, is now headed for the Elbphilharmonie. Since 2002, he has performed the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen in marathon concerts across various US cities, each lasting an inordinate number of hours. No question, then, that Jacobs is just the right man for this quite daunting undertaking.
Artistic depiction of the event

ORGAN CONCERT: Karol Mossakowski

Sun, Jan 29, 2023, 17:00
Konzerthalle Bamberg, Joseph-Keilberth-Saal (Bamberg)
Karol Mossakowski (Organ), Holger Brust (Percussion), Jens Herz (Percussion), Markus Mester (Trumpet)
The young Polish organist Karol Mossakowski, celebrated for his virtuoso interpretations and creative improvisations, will be our guest in this breathtaking concert of scintillating organ music. The programme includes elaborate compositions such as the popular work "Cortège et Litanie" by Marcel Dupré, which was originally written in the early 1920s for the stage and contains a wealth of catchy tunes. César Franck completed his organ "Pastorale" in 1862 – a piece composed in the form of a three-part song and, in keeping with its title, full of tender expression. Maurice Duruflé created a poignant work in memory of a friend who died in World War II, whose name he wove both into the introductory minor prelude and into the zestful double fugue. Thierry Escaich’s creative universe is shaped by the “battle between emotions”. His 1997 “Tanz fantasie” is correspondingly passionate – luxuriating in lyrical, arching melodies, but also offering surprising shifts in rhythm, and finally intensifying into a frenzied dance that scarcely obeys the laws of nature. Mendelssohn created his 1841 "Variations sérieuses" with "true passion”. Over the course of this work, an outstanding original theme becomes increasingly harmonically veiled, while its range of expression is continuously expanded. Before Karel Mossakowski presents his spontaneous improvisational creations to bring the concert to a close, we will hear Pierre Cochereau’s magnificent Boléro. This 1973 composition audibly refers to Ravel’s masterpiece, for here, too, the rhythm of the snare drum forms the backbone of the music’s mesmerising development.
Artistic depiction of the event

Organ Concert: Tomaž Sevšek

Sun, Dec 8, 2024, 17:00
Konzerthalle Bamberg, Joseph-Keilberth-Saal (Bamberg)
Tomaž Sevšek (Organ), Serge Zimmermann (Violin), Raúl Teo Arias (Violin), Magdalena Kraus (Violin), Wolfram Hauser (Viola), Indrek Leivategija (Cello), Jan Rosenkranz (Double Bass)
A whole range of stops will be pulled out once again: This time, an experienced and acclaimed organist will be our guest at the keys and pedals of our concert organ, much loved by the audience. Together with strings from the Bamberg Symphony, he will present several works that are wonderfully fitting for this Advent Sunday. The first part is dedicated to baroque music: after three touching solo pieces by Bach, a long-lost concerto for organ and violin by Vivaldi is performed – a particularly melody-laden example of his boundless artistry. In the second part, Tomaž Sevšek offers a foray into other musical realms – including a work composed in 1951 by his compatriot Primož Ramovš, whose numerous organ pieces have only rarely been performed in Germany to date. Portuguese composer João Pedro Oliveira is a versatile and award-winning composer: »Persistent Particles« from 2021 experiments with the tonal and technical possibilities of the organ in a fascinating manner. Schumann rented a pedal keyboard for his grand piano in 1845, which gave him and his wife Clara »much delight«. One of the results was the intimate study for pedal piano – in which Schumann expressed his spiritual and compositional affinity with Bach. The French composer Alexandre Guilmant expressed his fondness for the German Romantic composer in his atmospheric work »Final alla Schumann« in 1893.