Vox Animae Soloists: Mozart's Flute Quartets

Chamber music with Berliner Philharmoniker soloists

Four soloists from the Berliner Philharmoniker and the pianist Eric Le Sage take us on a foray through the chamber-music repertoire from Viennese Classical to Modern. Along with such famous works as Beethoven’s “Gassenhauer” Piano Trio, there will also be discoveries – for example, the charming Sicilienne, which was long attributed to Mozart's contemporary Maria Theresia von Paradis, and the young Anton Webern’s highly-romantic pieces for cello and piano. The climax of the programme comes with its concluding work, Schoenberg’s visionary Chamber Symphony No. 1.

String quartets by Schumann and Rihm

Whether in the 19th or 20th century: The string quartet is the supreme genre of chamber music, and every composer must consider it. Robert Schumann’s quartet cycle op. 41 is a stroke of genius; members of the Berliner Philharmoniker play numbers 1 and 3. Inspired by the quartets of Beethoven and Mendelssohn, Schumann created his own musical cosmos, full of poetry and instrumental song. Our late Composer in Residence Wolfgang Rihm, on the other hand, favours contrasts in his Fourth String Quartet. On the one hand, his work appears brusque, passionate and effervescent; on the other, tender, intimate and poetic.

Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 2

Sofia Gubaidulina contemplates unfinished J S Bach as the Carduccis survey Shostakovich in triplicate across some two decades.

Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 3

The multinational young Kyan Quartet joins the Carduccis as Gubaidulina’s compact Quartet No 2 is stitched into a Shostakovich sequence including the penultimate quartet, with its focus on the cello.

Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 4

Three quartets unite to perform the Chamber Symphony enlargement of Shostakovich’s 8th quartet, crowning a programme including Firsova’s ardent, deftly-plotted Quartet No 4.

Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 5

Our Shostakovich cycle began with the Quartet No 1, and ends, inevitably, with No 15, staring death resolutely in the face, a work heart-stopping in its searing intensity.

Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 1

Marking 50 years since the composer’s death, the Carduccis inaugurate a five-concert odyssey through the complete string quartets – works that enshrine his inner life, loves and closest friendships.

Chamber concert: Flute quartet

In one of his novels, Jean Paul enthused: »I love the flute, the magic wand that changes the inner world whenever it touches it – a wish-rod in front of which the inner depths open up.« Our musicians present a small cosmos of works for flute and strings. Mozart wrote his charming flute quartet in 1777 on a commission from a music lover – although he was somewhat distracted because a young singer had made his head spin. Perhaps this is why the piece features an instrumental bravura aria, followed by a minor cantilena and a dance-like ending. It was said of Beethoven's chamber music that one »inevitably gets drawn into the master‘s magic circle, in which one sees more and more lines and figures that take hold of the soul so that one can't get rid of them again.« His C minor trio from 1798 shows fluttering states of mind: Sometimes it is melancholic, sometimes pathetic, then again reflective and suddenly whimsical. Since humour is just as much a balm for the soul, Haydn also liked to allow himself tongue-in-cheek experiments: In his magnificent divertimento of 1765, he celebrates birthdays musically. The Andante, explicitly entitled »Man and Woman«, is characterised by sighing figures in the high part and responses from the low register. Apart from that, the other instruments also join in the fun as children. Finally, a multifaceted composition by Jacques Castérède, who died in 2014: »Ombres et Clartes« captivates with touching melodies, is technically very challenging and revolves around changing moods – because as Tolstoy said: »All the variety, all the charm and all the beauty of life are formed by light and shadow.«

Transverse flute and Clavichord

Baroque soloists "fattoamano"

In earlier times, anyone who gave their Opus 1 to print sent out a clear signal: They had completed their musical apprenticeship and the time had come to present their first works to the public. At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, it was customary to present trio sonatas for two violins and basso continuo in such an opus 1. The Roman violin master Arcangelo Corelli did this in 1681, as did many of his colleagues.The baroque soloists of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra fattoamano will present a small selection of these opus 1 trio sonatas.