Keywords: Vocal Music
| Xenia von Randow | Soprano |
| Irina Iagudina | Transverse flute |
| Jaroslav Khalo | Trumpet |
| Alexander Dimitrov | Cello |
| Henning Gailing | Double bass |
| Alexander Simonovsky | Drums |
| Alexandra Momot | Piano |
| Frauenchor Evingsen | |
| Frauenchor Cantabile Lüdenscheid | |
| Polizeichor Köln | Ensemble |
| Eugen Momot | Conductor |
| Weihnachtskonzert |
These events are similar in terms of concept, place, musicians or the program.
Soprano Jeanine De Bique from Trinidad and Concerto Köln bring heroic female figures to life in arias and orchestral works in the Great Hall. The basis is the singer's debut album 'Mirrors', which “from furor to goosebumps, from breathtaking coloraturas to sensual, beautiful, simple melodies” revels in the entire range of baroque opera emotions.
Bob Ingalls' symphonic plea for the protection of Mother Earth, "Mother Earth Cries Out!", culminates in Dvořák's powerful setting of the Stabat Mater. Inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato si'", Ingalls' work depicts Mother Earth's desperate cry for care. Dvořák's Stabat Mater contemplates Mary's grief and the believer's compassion, ultimately turning to the prospect of paradise.
»Musik mit Stachel«, überschrieb Jürgen Leuke in der Stuttgarter Zeitung seine Konzertkritik zur Aufführung von Benjamin Brittens »War Requiem« unter dem Dirigat von Helmut Rilling. Zuhören soll bei diesem Werk trotz des grandiosen Klangs nicht zum Hörgenuss werden, ein beharrlicher Stachel mahnt: Nach elf Stunden Bombardement hatte die deutsche Luftwaffe im Zweiten Weltkrieg den größten Teil der mittelenglischen Stadt Coventry in Schutt und Asche gelegt, die Kathedrale St. Michael völlig zerstört.Zu Wiedereinweihung der Kathedrale schrieb Britten sein Requiem, als Mahnung und Anklage- Er ergänzte den lateinischen Text der Totenmesse mit Gedichten seines wenigen Tage vor dem Ende des Ersten Weltkriegs gefallenen Landsmannes Wilfred Owen, Texte die bis heute ihre beklemmende Aktualität behalten haben.
Beide erblickten 1685 das Licht der Welt, schufen bereits mit 22 Jahren packende Vokalwerke von höchster Kunstfertigkeit und gelten heute als die herausragenden Komponisten-Persönlichkeiten des Barocks: Johann Sebastian Bach und Georg Friedrich Händel. Ihre Vertonungen »Christ lag in Todesbanden«, »Gloria« und »Dixit Dominus«, allesamt 1707 entstanden, sind eindrucksvolle Zeugnisse ihrer schon in jungen Jahren ausgeprägten musikalischen Meisterschaft in hochdramatischer, bildhafter Textauslegung.
Ludwig van Beethoven: genius, freethinker and troubled soul – as well as a master of coping with crises through music. In 1809, he lamented: »We have experienced a rather crowded misery. The entire course of events has affected my body and soul. What a destructive, desolate life around me! Nothing but drums, cannons, all kinds of human misery!« At that time, he was greatly distressed by the current situation, as Vienna was occupied by Napoleon's troops. Food shortages, the black market and inflation were making life difficult for the people. Beethoven often sought shelter in the cellar – and put pillows over his head to avoid hearing the noise. But despite these unfavourable conditions, he wrote his great Fifth Piano Concerto: a gigantic work that gives the impression as if he wanted to drown out the chaos of war with the power and splendour of his music. For long segments, it spreads a belligerent sound – but with the Adagio, a very contemplative movement is interwoven: Beethoven is said to have been thinking of the »chants of devout pilgrims«. These fragmented states of mind are already pervasive in his Fifth Symphony, which was premiered a year earlier and can certainly be understood as a statement on the political fate of Europe at that time. With its famous obsessive motif, the work is at first full of anxiety and emotional complexity over long stretches. But an astounding inner force is able to find its way out of the initial darkness and into the ever brightening light. Like Beethoven wrote in one of his conversation books, which he used because of his deafness and in which he also collected essential ideas: »With music I have transformed my suffering into hope«.
The opening concert of this year’s International Bach Festival Hamburg will feature Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Passion cantata »Die letzten Leiden des Erlösers«, written for Hamburg, performed in the Laeiszhalle by the ensemble Concerto Köln, which specialises in historical performance practice, and the Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Choir. Together with the final concert on Easter Sunday, it forms the thematic arc of this Bach festival centred on the Passion and Resurrection.
Leipzig was a musical hotspot in the 19th century, attracting prominent composers like Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Pianist Olga Pashchenko and Concerto Köln explore the city's musical past, tracing connections between Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and Clara Wieck. Chopin also visited, praising Clara's piano playing and enjoying Schumann's hospitality.
During their lifetime, French composer Louise Farrenc and Emilie Mayer from Mecklenburg were more than just respected composers. The original sound ensemble Concerto Köln commemorates the two Romantic composers with two orchestral works. Robert Schumann's unique violin concerto completes the program. Berlioz, impressed by Farrenc's Overture No. 2, praised her highly. Mayer's Symphony No. 7 demonstrates why she was celebrated as the "female Beethoven". Schumann's Violin Concerto, though written earlier, premiered only in 1937. Concerto Köln's concertmaster, Shunske Sato, will perform as soloist.
Recorded in 1975 at the Cologne Opera, Keith Jarrett's "Köln Concert" remains one of the most influential albums in jazz history. For its 50th anniversary, the WDR Funkhausorchester and pianist Stephan Görg celebrate the genre-bender with a concert that takes the audience on a creative journey through Jarrett's world of ideas.
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