Thomas Dunford / Théotime Langlois de Swarte: »The Mad Lover«

Pas de deux

So reizvoll ein Solokonzert auch ist – ist nicht ein Doppelkonzert quasi zweimal so interessant? Zwei Solisten, die sich die Bälle zuspielen, die wetteifern, sich überbieten, die zum Pas de deux sich zusammenfinden? An diesem Abend sind zwei einfach doppelt gut: die Solisten des hr-Sinfonieorchesters. Drei Konzerte für zwei Soloinstrumente stehen auf dem Programm, komponiert vom barocken Dreigestirn Bach, Telemann und Vivaldi. Unter seinen rund 50 Concerti für zwei Instrumente hat Vivaldi nur eines für zwei Trompeten gesetzt, ein Solitär im so umfangreichen Werkverzeichnis des virtuosen Venezianers. Auch Bachs Doppelkonzert BWV 1043 blieb ein Einzelstück – wer für zwei schreibt, schreibt exklusiv. Leiten wird den Abend der britische Cembalist und Dirigent Jonathan Cohen, der sich nicht nur mit seinem eigenen Ensemble Arcangelo einen Namen gemacht. Mit der Academy of Ancient Music ging er ebenso auf Tournee wie mit William Christies Ensemble Les Arts Florissants, das ihn mittlerweile zum Associate Conductor berufen hat. Franz Schuberts Mozart-nahe 5. Sinfonie, das wohl reifste unter seinen frühen sinfonischen Werken, wird dabei den reizvollen Schlusspunkt bilden in diesem Barock+-Programm.Konzertdauer: ca. 105 Minuten – inklusive Pause

Pas de deux

So reizvoll ein Solokonzert auch ist – ist nicht ein Doppelkonzert quasi zweimal so interessant? Zwei Solisten, die sich die Bälle zuspielen, die wetteifern, sich überbieten, die zum Pas de deux sich zusammenfinden? An diesem Abend sind zwei einfach doppelt gut: die Solisten des hr-Sinfonieorchesters. Drei Konzerte für zwei Soloinstrumente stehen auf dem Programm, komponiert vom barocken Dreigestirn Bach, Telemann und Vivaldi. Unter seinen rund 50 Concerti für zwei Instrumente hat Vivaldi nur eines für zwei Trompeten gesetzt, ein Solitär im so umfangreichen Werkverzeichnis des virtuosen Venezianers. Auch Bachs Doppelkonzert BWV 1043 blieb ein Einzelstück – wer für zwei schreibt, schreibt exklusiv. Leiten wird den Abend der britische Cembalist und Dirigent Jonathan Cohen, der sich nicht nur mit seinem eigenen Ensemble Arcangelo einen Namen gemacht. Mit der Academy of Ancient Music ging er ebenso auf Tournee wie mit William Christies Ensemble Les Arts Florissants, das ihn mittlerweile zum Associate Conductor berufen hat. Franz Schuberts Mozart-nahe 5. Sinfonie, das wohl reifste unter seinen frühen sinfonischen Werken, wird dabei den reizvollen Schlusspunkt bilden in diesem Barock+-Programm.Konzertdauer: ca. 105 Minuten – inklusive Pause

Jeanine De Bique "Mirrors"

The concert program "Mirrors" explores the same character from two mirroring perspectives. The arias depict key psychological moments of heroines like Agrippina and Cleopatra, set to music by Handel and Graun, among others. These works portray courageous, vulnerable, and passionate personalities. Soprano Jeanine De Bique, known for her bold performances, joins the specialist ensemble Concerto Köln in this musical exploration.

»The Art of Being Human«

Human existence is a contradictory business. »The Art of Being Human« explores the complex impacts of this trite fact. The Grammy award-winning viola da gamba ensemble Phantasm thereby ensures a musical performance at the very highest level. Its members put their instrumental mastery into operation for an evening in which old sounds and contemporary dance blend into an inseparable unit and jointly try to fathom the darkest recesses of the human condition. Choreographer Sommer Ulrickson and allround visual artist Alexander Polzin create a multidisciplinary framework in which music and movement come together, connect with each other, hook into each other, collide and cross fertilise. Under the leadership of Laurence Dreyfus, Phantasm plays music of English masters, such as John Dowland, Henry Purcell and William Byrd. At the same time, the musicians interact in the most diverse way with the dancers, who move as partners and yet adversaries around sculptures by the Berlin artist Alexander Polzin. The result is a staged concert evening, which makes full use of the potential of this currently popular format!

