Thomas Quasthoff & Friends

Thomas Quasthoff Quartet

When Thomas Quasthoff brings his new programme »For You« to life, he is above all one thing – absolutely authentic. Quasthoff has a sure sense for the most suitable style of what he sings. This applies to opera arias, art and folk songs as well as jazz, pop and soul. He has long since proven that, as a classical singer with an enormously versatile bass-baritone, he can also master genres rooted in the African-American musical tradition. And so what one so appreciates about Quasthoff as a recital singer also becomes a golden rule for everything else. How the bass-baritone lives up to his claim of really touching people with his voice is made clear by the enthusiastic audience reactions and the praises of the press. He is joined by three excellent jazz musicians: Dieter Ilg is characterised by his electrifying vitality, intelligent curiosity, technical brilliance and total devotion to the moment. Wolfgang Haffner is Germany’s best-known drummer – with an unparalleled career that extends far beyond jazz. Simon Oslender is the youngest member of the band – once entering the scene as a »prodigy on the Hammond organ«, the now 24-year-old is considered one of the »rising stars« of the German music scene on piano, organ and keyboards.

Thomas Quasthoff Quartet

For five decades, he has set standards on international stages and moved reached and moved countless people with his art. In the course of his career he has performed with all the leading orchestras and has appeared on all the major concert stages and at major festivals as a lieder and concert singer. A close collaboration with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, Helmuth Rilling, Christian Thielemann and Franz Welser-Möst. Thomas Quasthoff has been »Artist in Residence« at the Vienna Musikverein, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, at Carnegie Hall, at the Lucerne Festival and in Baden-Baden, Hamburg, London’s Wigmore Hall and the Barbican Centre. He received numerous national and international honours, such as the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Three of his recordings have received Grammy and six have been honoured with the Echo Award. When Thomas Quasthoff brings his new programme »For You« to life, he is above all one thing – absolutely authentic. Quasthoff has a sure sense for the most suitable style of what he sings. This applies to opera arias, art and folk songs as well as jazz, pop and soul. He has long since proven that, as a classical singer with an enormously versatile bass-baritone, he can also master genres rooted in the African-American musical tradition. And so what one so appreciates about Quasthoff as a recital singer also becomes a golden rule for everything else. How the bass-baritone lives up to his claim of really touching people with his voice is made clear by the enthusiastic audience reactions and the praises of the press. He is joined by three excellent jazz musicians: Dieter Ilg is characterised by his electrifying vitality, intelligent curiosity, technical brilliance and total devotion to the moment. Wolfgang Haffner is Germany’s best-known drummer – with an unparalleled career that extends far beyond jazz. Simon Oslender is the youngest member of the band – once entering the scene as a »prodigy on the Hammond organ«, the now 24-year-old is considered one of the »rising stars« of the German music scene on piano, organ and keyboards.

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.

Cancelled: Watch This Space | Thomas Adès & friends

Sinatra & Friends

The Rat Pack is back! The hit show »Sinatra & Friends« is back! The three Brits Stephen Triffitt, Mark Adams and George Daniel Long alias Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. allow the audience to experience the greatest show legends of all time – also known as the infamous »Rat Pack« – on stage.

Sinatra & Friends

Rat Pack is back! A Tribute to the World's Greatest Entertainers The Rat Pack is back! Die Erfolgsshow „Sinatra & Friends“ ist endlich zurück! Die drei Briten Stephen Triffitt, Mark Adams und George Daniel Long alias Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin und Sammy Davis Jr. ermöglichen dem Publikum, die größten Showlegenden aller Zeiten – auch bekannt als das berühmt-berüchtigte „Rat Pack“ – live auf der Bühne zu erleben. Im Mai 2025 wird die Tournee in Deutschland, der Schweiz und Österreich gastieren. Die frühen 60er waren die Zeit des „Rat Pack“ und Las Vegas ihre Stadt. Sinatra, Martin und Davis Jr. gehörten zu diesem Zeitpunkt bereits zu den populärsten und wichtigsten Entertainern des Landes. Die gemeinsamen Live-Auftritte dieser drei Showlegenden, vorzugsweise im Sands Hotel, waren die Showbiz-Attraktion des Glückspielparadieses Las Vegas und absoluter Publikumsmagnet. Die Mischung aus kabarettistischen Dialogen – zwischen den Entertainern und ihrem Publikum - sowie die Darbietung ihrer weltberühmten Songs war auch die Geburtsstunde des modernen Entertainments. Die drei Darsteller Stephen Triffitt (Frank Sinatra), Mark Adams (Dean Martin) und George Daniel Long (Sammy Davis Jr.) überzeugen mit ihrem außergewöhnlichen Talent und beweisen, dass es in der Show weit über das reine Look Alike der drei Showgiganten hinaus geht. In „Sinatra & Friends“ versetzen sie ihre Zuschauer mit augenzwinkernder Political Incorrectness, unverwechselbarem Big Band Swing, schönen Frauen und dem obligatorischen Whiskeyglas in der Hand in die glamouröse Ära der 60er Jahre am Strip in Las Vegas, als sich dort die Showgrößen Hollywoods die Klinke in die Hand gaben. Im Gepäck: unsterbliche Evergreens wie „My Way“, „Mr. Bojangles“, „New York, New York“, „That’s Amore“, „The Lady Is A Tramp“ und viele mehr. Begleitet von einer neun-köpfigen Big Band und drei großartigen Sängerinnen und Tänzerinnen, den „Golddiggers“, erschaffen die begnadeten Sänger und Schauspieler für ihr Publikum die perfekte Illusion, einmal im Leben die drei größten Entertainer aller Zeiten leibhaftig erlebt zu haben.

Isabelle Faust & Friends

Arnold Schönberg’s Chamber Symphony famously once led to a riot in Vienna, but now the only virtuoso handiwork happens on stage when violinist Isabelle Faust tackles this challenging and rarely performed piece. In this evening of chamber music, some of the great works of early new music lead into the melancholy of Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet. The performance of Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet corresponds with the Berliner Philharmoniker’s chamber music afternoon event on 15 September 2024: the programme includes the benchmark clarinet quintet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Wolfgang Rihm’s response and continuation of this important clarinet quintet tradition.

Christoph Sietzen & Friends

Christoph Sietzen ist ein preisgekrönter Multipercussionist und ein gefeierter Solist im Dialog mit großen Orchestern. Doch seine Liebe gilt auch der Kammermusik. In Köln konzertiert er mit Tabea Zimmermann, Königin der Bratsche, und mit Cembalokünstler Mahan Esfahani.Tam-Tam, Schellen, Marimba & Co. sind selten in der Kammermusik zu erleben. Wenige Komponisten haben sie in kleinere Besetzungen einbezogen. Eine schöne Ausnahme bilden Luciano Berios experimentelles Stück »Naturale« und das als unspielbar geltende Kuriosum »Oophaa« von Iannis Xenakis. Der Tausendsassa am Schlagwerk, Christoph Sietzen, die brillante Bratschistin Tabea Zimmermann und der Held am Cembalo, Mahan Esfahani, stellen sich gerne solchen Herausforderungen und inspirieren sich gegenseitig. Gefördert vom Kuratorium KölnMusik e.V.

Concert with Friends

Renaud Capuçon & Friends

French violinist and conductor Renaud Capuçon likes to encourage musical encounters and mix generations. With Paul Zientara, Julia Hagen and Guillaume Bellom, he shares Fauré and two rarely performed gems from post-Romantic repertoire.