SLAM SYMPHONY

SLAM SYMPHONY

We celebrate the anniversary of a format that we, as well as the participating writers and our audience, love: The »Slam Symphony« returns for the 10th time – and the composition it revolves around this season is ideally suited to creative imagination of the word acrobats: Under the baton of Taichi Fukumura, who came second in our Mahler Competition in 2023, we delve into the Nordic world – which is characterised by stories from times long forgotten, poems and ballads as well as mythical figures. Edvard Grieg loved the country of the fjords and often worked obsessively in ivy-covered huts such as his lonely summer house »Troldhaugen«, which translates as »Hill of the Trolls«. The music to »Peer Gynt« is his signature work – based on Henrik Ibsen’s dramatic model, which he created with the help of Norwegian fairy tales: a story about a dreamer who uses fantastical tall tales to avoid reality and only realises late in life that only love will save him. Grieg’s setting describes this path of the »Faust of the North« with musical images of wild, romantic fantasticism. We can truly look forward to seeing how our award-winning poetry slammers put these stories into text. The day before, schoolchildren will be able to enjoy this musical programme, presented by Marko Simsa.

Guest performance Champions Slam ‒ Poetry Slam Stars

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra: An Alpine Symphony

Join Guildhall Symphony Orchestra for an awe-inspiring evening of music in Barbican Hall, conducted by alumnus Roberto González-Monjas.

Best of Poetry Slam Day

A whole day dedicated to the spoken word. And that in the most spectacular location Hamburg has to offer: the Best of Poetry Slam Day in the Elbphilharmonie! It promises to be a feast of storytelling, poetry, stand-up and every other format slam poetry comes in. A »Rising Stars« event kicks things off.

Best of Poetry Slam Day

A whole day dedicated to the spoken word. And that in the most spectacular location Hamburg has to offer: the Best of Poetry Slam Day in the Elbphilharmonie! It promises to be a feast of storytelling, poetry, stand-up and every other format slam poetry comes in. The highlight of the day is Hamburg’s first Slam Award Gala. Kampf der Künste bows down before the greatest slammers of all, and rewards them not only with applause but also, for a change, with a prize for their fantastic work – as performers, as event organisers, as part of a scene. This show will, of course, also include a variety of thrilling performances.

Best of Poetry Slam Day

A whole day dedicated to the spoken word. And that in the most spectacular location Hamburg has to offer: the Best of Poetry Slam Day in the Elbphilharmonie! It promises to be a feast of storytelling, poetry, stand-up and every other format slam poetry comes in. The grand finale late in the evening is the Slam of Legends – multi-award-winning artists who honed their craft on slam stages in the past and who have since become famous across the country. Comedians, authors and musicians who were performing in poetry slams from their youth, and who now sweep across the country’s stages as if they were in their own living rooms.

Kyiv Symphony Orchestra plays Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony

The Kyiv Symphony Orchestra’s programme shows us two opposing sides of Robert Schumann. The composer’s Third Symphony, his ”Rhenish“, is vital, rapturous and enthusiastic, and is considered the epitome of the Romantic symphony. His violin concerto, with its dark and melancholic profundity, is completely different. The solo part will be performed by Dmytro Udovychenko, winner of the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition. The Kyiv Symphony Orchestra, for which the Berliner Philharmoniker took on patronage in 2023, will open the concert with Svyatoslav Lunyov’s sensual and flowing string piece Tristium.

Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony

Tchaikovsky composed his fifth symphony during a few summer months in 1888. He had complained of lacking inspiration in the spring: "Am I burned out? No ideas, no desire?" But the fifth became a vital, emotionally charged, and in many respects brilliant symphony. It premiered under the composer's direction at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in November of the same year.The concert begins with Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi's Liguria, music that takes us on a journey between five small fishing villages clinging to the cliffs along Italy's northwestern coast.Read more about chief conductor Ryan Bancroft

Stenhammar's second symphony

Composer Mats Larsson Gothe has had significant success in recent years, including with the opera Löftet ("The Promise") at the Royal Swedish Opera. Already in 2016, he was the focus of Konserthuset’s Composer Weekend Festival. Here, we hear the world premiere of a new cello concerto, featuring internationally renowned Torleif Thedéen as the cello soloist. "The cello concerto for Torleif captures everything that a cello can convey: longing, dreams, pain, and melancholy – but also anger and resignation. I have used the full range of expression", Mats Larsson Gothe explains.The cello concerto is preceded by music by Elfrida Andrée, a Swedish pioneer around the turn of the last century and the first female cathedral organist. She followed in the footsteps of her teacher Ludvig Norman but was also strongly influenced by composers like Beethoven. Additionally, she was a conductor and herself led at least one famous performance of this majestic Concert Overture in D major.After hearing Sibelius' second symphony, Stenhammar experienced an artistic crisis. He withdrew his first symphony and sought new paths. In the second symphony, he allows the Nordic elements to take more prominence: in several places, Swedish folk music shines through. Stenhammar's ambition to write "sober and honest music without superficiality" had succeeded.The orchestra is led by Johannes Gustavsson, who has conducted many of the country's foremost orchestras – the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra most recently in spring 2023. He is the Chief Conductor of the Jönköping Sinfonietta and has previously been the Chief Conductor of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra in Finland and at Wermland Opera.

Stenhammar's second symphony

Composer Mats Larsson Gothe has had significant success in recent years, including with the opera Löftet ("The Promise") at the Royal Swedish Opera. Already in 2016, he was the focus of Konserthuset’s Composer Weekend Festival. Here, we hear the world premiere of a new cello concerto, featuring internationally renowned Torleif Thedéen as the cello soloist. "The cello concerto for Torleif captures everything that a cello can convey: longing, dreams, pain, and melancholy – but also anger and resignation. I have used the full range of expression", Mats Larsson Gothe explains.The cello concerto is preceded by music by Elfrida Andrée, a Swedish pioneer around the turn of the last century and the first female cathedral organist. She followed in the footsteps of her teacher Ludvig Norman but was also strongly influenced by composers like Beethoven. Additionally, she was a conductor and herself led at least one famous performance of this majestic Concert Overture in D major.After hearing Sibelius' second symphony, Stenhammar experienced an artistic crisis. He withdrew his first symphony and sought new paths. In the second symphony, he allows the Nordic elements to take more prominence: in several places, Swedish folk music shines through. Stenhammar's ambition to write "sober and honest music without superficiality" had succeeded.The orchestra is led by Johannes Gustavsson, who has conducted many of the country's foremost orchestras – the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra most recently in spring 2023. He is the Chief Conductor of the Jönköping Sinfonietta and has previously been the Chief Conductor of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra in Finland and at Wermland Opera.