Classical Evergreen: The Four Seasons

The album Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd is one of the most popular musical works of the 20th century. It stayed almost sixteen years on the Billboard magazine list, which collects the two hundred most bought and listened to recordings in the USA in a given week. In the world of popular music, the British band remains unsurpassed. So perhaps a worthy rival should be sought in musical scores and concert performances? Who has not listened at least once to Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik or Beethoven's Fifth Symphony?Among the classical evergreens, however, Vivaldi's Four Seasons remains unrivalled. The popular violin concertos have received over a thousand recordings, one of which (Nigel Kennedy, 1986) has sold three million copies. They have also been played in at least five hundred films and undergone myriad remixes, the most popular of which is that by Max Richter, and perhaps the oldest was written by Bach himself. It is hard to believe that back in the 1940s, only some people remembered the then more than two-hundred-year-old works. Several pioneering recordings produced shortly afterwards made it clear to the world that no one could talk about feelings associated with atmospheric phenomena more beautifully than the Red Priest in the age of mass phonography and synthesisers. And yet, The Four Seasons is only just being rediscovered thanks to the exploration of historical performance. We wonder if the Red Priest would enjoy the A.D. 2025 version of {oh!} Orkiestra... Michał MendykConcert duration: approximately 90 minutes

Pearls in Baroque: The French Connection of Purcell

Łucja Madziar & Thomas Hoppe

Łucja Madziar, first concertmaster of the ORF Symphony Orchestra, and her piano partner Thomas Hoppe have formed a musical duo since 2022. The multi-award-winning violinist is a regular guest at music festivals (Beethovenfest Bonn, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Paderewski-Festival) and can look back on solo appearances, e.g. in the Grand Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus. As a soloist, she has performed several times with the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lower Saxony State Orchestra Hanover, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Folkwang Chamber Orchestra Essen. Thomas Hoppe is regarded as an outstanding piano partner and has performed as such with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Antje Weithaas, Vilde Frang and Tabea Zimmermann. The Berlin pianist completed his training at the Juilliard School in New York City. As a member of the ATOS Trio, he performs worldwide and has won many prizes and awards.

Amatis Piano Trio / Thomas Quasthoff

The horrors of the First World War have often been described in literature. Books such as Erich Maria Remarque’s »All Quiet on the Western Front« speak of the brutality of trench warfare and the deadening effect of being surrounded by death. However, there are also more optimistic accounts, such as the Christmas truce when enemies laid down their weapons and sang carols together. With his legendary baritone voice, Thomas Quasthoff reads from First World War letters and diaries. In alternation, the award-winning young Amatis Piano Trio performs excerpts from the Romantic and modern chamber music repertoire, reflecting the mood of the individual texts. Young soldiers of various nationalities are represented, as are relatives writing to the front from back home. The texts bear witness to the barbarism of war, and to youthful blue-eyed enthusiasm turning into disillusionment and horror in the face of the bloody reality. But they also reveal humanity and mutual respect – even between enemies. The stories speak of individual fates and give a face to the bare figures. They are accompanied by slow movements from piano trios by composers such as Schubert and Shostakovich, who composed his Piano Trio No. 2 while mourning the death of a friend in the Second World War. Works such as Korngold’s »Dogberry and Verges – March of the Watch«, which caricature the initial enthusiasm of young soldiers for war, lighten the mood.

Discover Talent: Illia Ovcharenko

With technical brilliance and emotional insight, the young Ukrainian pianist Illia Ovcharenko presents a daring programme that really packs a punch. In the fifth and final concert of the Liszt spotlight in 2023/24, he combines two visionary Romantic piano works: Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor and Robert Schumann’s Fantasie in C. Each in its own way, these works break down musical boundaries and still get even the most experienced pianists sweating. With stamina and uncompromising expressiveness, and pushing the limits of the pianistically possible, Liszt and Schumann create large arcs of suspense in which they cover the entire spectrum of human emotion. So when he performs these two milestones of piano music in Hamburg, you can be sure that Illia Ovcharenko will be giving it his all.

New Jersey Sinfonietta Young Artists’ Recital

Returning to Hamburg for the again, New Jersey Sinfonietta presents four extraordinary young musicians, aged 14 to 17, who will captivate audiences with their award-winning performances. As winners of the 2024 competition, these gifted performers represent the future of classical music, combining technical mastery with artistic depth. Aligned with the New Jersey Sinfonietta’s mission to nurture young talent through exceptional performance opportunities, this concert is a unique chance to witness the next generation of classical virtuosos.