WHAT THE FUGUE

What do the alpine horn and the organ have in common? / Torlontano / Di Lernia

Although the organ is traditionally associated with sacred music and grand concerts, it can also be a fascinating complement to less typical chamber settings. The untypical combinations in this year’s organ concert series provide unique sounds and new, unexpected combinations. The result? We become more open to new interpretational possibilities and free experimenting. True to its "geographical" name, the alpine horn was often used in the Alps as a shepherd's instrument, its sound echoing through mountain valleys, serving both as a means of communication and in folk music. Hence the presence of such pieces as the traditional melody In den Alpen in the programme. This will be completed by the pastoral compositions by Leopold Mozart and Anton Zimmermann, Arcangelo Corelli’s baroque concerto arranged by Francesco Di Lernia, and contemporary compositions by Arvo Pärt and Giovanni D’Aquila. This diverse repertoire will take listeners on a journey across eras and musical styles, towards discoveries of new, surprising sounds. Alexandra KozowiczConcert duration: approximately 80 minutes

The Wedding of the Sun King

Probably France’s largest 17th century festival comes to life again here: the wedding between the »Sun King« Louis XIV and the Spanish princess Marie-Thérèse ended the long-standing hostility of both countries in 1660 and was fittingly ostentatiously celebrated, firstly on the Spanish border, then in Paris. Thereby, a large-scale musical setting befitting their social status from sacred works via fanfares to dance and opera should also be included. Vincent Dumestre, with his period performance orchestra Le Poème Harmonique and vocalists, has put together a splendid panorama of French baroque music, which transforms the entire Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall into a royal ballroom. The proverbial timpani and trumpets sound, there is a lot of music by Jean-Baptiste Lully – Louis XIV’s favourite composer – and by Francesco Cavalli, who travelled from Italy to Paris for the wedding specifically for performances of his operas. This programme incidentally evolved from Dumestre and his ensembles for the Palace of Versailles, which the Sun King had built as an overflowing, sumptuous structure – also to make space for the theatre, ballet and opera performances he so loved. Today, the stars of the early music scene take golden hammers into their hands here and sound repertoire gems of the 16th to 18th century.

The Paramount Quartet

Featuring Joe Lovano (saxophone), Julian Lage (guitar), Santi Debriano (double bass), and Will Cahoun (drums), the new Paramount Quartet—formed in early 2024—has burst onto the scene with a distillation of jazz as adventurous as it is vigorous.

Hadelich / Piemontesi / Music of the masters from the banks of the Seine

Stars up close! Today, Augustin Hadelich is a world-leading violinist who conquers the world's stages and performs with the best orchestras, including the NOSPR. He returns with a chamber programme, in duo with the versatile piano virtuoso Francesco Piemontesi. Their concert, which will be dominated by French music, is designed in a modern way. There is no shortage of the canon of violin music, represented by Franck's striking, emotional, late Romantic sonata and Debussy's subtle, intimate sonata. They are accompanied by a third, wonderfully melodic sonata by Francis Poulenc. Both predecessors will shine through, as Poulenc's sounds focus their qualities like a lens because our perception changes with the context. Old French music (by de Grigny and Rameau) will indicate the roots of the work of the masters from the Seine banks mentioned above. György Kurtág's handful of short musical gestures, meanwhile, will allow us to pause for a moment to take a fresh look at what we already know. Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 90 minutes

Philharmonic chamber music: the fascination of the clarinet

The music world owes a great debt of gratitude to clarinettist Anton Stadler. After all, he inspired Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to write a clarinet quintet which, with its yearning melodies, is one of the most beautiful works of chamber music. In turn, our Composer in Residence Wolfgang Rihm, who died in July , wrote his Four Studies for a clarinet quintet for the clarinettist and composer Jörg Widmann. According to Widmann, Rihm “understood and sensed the essence of our marvellous instrument like very few others”. Andraž Golob, bass clarinettist with the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2021, will present the two works together with colleagues.

Ciconia Consort: The Era of the Crystal Palace

The Era of the Crystal Palace expresses the Belle Epoque, the intriguing time of the major World Expo’s, with the rising of the Paris Tour Eifel, London’s Crystal Palace and the unbridled belief in progress. The 1889 Paris Exhibition in particular had a major influence on Western music, where Debussy, among others, was inspired by Javanese dance and gamelan music. The Dutch-Indies Constant van de Wall composed this Eastern gamelan music in a wonderful way for string instruments.George Antheil, the composer of new techniques, who shocked with the use of sirens and airplane propellers, wrote his swinging Serenade for String Orchestra in a romantic modern style with influences from Prokofiev and jazz. The beautiful harpsolo in Conte fantastique by André Caplet, a student of Claude Debussy, will be performed by Alexandra Bidi, a prize winner of the International ARD Musikwettbewerb 2023. And the concert concludes with the amazing orchestration of Ravel’s String Quartet by Rudolph Barshai.

Death and the Maiden

Mozart's G major Quartet KV 387 and Schubert's Death and the Maiden are two favourites in the string quartet genre. Mozart had met Haydn and was inspired to compose a set of six quartets. In the dedication to Haydn, Mozart wrote that the quartets were "the fruit of a long and laborious work", and added, "you renowned man and my dearest friend".In his penultimate string quartet, Schubert employs the melody from one of his most famous songs, Death and the Maiden. The quartet contains both intensely fervent and dreamy passages. It is in the second movement that Schubert utilizes the poignant Death and the Maiden melody, which then serves as the basis for five variations. Here, Schubert's portrayal of death is by no means solely dark.In between, we hear a newly written quartet by the acclaimed British composer Bushra El-Turk. The BBC named her one of the world's 100 most inspiring women. Her music sometimes reflects her Lebanese roots. During the creation of Three Tributes, she collaborated with the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam, whom we hear here.This quartet, based in Amsterdam, is making their debut at Konserthuset Stockholm and has been praised for their empathetic playing in a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to contemporary compositions.

Discoveries for the Winds

Discoveries for the Winds

›The Magic of Silence‹

On the occasion of Caspar David Friedrich’s 250th birthday – he was probably the most significant painter in the German Romantic era – he is the focus not only of a major Berlin exhibition, but also of a lecture-concert in the James Simon Gallery, architectural entry point to Museum Island. The evening is entitled ›The Magic of Silence‹, the title of a book on Friedrich that Florian Illies, its author, will shape jointly with clarinetist Bernhard Nusser, soprano Alessia Schumacher and pianist Dirk Wedmann. The programme consists of songs by Meyerbeer, Schubert, Schumann and Spohr that musically pick up on the Romantic spirit.