SAP Sinfonieorchester / Ray Chen

Harvestehuder Sinfonieorchester

The Harvestehuder Sinfonieorchester has been an integral part of Hamburg’s musical life since 1966. Twice a year, its performances in the Laeiszhalle prove that amateur ensembles can also give concerts on a professional level. Each member is required to have outstanding instrumental ability and extensive orchestral experience before they can contribute to musical projects. In more than 130 concerts, the 90-strong ensemble has, under selected conductors, performed works by more than 80 composers, including Hamburg premieres of works by contemporary composers.

Ford-Sinfonieorchester

Harvestehuder Sinfonieorchester Hamburg

The Harvestehuder Sinfonieorchester has been an integral part of Hamburg’s musical life since 1966. Twice a year, its performances in the Laeiszhalle prove that amateur ensembles can also give concerts on a professional level. Each member is required to have outstanding instrumental ability and extensive orchestral experience before they can contribute to musical projects. In more than 130 concerts, the 90-strong ensemble has, under selected conductors, performed works by more than 80 composers, including Hamburg premieres of works by contemporary composers.

Jakub Hrůša, Ray Chen

»Listen carefully to all folk songs! They are a treasure trove of the most beautiful melodies and open your eyes to the nature of different cultures.« Robert Schumann once noted these wise words in his collection of »Musical House and Life Rules« – and Jakub Hrůša loves to rummage through the various treasure chests of late Romanticism with its manifold folkloristic styles. He constantly includes pieces by his beloved composer Dvořák on the programme – even the lesser-known ones, as he sees him as an artist »who is always interesting, in every work«. And so we now have the rarely performed »Heldenlied« to discover: a tone poem from 1898, which grippingly revolves around different moods from happiness to sorrow. For one of the most famous violin concertos from 1878, which we have long had on our wish list, we welcome Ray Chen, a gifted virtuoso: he loves playing with us and can now immerse himself in the emotions alongside our orchestra – because the often emotionally fragile Tchaikovsky always wanted to express »all the agony and ecstasy of love« in his music. For fans of sophisticated melodic works, we conclude with a large load of these: the Symphony No. 5 by Martinů, one of Jakub Hrůša’s favourite composers, revels in his typical soundscapes – with a rich array of colours, yearning parts, pulsating rhythms and hymn-like pathos.

Jugend-Sinfonieorchester Ahrensburg / Sönke Grohmann

The »Somerset Rhapsody« by Gustav Holst is an atmospheric and picturesque composition in which Holst was inspired by the idyllic English county of Somerset as well as many English folk songs. Delicate and tranquil melodies at the beginning evoke a sense of rural beauty, from which the full splendour of Somerset emerges: Large hills, meandering rivers and peaceful villages are just a few images that the composer musically conveys to the listener with his melodies over the course of his work. Belá Bartók’s Viola Concerto is considered one of the most important works for viola and orchestra, and not only in the 20th century. Several versions of this concerto can be found today, which is due to the fact that the composer was unable to complete this work during his lifetime. His pupil Tibor Serly completed the fragments handed down by Bartók into a concerto. The Bartók/Serly version is a three-movement work. It begins with a serious Moderato, followed by a fairly short, slow second movement and a finale in third place, which was composed in an Allegro vivace. Bartók’s compositional style is not based on song-like, motivic melodies as was common in the Romantic period. Instead, the composer creates his themes with a semitone whole-tone scale, which he uses to shape the concerto for viola and orchestra. The demanding solo part is played by 19-year-old Johannes Loschelder from the ranks of the Jugend Sinfonieorchester Ahrensburg. The Hamburg composer Johannes Brahms took his time with the publication of his First Symphony. He took around 20 years to complete it, putting himself too far in the shadow of the great symphony composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The four-movement work contains a densely woven introduction that introduces the dark and tense themes of the Symphony in C minor. Brahms’ symphonic style is characterised by singing melodies and instrumental solos, for example in the lyrical second movement. This contrasts with the rhythmic and dance-like character of the third movement, for which an exuberant cantilena in the clarinet at the beginning forms the basis. The final movement rounds off his 1st Symphony in C minor brilliantly: here too, Brahms opens the movement with a sombre and tense introduction, then plays an »alphorn melody« in joyful C major before moving on to the main movement, whose main theme is familiar to many thanks to the Hamburg Journal, for example. The themes are developed by Brahms and lead to a coda that rounds off this work impressively.

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Vladimir Jurowski

Sinfonieorchester Eppendorf / Emiliano Ramniceanu / Thilo Jaques

With this year’s concert in the Grand Hall of Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle, the Eppendorf Sinfonieorchester joins in slightly belatedly with the celebrations to mark Anton Bruckner’s 200th birthday. The programme features his Third Symphony in D minor under the baton of Hamburg conductor Thilo Jaques. The matinée will begin with the Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Eppendorf Symphony Orchestra is delighted to be working with the fantastic pianist Emiliano Ramniceanu again after the great success of Edvard Grieg’s piano concerto.

Mozart's Jupiter Symphony and Chen Reiss sings Beethoven

The Sunday Morning Concert brings you wonderful and much-loved compositions, performed by top musicians from the Netherlands and abroad. Enjoy the most beautiful music in the morning! You can make your Sunday complete by enjoying a delicious post-concert lunch in restaurant LIER.The Royal Concertgebouw is one of the best concert halls in the world, famous for its exceptional acoustics and varied programme. Attend a concert and have an experience you will never forget. Come and enjoy inspiring music in the beautiful surroundings of the Main Hall or the intimate Recital Hall.

Sinfonieorchester der Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig, Matthias Foremny Dirigent