Portico Quartet Ensemble

Ensemble Micrologus

The rediscovery of music from the Italian Middle Ages – over the last 40 years, nobody has clothed it in such exciting and varied sounds as the Ensemble Micrologus. In their programme »Napoli aragonese«, the musicians travel back to the heyday of courtly music in 15th century Naples, where the entire panorama of French, Italian and Spanish styles mingled. The musicians led by singer Patrizia Bovi have been performing theme programmes since 1984. In their varied concerts, it is first and foremost the music of Italy between the 12th and 15th centuries, from both the secular and sacred spheres, that they bring to life for our times. Patrizia Bovi, wind player Goffredo Degli Esposti and Gabriele Russo, who focuses on the strings, attach great importance to new interpretations: They use ethno-musicological research to develop these into singing and playing techniques and by reconstructing old instruments. The Venetian carnival, the story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian or the music in the Tuscan novels of the Trecento have already been the subject of Bovi’s many stage productions. In the »Napoli aragonese«« programme, everything revolves around secular music at the Aragonese court in Naples. In the 15th century, the court band was leading among Europe’s royal orchestras. In a fruitful exchange, they cultivated a variety of Italian, Spanish and French styles such as ballata and barzelleta, canción and roundeaux.

The Paramount Quartet

Featuring Joe Lovano (saxophone), Julian Lage (guitar), Santi Debriano (double bass), and Will Cahoun (drums), the new Paramount Quartet—formed in early 2024—has burst onto the scene with a distillation of jazz as adventurous as it is vigorous.

Ensemble Correspondances / Sébastien Daucé

When English King Charles II saw the sumptuously staged opera »Psyche« by Jean-Baptiste Lully at the French court of »Sun King« Louis XIV in 1671, he wanted to bring a similar spectacle to his London home. This was accomplished in 1675 and the semi-opera »Psyche« by Matthew Locke with large orchestra, singing, drama, ballet, colourful costumes and specially built stage machinery underwent its premiere as the first of its kind in England. At the Laeiszhalle, the handsome neo-baroque ambience now serves as the setting for a top-class concert performance with Sébastien Daucé and his Ensemble Correspondances. The love story between the ancient god Cupid and the human princess Psyche does not conform to their social standing: it must overcome many obstacles, the couple goes from heaven to hell and back again to finally receive a blessing from the other gods and goddesses. In typical baroque opera fashion, en route in all kinds of subplots the lovers encounter the entire spectrum of mythical figures – gods, demigods, furies, demons, cyclopes and many more romp about in the five acts of the plot. Matthew Locke and his librettist also added some comedic elements to the French original. Originally, the flamboyantly instrumented orchestra had to play several dances and interludes by Giovanni Battista Draghi, which have not been passed down. Instead, Sébastien Daucé inserts instrumental movements by Matthew Locke and shortens some of the spoken passages to give greater emphasis to the highly emotional arias. This produces a fascinating, entertaining insight into the origins of English opera, brilliantly played and of timeless beauty.

Ensemble Nevermind: Bach's Goldberg Variations

For lovers of chamber music the Recital Hall is the venue of choice. You can hear the musicians breathe and you can practically touch them. This hall is also cherished by musicians for its beautiful acoustics and direct contact with the audience. In the Recital Hall you can hear the best musicians of our time. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Recital Hall for yourself!Transcription by Nevermind (Anna Besson, Louis Creac’h, Robin Pharo & Jean Rondeau) of the Goldberg Variations BWV 988; “Clavier Übung bestehend in einer Arie mit verschiedenen Veränderungen vors Clavicimbal mit 2 Manualen” by Johann Sebastian Bach, for violin, flute, viola da gamba and basso continuo. Transcription leads: Robin Pharo & Jean Rondeau Editor in chief : Robin Pharo Project created on Saturday 23 September 2023 as part of a creative residency hosted by the Bel-Air Claviers Festival.

Avishai Cohen Quartet / Shai Maestro Trio

This concert brings together two remarkable Israeli musicians, both based in New York, each cultivating jazz in perfect pitch with the ECM label: trumpeter Avishai Cohen, at the head of his quartet, and pianist Shai Maestro, with his trio.

Hana Blažíková / Bruce Dickey / The Breathtaking Collective Ensemble

Angels playing music were an extremely popular motif in the Renaissance – often, the heavenly figures sing accompanied by the cornet, an early brass instrument. Cornet virtuoso Bruce Dickey and soprano Hana Blažíková now trace the celestial tonal affinity of voice and instrument, accompanied by the Breathtaking Collective, with such enchantingly beautiful and highly virtuoso music of the 17th century. Bruce Dickey has completely dedicated himself to rediscovering the cornet. Today, largely disappeared from concert life, the wooden, in most cases crescent-shaped, instrument with a mouthpiece similar to those on trumpets was incredibly popular in the 16th and 17th century, especially in combination with singing. Like a second voice, the cornet ornaments the clear soprano of early music star Hana Blažíková, gets into sensitive dialogue and vies for the most splendid coloraturas and flourishes. The singer and cornetist, both of whom are regularly on stage with the greats of historical performance practice, such as Sir John Elliot Gardiner, Ton Koopman and Jordi Savall, have put together a fascinating selection of secular and sacred pieces for »On the Breath of Angels«. Accompanied by strings, theorbo, organ and harpsichord, dramatic operatic arias and intimate movements from motets sound. »Breathtaking listening experiences!« enthuses a reviewer of the related album. After this concert, one wonders how and why the cornet could have fallen so much out of fashion.

Ensemble Resonanz

Why would an ensemble that made its name performing rarities from early and contemporary music then turn to the most successful oratorio of the Baroque? Ensemble Resonanz would presumably answer, »Christmas without the Christmas Oratorio is only half the story. As often as you may have heard or played the piece, you still want to hear or play it again.« The ensemble has been performing its own version of Bach’s Christmas classic for six years now – pared down and with unconventional instrumentation, a little like a concert at home for friends. The concert hall becomes a sitting room, the musicians become a choir, and the work becomes chamber music with Baroque violas, electric guitar and vintage keyboards.

ensemble unitedberlin

When he founded minimal music, Steve Reich was in his late 20s. Today he is 87, “one of the greatest living composers” according to the New York Times and “the most original musical thinker of our time” according to the New Yorker. Two songs by the rock band Radiohead inspired Reich to write “Radio Rewrite”: “Everything in Its Right Place” and “Jigsaw Falling into Place”. The composer received the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2009 for the colorful “Double Sextet”, and in “Reich/Richter” the old master of minimal music returns to playing with small motif cells. The piece will be performed in combination with “Moving Picture” by video artist Corinna Belz. She creates a shimmering world of form and color from photos of sections of Richter's pictures.

AsianArt Ensemble

Asian zithers such as the Japanese koto, which takes centre stage in this concert, have movable bridges and their strings have two parts: On the one hand the sounding part, on the other hand the part that is used to modulate the plucked or struck string. On the koto in particular, the bridges are easy to move, so that this instrument can be brought into a different tuning very quickly and even while playing. This can be clearly observed in this concert. The aesthetics of Asian music differ from Western music primarily in the design of the individual tone. Detached from its integration into a harmony system, it can unfold its own life, which can be heard particularly clearly on a koto. This forms a bridge to contemporary music, which also focuses more strongly on the tone colours and progressions of the individual note.

AsianArt Ensemble