Not only as a big symphonic ensemble, but also as the Konzerthaus Chamber Orchestra our Konzerthausorchester musicians come together several times each season – this time under the direction of of our First Concertmaster Suyoen Kim. They choose the pieces and instrumentation for their concerts themselves.
At our Espresso Concerts in the early afternoon, we serve two kinds of caffeine – one made from Arabica beans and, of course, a cup of musical espresso: outstanding young talents present surprise programmes that really wake you up!
After the great success that the South African cellist, singer and composer Abel Selaocoe had at Konzerthaus last spring with the Bantu Ensemble and “Ancestral Memories”, we are delighted to welcome back this crossover artist between the musical cultures of European classical music and South Africa. Virtuoso on his instrument and with an expressive voice, with which Abel also masters an overtone singing style called Umngqokolo, he creates intense music full of suggestive and expressive power. This time he performs together with the experimental Aurora Orchestra, which plays by heart and whose programme includes Beethoven's Seventh alongside Abel's work “Four Spirits”.
The Honens International Piano Competition promotes piano artistry, identifies exceptional young artists, and fosters a deeper understanding of piano music. Winners receive a three-year development program to prepare them for a professional music career. The 2022 prize winner, Illia Ovcharenko, will perform during the 2025 quarterfinals, held in cooperation with the Berlin University of the Arts from March 2nd to 4th.
We're bringing Italy to Dortmund, because it's not only in Berlin that winter is long and gray! The programme of our guest performance begins with a turbulent Rossini overture. This is followed by a classic, which we owe to the fact that 21-year-old Felix Mendelssohn fell deeply in love with the landscape of the south: “There is music in it, it resounds and sounds from all sides.” He wrote to his sister Fanny: “In general, composing is now fresh again. The 'Italian Symphony' is making great progress; it will be the funniest piece I have written.” However, the first version was only completed with great effort in the Berlin winter of 1832 - you really can't hear it! Hector Berlioz wandered through Abruzzo. Impressions of this tour and inspiration from Byron's poem “Childe Harold's Pilgrimage” resulted in a stylistically unique symphony in which the solo viola seems to embody the thematically introspective wanderer, while the orchestra seems to embody the romantic, roaring world, including a serenade to the lover and a robber's camp.
Off to Italy! If not in person, you can at least escape the grey of Berlin for a while with the Konzerthausorchester, Joana Mallwitz and our former artist in residence violist Antoine Tamestit. First, Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi will take you through picturesque Ligurian villages. The 21-year-old Felix Mendelssohn also fell in love with the southern landscape: ‘There is music in it, it sounds and resounds from all sides.’ He wrote to his sister Fanny: ‘In general, composing is now fresh again. The ‘Italian Symphony’ is making great progress; it will be the funniest piece I have written.’ However, the first version was only completed with great effort in the Berlin winter of 1832 - you would never know that from listening! Hector Berlioz travelled through the Abruzzo mountains. Impressions from this tour and inspiration from Byron's poem ‘Childe Harold's Pilgrimage’ resulted in a stylistically unique symphony in which the solo viola seems to embody the thematically rather static traveller, while the orchestra seems to embody the romantic, roaring world, including a serenade to the lover and a description of a robbers' camp.
Off to Italy! If not in person, you can at least escape the grey of Berlin for a while with the Konzerthausorchester, Joana Mallwitz and our former artist in residence violist Antoine Tamestit. First, Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi will take you through picturesque Ligurian villages. The 21-year-old Felix Mendelssohn also fell in love with the southern landscape: ‘There is music in it, it sounds and resounds from all sides.’ He wrote to his sister Fanny: ‘In general, composing is now fresh again. The ‘Italian Symphony’ is making great progress; it will be the funniest piece I have written.’ However, the first version was only completed with great effort in the Berlin winter of 1832 - you would never know that from listening! Hector Berlioz travelled through the Abruzzo mountains. Impressions from this tour and inspiration from Byron's poem ‘Childe Harold's Pilgrimage’ resulted in a stylistically unique symphony in which the solo viola seems to embody the thematically rather static traveller, while the orchestra seems to embody the romantic, roaring world, including a serenade to the lover and a description of a robbers' camp.
The one-hour short concerts ‘8Zehn30’ on Thursdays from 18:30 at the Konzerthaus Berlin are always short and sweet: let go of everyday life and simply immerse yourself in 60 minutes of music without a break - regardless of whether the end of the working day is already in sight or another evening shift has to be put in. The orchestra musicians of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin accompany their audience through a short(er) concert evening - from the personal introduction to the after-concert drinks at the bar in the Beethoven Hall.This time it's off to Italy - with Hector Berlioz's wanderer Harold, embodied by the solo viola of Antoine Tamestit.
