World Souad Massi – Cosmopolitan from Algeria

From the New World

The Concertgebouw’s famous Main Hall is one of the best concert halls in the world, well-known for its exceptional acoustics and special atmosphere. In the Main Hall, you will feel history. Here, Gustav Mahler conducted his own compositions, as did Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky. Sergei Rachmaninoff played his own piano concertos in the Main Hall. This is also where musicians such as Leonard Bernstein, Vladimir Horowitz and Yehudi Menuhin gave legendary performances. Right up to now, the Main Hall offers a stage to the world’s best orchestras and musicians. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Main Hall for yourself!

Abel Selaocoe: Christmas From Around the World

The BBC Singers join forces once more with their Artist in Association Abel Selaocoe, for a concert of music for the Christmas season from around the world.

Mahler Chamber Orchestra: Music from the New World

Antonello Manacorda and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra open our International Chamber Orchestra series with music from the “New World”. Anton Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony, written in New York, clearly expresses the influences of both indigenous and African American melodies – although the work is also unmistakably Bohemian in colour. 2024 marks the 150th birthday of the brilliant Charles Ives, the first American composer to gain truly global recognition. Anna Prohaska sings selected songs by Ives, juxtaposed with songs by Gustav Mahler, his European contemporary.

World The voices of Persia

Hossein Alizadeh is a musical legend in his native Iran. He plays the Persian long-necked lute tār with unmatched virtuosity. Yet the musician is not a traditionalist. Though his playing is rooted in the traditional music of his country, his performances bring it into the here and now. For example, he has developed a new instrument from the traditional setar: the shourangiz, whose name means “to give passion”. With the two singers Zohre Gholipour and Mehdi Emami, we also hear two of Iran’s most important musical voices.

Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic World Jazz

“World Jazz” is the theme of this concert – because the performers come from very different countries: Swedish pianist Joel Lyssarides and American drummer Hamid Drake meet Greek musician Georgios Prokopiou, a virtuoso on the long-necked lute bouzouki, as well as Moroccan gimbri player Majid Bekkas and French-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyên Lê. The five musicians, who are at home both in the traditional music of their respective homelands and in jazz, unite the most diverse musical influences on this evening to create a sound that spans the globe.

Kenny Garrett and Sounds from the Ancestors

His tone is unmistakable, his playing irrepressible and full of originality: it is none other than Kenny Garrett, one of the most important and versatile saxophonists of his generation, who rose to global fame as a member of Miles Davis’ band in the 1980s. Garrett then developed his own musical identity as a bandleader with albums like »African Exchange Student« and »Black Hope«. Black music culture has always been the starting point for his musical language, and he pays tribute to this in his latest project »Sounds from the Ancestors«. The saxophone legend marks his Elbphilharmonie debut with this exciting programme. »Sounds from the Ancestors« reflects the rich jazz, R&B and gospel history of Garrett’s home city of Detroit. Yet the album also has a contemporary and cosmopolitan feel – brought about especially by the inclusion of music from France, Cuba, Nigeria and Guadeloupe. »The concept,« he says, »was originally about drawing on some of the musical sounds I remember from my childhood – sounds that lift up the spirit, from songs like John Coltrane’s ›A Love Supreme‹, Aretha Franklin’s ›Amazing Grace‹, and Marvin Gaye’s ›What’s Going On‹, as well as the spiritual side of church. When I started thinking about it, I realised it was the spirit of my ancestors. Recognising the origins of the sounds we have incorporated into the aesthetic of Western music is extremely important.«

JazzKLUB / Marylin Mazur Group / A stunning arsenal of instruments from all over the world

The lucky ones, born early enough to have participated in that legendary concert, certainly remember the Danish drummer’s spectacular performance with Miles Davis’ group at the 1988 Warsaw Jazz Jamboree. Consecutive generations of fans grew up with Marilyn Mazur’s playing on Jan Garbarek’s records, a collaboration which lasted over a decade. While, paradoxically, only selected works by the New-York-born Dane with Polish roots are known in Poland, the same cannot be said about Denmark, where Marilyn Mazur is considered an institution. Her stunning arsenal of instruments from around the world makes one forget what an original drummer she is on a traditional set. The groove driving you deep into your seat provides a counterpoint for the delicate pieces permeated with the spirit of world music, a genre Mazur pioneered in the 80s. A great personality, with an arsenal of excellent accomplishment to her name, still moving forward with a youthful energy. Tomasz Gregorczyk Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes

World Sona Jobarteh – The magic of the African harp

Sona Jobarteh is the first professional female kora player to have conquered a previously male domain. She comes from a family of Gambian musicians with a long tradition of playing the kora, a 21-stringed West African bridge harp. Until now, women were only allowed to sing to the sounds of the kora – Sona Jobarteh combines both in her meditative music-making. Born and raised in London, she studied both classical music and traditional African music. Sona Jobarteh shows us how well tradition and innovation can complement one another.

Springtime from Vienna

From History to Fable

Do you like listening to stories? Curling up in an armchair and casting your thoughts far away? Well, we have for you stories turned into sounds. Some of them take place among us, and we recognise in them familiar faces and situations. They take place in the world around us and can happen to anyone. But there are also fairy tales, which carry us far away, where no one has ever been before, beyond the mountains, beyond the forests, to the land of imagination, which will determine what our fairytale world will be like and who we will meet there. We invite you to join us on a musical journey from history to fable.