Ultraschall – Festival for New Music

Ultraschall – Festival for new Music

Vladimir Jurowski sees himself as a politically aware artist who intervenes and takes a stand on current events. The RSB’s concert at Ultraschall Berlin is therefore particularly characterised by current affairs.Olga Rayeva: On the seaMany of her compositions deal with the theme of the sea. This is no coincidence: her early childhood is deeply connected with two cities: Moscow, where there is no sea, and Mariupol, where her mother’s parents lived at the time. She was always very happy in Mariupol and dreamed her whole life of being back there one day, near the somewhat murky, green Sea of Azov. She would then walk along an alleyway in this southern city to the small theatre…Now neither the theatre nor the town itself exists.This is a personal tragedy for Olga. The events of the last few years have destroyed her to a large extent internally. And the only way for a composer to deal with trauma is to write music.Elnaz Seyedi: a mark of our breathElnaz Seyedi’s compositions are influenced by literature, architecture and the visual arts as well as her studies in computer science. The sounds often oscillate between rigour and delicacy. Her work “a mark of our breath” was premiered as part of the concert series ‘Miniatures of Time’ – a series of twelve short orchestral pieces commissioned by Westdeutscher Rundfunk from various composers. They all deal with issues of our time, such as sustainability or the coronavirus crisis. Elnaz Seyedi himself writes about a mark of our breath:“The composition was created in 2021 during a stay in Wendland. Inspired by the expansive view with three quarters of the sky, which is different in every weather and every time of day, but actually always spectacular, and a landscape with a rich spectrum of green and later in autumn of yellow. The piece begins in this peaceful landscape, which gradually breaks up from within. The human voices – played and sung simultaneously in the brass instruments – are on the one hand part of this landscape, enriching it with their very special colour. On the other hand, their flipside is the destruction of the seemingly original.”Farzia Fallah “Traces of a Burning Mass” for orchestraLike Seyedi, Farzia Fallah was also born in Iran. Her orchestral work, for which she received the Heidelberg Women Artists’ Prize, was written during the protests against the violent death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in autumn 2022: musical traces of a burning, angry, freedom-loving mass. The concert can be heard on the radio on the following dates:Deutschlandfunk Kultur: 18 January 2024, 8:03 pm rbbKultur: 12 March 2024, 11:03 pm About the festival:The “Ultraschall – Festival for New Music” presents recently created works in a music-historical context that goes back to the beginnings of the post-war avant-garde, a period that now spans more than 70 years.In recent years, more and more premieres and first performances have been presented at the festival, and some of the works are also commissioned by the festival, but the approach remains the same: to give space to current trends in contemporary music and at the same time to categorise these current productions in terms of music history.

NOSPR / Bayona / New Year's Concert

There are concerts which should be found in everyone’s calendar, particularly at the time of year when we replace our calendars with entirely new ones. Some of those are the meetings with music on New Year’s Day. Even though their repertoire is rarely surprising, this is exactly where their charm lies. Beginning another year, we want to surrender to insouciant fun and hopes of a glorious new time to come. Simultaneously, despite the time flying, we want to keep certain things the way they are.It is such an atmosphere that we are unfailingly introduced to with the most famous waltzes and polkas by members of the talented Strauss family, as well as tunes from operettas by Franz von Suppé, Franz Lehár and Bedřich Smetana. Of course, we have all heard The Blue Danube and Radetzky March, hundreds of times – but should this be of any significance? Once a year, let us once more luxuriate in the well-known melodies we have already heard so many times, just for the sake of the pleasure itself. A comfortable chair in the best concert hall in the world, the NOSPR and Nestor Bayona on stage, and danceable rhythms and melodies sparkling with joy in the air. What more could one wish for!Szymon MaliszewskiConcert duration (intermission included): approximately 110 minutes

Rheingau Music Festival

Model Project “Concert for All” 5

Experience music from Humperdinck’s “Mirakel” from a new perspective – together with Andrew Greenwood. The dancer and choreographer has created a very special approach to music with the switch2move method. We invite you to take an active part in the musical events – participation is expressly encouraged.“Concert for All” is a model project in which the RSB designs offers that enable participation for deaf and hard-of-hearing people as well as people with cognitive impairments in order to eventually integrate them permanently into the orchestra’s concert programme. During the four-year term of the project, methods and concepts are to be tested in close cooperation with associations, affected people and their relatives, pilot events are to be held and ultimately new, inclusive formats are to be created that meet the needs of the target groups and yet are open to all visitors.The wheelchair spaces are full. Unfortunately, further registration for wheelchair users is no longer possible.

Model project “Concert for All” 6

Music can draw pictures, express itself in movement and tell of emotions. Together with the sign actor Jan Sell, the RSB will present the music of Igor Stawinsky’s Petrushka in a very unique way.“Concert for All” is a model project in which the RSB designs offers that enable participation for deaf and hard-of-hearing people as well as people with cognitive impairments, in order to eventually integrate them permanently into the orchestra’s concert programme. During the four-year term of the project, methods and concepts are to be tested in close cooperation with associations, affected people and their relatives, pilot events are to be held and ultimately new, inclusive formats are to be created that meet the needs of the target groups and yet are open to all visitors.

For a birthday only the best

Fancy some classical music?!

Who's up for classical music? For the third time, the Philharmonie opens its doors to young people when the Gürzenich Orchestra invites them to »Concert & Kölsch«. Two symphonies, one spectacle: Prokofiev and Glazunov, two Russian masters, meet: Prokofiev's 5th Symphony, composed in 1944 in the midst of the chaos of war, sounds heroic, emotional and full of energy. He paints impressive orchestral pictures - sometimes lyrical, sometimes gloomy, sometimes overwhelming. You are in for a real goosebump moment! Glazunov's Symphony No. 5 begins mysteriously, unfolds into a playful scherzo and culminates in a radiant finale that simply sounds monumental. A real highlight of Romantic music! No wonder this piece is celebrated as a masterpiece. This time, Lorenzo Viotti is on the podium - a young, charismatic conductor who turns late Romantic music into pure sound magic. A concert for everyone who loves epic music and is in the mood for an unforgettable live experience! After the concert, you can round off the evening with DJ sounds by Loush and relaxed conversation in the foyer. Free drink included!

Festival at the Funkhaus in Nalepastraße

As part of the events marking the 100th anniversary of the orchestra, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin had planned a festival at its former location, the Funkhaus in Oberschöneweide, from 14 to 16 June 2024.Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to reach a signed agreement with the owner of the building regarding its use. A successful realisation of the festival is therefore not guaranteed at the present time. It is therefore with great regret that the festival has to be cancelled. The events scheduled for this weekend will be rescheduled at a later date if possible.

Live-Concert broadcast to the Zeiss-Grossplanetarium – New Year’s Concert

NOSPR / New Year's Eve concert in the rhythm of tango