As the first symphony orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin started an interactive livestream series on the gaming platform twitch in April 2021.The monthly two-hour livestreams are called „Spielzeit" and had 1.34 million views so far. For an average of 3.000 viewers, members of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin play music, explain their instruments and offer glimpses into their professional daily life.
At our Espresso Concerts in the early afternoon, we serve two kinds of caffeine – one made from Arabica beans and, of course, a cup of musical espresso: outstanding young talents present surprise programmes that really wake you up!
The labyrinth of lifeComposer, pianist, conductor, visual artist, poet: Lera Auerbach, to whom we are dedicating a ‘Creative Portrait’ this season, is an extraordinarily versatile artist. Explore a section of her personal universe during this portrait evening with conversation and music. Lera Auerbach will bring along some of her works as well as a collage created for this evening, which combines photos from her earliest childhood in Russia, her own poems and film footage of selected projects: ‘Life is sometimes as confusing as a labyrinth, and we need help to find our way out. For me, my memories are an important orientation aid in the labyrinth of the present, like a red thread that guides me.’ As a pianist, she will be performing solo and with a long-time companion, violinist Philippe Quint.The event will be held mainly in English.
This exhibition promises a diverse experience, blending visual art with music by Modest Mussorgsky, orchestrated by Maurice Ravel. The music transports us to France, Poland, and Ukraine, introducing characters like playing children, a dwarf, a witch, and intriguing locations such as an old castle and a hut on chicken legs. Even unhatched chicks make an appearance, creating a feast for the senses.
Agata Zubel's “Mother Lode III” (Hauptader 3), which explores the effects of spatial sound, is followed by the world premiere of a concerto for two percussionists and ensemble by Latvian composer Jānis Petraškevičs. Composer Anna Korsuns compares her work “Plexus” (network mesh) to “a complex network of sounds that is constantly in motion and forms an organic structure.” The final piece is Georg Katzer's “Godot kommt doch, geht aber wieder”, a musical game with expectations and surprises.
Sofia Gubaidulina's ‘Fairytale Poem’ from 1971, with which the Konzerthausorchester and Joana Mallwitz begin their concert, is, according to the composer, about a little piece of chalk with big dreams of marvellous things that it wants to draw. Unfortunately, it is only used as blackboard chalk at school and is eventually thrown away. A boy finds it and begins to draw castles, gardens and sunsets on the street. The chalk is too happy to realize that it is finally disintegrating. Shostakovich's first cello concerto from 1959 shows how the composer was finally able to utilise a wealth of long frowned upon modernist techniques after the death of Stalin. The cellist of the century and dedicatee Mstislav ‘Slava’ Rostropovich became the great midwife. With us, artist in residence Sheku Kanneh-Mason takes on the solo part.Tchaikovsky dedicated the Fourth Symphony, premiered in 1878, to his confidante and patron Nadezhda von Meck. They never met, but exchanged 1200 letters. He wrote to her about the last movement of the Fourth: ‘If you don't have enough reason to find happiness in yourself, mingle with people, see what a good time they are having, how they abandon themselves completely to joyful feelings!’ One can only add to that: Welcome to the Konzerthaus, mingle with our audience!
Sofia Gubaidulina's ‘Fairytale Poem’ from 1971, with which the Konzerthausorchester and Joana Mallwitz begin their concert, is, according to the composer, about a little piece of chalk with big dreams of marvellous things that it wants to draw. Unfortunately, it is only used as blackboard chalk at school and is eventually thrown away. A boy finds it and begins to draw castles, gardens and sunsets on the street. The chalk is too happy to realize that it is finally disintegrating. Shostakovich's first cello concerto from 1959 shows how the composer was finally able to utilise a wealth of long frowned upon modernist techniques after the death of Stalin. The cellist of the century and dedicatee Mstislav ‘Slava’ Rostropovich became the great midwife. With us, artist in residence Sheku Kanneh-Mason takes on the solo part.Tchaikovsky dedicated the Fourth Symphony, premiered in 1878, to his confidante and patron Nadezhda von Meck. They never met, but exchanged 1200 letters. He wrote to her about the last movement of the Fourth: ‘If you don't have enough reason to find happiness in yourself, mingle with people, see what a good time they are having, how they abandon themselves completely to joyful feelings!’ One can only add to that: Welcome to the Konzerthaus, mingle with our audience!
