Widmann | Reinecke | SWR Experimentalstudio

Les Métaboles / SWR Experimentalstudio

In his late work, Luigi Nono always also transformed the music into moving ambient sound. To achieve that, he regularly worked with the legendary SWR Experimentalstudio. One example is his vocal and instrumental work »Diario polacco No. 2«, in which electronic sounds permeate the hall. His work »›Hay que caminar‹ sognando«, in contrast, features two violinists wandering from one music desk to the next. Under conductor Léo Warynski, the Les Métaboles vocal ensemble and the SWR Experimentalstudio remember Nono the political man. When martial law was introduced in Poland in 1981 he wrote »Quando stanno morendo / Diario polacco No. 2« and dedicated it to persecuted Polish friends and comrades. Nono composed »›Hay que caminar‹ sognando« in 1989, one year before his death. With its »choreographic« arrangement, it epitomises an inscription, seen on a monastery wall, that had fascinated Nono: »Wanderer, there is no path. All that matters is the walking.«

musica viva: Jörg Widmann

The clarinetist, composer, and conductor Jörg Widmann is one of the shining lights of contemporary music. His credo is to combine tradition with new developments, resulting in timbres whose virtuosity, intensity, and directness both surprise and oftentimes confront the listeners, but also challenge them with quiet, fragile moments. The transparent, ethereal orchestral piece Armonica seems to defy the laws of gravity as it emerges out of nowhere. In the Trumpet Concerto, composed for Håkan Hardenberger, the sounds wander through space – like the trumpeter through the orchestra. A labyrinthine journey extending from wild and rugged orchestral abysses all the way to an open, utopian state of suspension.

Carolin Widmann | SWR Symphonieorchester | Bas Wiegers

To explore sound's intricacies, Kaija Saariaho put it "under the microscope." The SWR Symphony Orchestra, with violinist Carolin Widmann, honors the late Finnish composer. Saariaho's early work "Verblendungen" intertwines orchestra and tape. Her violin concerto "Graal théâtre" draws inspiration from the Holy Grail legend. The concert opens with Lutosławski's lively "Little Suite" and concludes with Debussy's "La Mer."

Simon Rattle conducts Bruckner and Widmann

Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony has long been one of the composer’s underrated works. According to Sir Simon Rattle, this is because it doesn’t offer what people usually expect of a Bruckner symphony. It is shorter, more transparent and less solemn than usual, “a piece full of humour and daring”. Bruckner himself seems to have seen it that way, for he whimsically declared the Sixth to be his “boldest”. To open the programme, Simon Rattle conducts the world premiere of a horn concerto written by Jörg Widmann, this season’s Composer-in-Residence, for our principal horn-player Stefan Dohr.

Simon Rattle conducts Bruckner and Widmann

Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony has long been one of the composer’s underrated works. According to Sir Simon Rattle, this is because it doesn’t offer what people usually expect of a Bruckner symphony. It is shorter, more transparent and less solemn than usual, “a piece full of humour and daring”. Bruckner himself seems to have seen it that way, for he whimsically declared the Sixth to be his “boldest”. To open the programme, Simon Rattle conducts the world premiere of a horn concerto written by Jörg Widmann, this season’s Composer-in-Residence, for our principal horn-player Stefan Dohr.

Simon Rattle conducts Bruckner and Widmann

Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony has long been one of the composer’s underrated works. According to Sir Simon Rattle, this is because it doesn’t offer what people usually expect of a Bruckner symphony. It is shorter, more transparent and less solemn than usual, “a piece full of humour and daring”. Bruckner himself seems to have seen it that way, for he whimsically declared the Sixth to be his “boldest”. To open the programme, Simon Rattle conducts the world premiere of a horn concerto written by Jörg Widmann, this season’s Composer-in-Residence, for our principal horn-player Stefan Dohr.

Das SWR Experimentalstudio bei WEIT! in Weingarten

Das SWR Experimentalstudio in Freiburg mit Alfonso Gomez

Das SWR Experimentalstudio beim Kontakte-Festival in Berlin

SWR Symphonieorchester / Florian Hölscher / Christoph Sietzen / Emilio Pomàrico

The semblance of a world premiere: The SWR Symphonieorchester under the baton of Emilio Pomàrico together with pianist Florian Hölscher launches the new piano concerto by Alberto Posadas – you can hear this work in Hamburg shortly after its premiere in Madrid. The Spanish composer draws his musical material from the physical and sensory capabilities of the instruments themselves – as does Johannes Maria Staud, whose percussion concerto can be experienced as a rhythmical counterpoint in the second half of the programme. It is a special concern of the Austrian composer to establish the drum as the equivalent tool of the sound paintbox: »It is my objective to give real meaning to this toolkit in the 21st century and to complete a lot of works for it.« No sooner said than done! Sometimes, you hear it with saxophone and wind ensemble, sometimes with choir and string quartet – with orchestra for the first time in »Whereas the Reality Trembles«, which was premiered in 2023 by Luxemburg percussionist Christoph Sietzen. For the title, Staud was inspired by a line by the American poet William Carlos Williams, which hits precisely what he expects from a percussion concerto: »Williams often speaks about reality being a little dazzling; his work is very obsessed with the space between the sensations.«