Sofia Gubaidulina's ‘Fairytale Poem’ from 1971, with which the Konzerthausorchester and Joana Mallwitz begin their concert, is, according to the composer, about a little piece of chalk with big dreams of marvellous things that it wants to draw. Unfortunately, it is only used as blackboard chalk at school and is eventually thrown away. A boy finds it and begins to draw castles, gardens and sunsets on the street. The chalk is too happy to realize that it is finally disintegrating. Shostakovich's first cello concerto from 1959 shows how the composer was finally able to utilise a wealth of long frowned upon modernist techniques after the death of Stalin. The cellist of the century and dedicatee Mstislav ‘Slava’ Rostropovich became the great midwife. With us, artist in residence Sheku Kanneh-Mason takes on the solo part.Tchaikovsky dedicated the Fourth Symphony, premiered in 1878, to his confidante and patron Nadezhda von Meck. They never met, but exchanged 1200 letters. He wrote to her about the last movement of the Fourth: ‘If you don't have enough reason to find happiness in yourself, mingle with people, see what a good time they are having, how they abandon themselves completely to joyful feelings!’ One can only add to that: Welcome to the Konzerthaus, mingle with our audience!
The twilight hour has dissolved into a pleasant memory, the pulse of the city drops noticeably, one begins to breathe deeply: at precisely 9pm, violinist Daniel Hope opens his salon for music and conversation in the Werner Otto Hall. Hope@9pm is a contemporary descendant of Berlin’s 18th century salon culture with its cultural and political debates and discussions, its esprit and its music. Always at the side of the well-travelled host: piano accompanist Jacques Ammon.
What's even more beautiful than a cello? Ten cellos! Chamber music is one of the great joys of life for our orchestra musicians. Here, seven members of our cello group and our orchestra academy come together with their colleague Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who is our current artist in residence, for a musically diverse programme.
At our Espresso Concerts in the early afternoon, we serve two kinds of caffeine – one made from Arabica beans and, of course, a cup of musical espresso: outstanding young talents present surprise programmes that really wake you up!
Jan Lisiecki and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields radiate pure joy of playing. This was already evident in 2018, when the young pianist saved a concert tour of the traditional British ensemble and stood in for Murray Perahia, who was ill, with all five Beethoven concertos - including at the Konzerthaus Berlin. The applause was enormous and the album with the live recording was a great success. Since then, this connection has been a very special one. Experience the Academy and the Canadian-Polish pianist once again with Beethoven: the fifth and final piano concerto and the triple concerto, in which concertmaster Tomo Keller and cello star Daniel Müller-Schott join Jan Lisiecki.
Stefan Wolpe was forced to flee Berlin after the National Socialists came to power, as he had publicly positioned himself against the Nazis as a convinced communist and artistic director of the agitprop theater “Truppe 31”. After an odyssey via Prague, Zurich and Vienna, where he took composition lessons with Anton Webern, he emigrated to Palestine with his partner, the Romanian pianist Irma Schoenberg. In Jerusalem, Irma was able to teach piano at the newly founded conservatory and Stefan also received a position as a composition teacher in 1935. His students there included Herbert Brün, Chaim Alexander and Wolf Rosenberg, who had emigrated to Palestine with his family in 1936. We will hear works by Wolpe from the Jerusalem period as well as early piano works by Wolf Rosenberg and the 2nd String Quartet, played by pianist Angelika Nebel and the Seneca Quartet. Pamela Rosenberg, the composer's widow, will be the guest of the evening.In cooperation with musica reanimata – Förderverein zur Wiederentdeckung NS-verfolgter Komponisten und ihrer Werke e.V.
As the first symphony orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin started an interactive livestream series on the gaming platform twitch in April 2021.The monthly two-hour livestreams are called „Spielzeit" and had 1.34 million views so far. For an average of 3.000 viewers, members of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin play music, explain their instruments and offer glimpses into their professional daily life.
Good news for all fans of Sebastian Knauer - the pianist is back at the Konzerthaus with Mozart's Concerto in D minor, premiered in 1785. Compared to earlier works in this genre, the orchestra is increasingly taking on the role of piano partner, which is of course good news for the Konzerthausorchester. Under the Dutch conductor Jan Willem de Vriend, however, our musicians will first play the inter-act music to a drama about the Egyptian King Thamos, which is set in the sun city of Heliopolis and was first performed in 1774. There is little to say about the plot - apart from the fact that the right people get each other and the schemers die by their own daggers or by being struck by lightning. Finally, Haydn's No. 99 from 1793, one of the „London“ symphonies, is played. In it, he used clarinets for the first time and (whether because of this or anyway is not known) had considerable success with the public.
Concert Pulse