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Laeiszhalle, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)
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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!
A breathtaking musical journey that shows in a folkloristic and cheerful way the musical bridges that connect Bach and other classical European icons with the most beautiful Latin American rhythms. The concert begins with Bach and ends with him. In between, the musicians show the full richness of Latin American music.
Every pianist and soloist takes a risk with Franz Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. Few have dared to tackle this pianistic chunk, which demands everything at once: power, virtuosity, a sense of the piece's architecture, and a keen ear for detail. Igor Levit takes on this task. Liszt has long been a favorite in his repertoire. For a TV documentary, he already traced the composer's footsteps around 15 years ago. Levit's program for the Essen Philharmonic is brilliant: First, he takes us back to the starting point of all romantic piano virtuosity, Bach's "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue".
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.
British trumpet player Matilda Lloyd looks self-confidently at her nomination as a »Rising Star«, which she brings to the big European concert halls within one season: »My future self inspires me. I have a very clear idea of where I want to go, what I want to do and who I want to be and that helps me to grow every day.« Inspired by this, she presents a complete audio-visual artwork. The seven movements of the »Framed« cycle by Cecilia McDowall structure the programme: played separately, they weave music by Claude Debussy, Enrique Granados, Amy Beach, Deborah Pritchard and others, complemented by projected images and videos. Matilda Lloyd not only plays the trumpet, but also reads poetry – a kaleidoscope of the most varied sensations!
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.
Each year, the European Concert Hall Organisation selects six Rising Stars and sends them on a journey through its member concert halls. The young stars of 2024/25 also include cellist Benjamin Kruithof, who thanks to his »classy, cantabile and lovely tone« (bachtrack.com) emerged as the winner of the George Enescu Cello Competition in 2022. He can wholeheartedly display this beautiful tone at the Elbphilharmonie. After all, the programme culminates in the almost infinite melodies of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s cello sonata. However, first of all, Kruithof gives the evening a poetic start with the »Trois Pièces« by Nadia Boulanger and then presents his Rising Star commissioned work by British composer Sally Beamish. It continues with music by Benjamin Britten, who always knew how to produce a superb balance of modernity and sensuality in his works. In the five movements of his cello sonata, a real kaleidoscope of moods and textures evolves in which the melodic flair of the cello already appears several times. Rachmaninoff propelled this unrivalled ability to span the broadest arcs in his large-scale sonata to a glittering climax and lets the cello paint sensually over the edge – a fitting end!
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.
This text explores the sounds of a joyful day, from hopping out of bed to the silvery moonbeams of evening. It asks how to musically express these moments, from breakfast songs to the flavors of lunch and the dreams of an afternoon nap.
The Konzerthausorchester invites families to the Great Hall on Sundays at 11.00 - croissants and hot chocolate included! A musician always leads through the program. They reveal secrets from everyday life in the orchestra and invite you to join in. Meanwhile, younger siblings between the ages of 3 and 6 are very welcome at the “Musical childcare”.
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.
Individuality finding harmonious expression in an ensemble – this is the quintessence of the Vogler Quartet, which has been pursuing a unique global career with an unchanged line-up since its formation in 1985. With an intelligent approach to chamber music, outstanding playing technique and interpretive sensitivity, Tim Vogler, Frank Reinecke, Stefan Fehlandt and Stephan Forck have created an unmistakable string quartet sound which consistently offers new insights into the genre. The group has had a concert series at the Konzerthaus Berlin since 1993.
This text explores the sounds of a joyful day, from hopping out of bed to the silvery moonbeams of evening. It asks how to musically express these moments, from breakfast songs to the flavors of lunch and the dreams of an afternoon nap.
Jeremy Joseph, who took over this organ lesson at short notice for his teacher Martin Haselböck, who was ill, is no stranger to Berlin audiences: six years ago, he was already a duo partner for Gottlieb Wallisch in the Great Hall of the Konzerthaus Berlin, with whom he performed a brilliant program Organ & Piano. In this solo program, he spans an arc from Johann Sebastian Bach and Max Reger - each represented with major works - to Arnold Schoenberg as a “modern classic”, whose variations on a theme by Johann Sebastian Bach are now also part of the standard repertoire.
This text explores the sounds of a joyful day, from hopping out of bed to the silvery moonbeams of evening. It asks how to musically express these moments, from breakfast songs to the flavors of lunch and the dreams of an afternoon nap.
Mandelring Quartet
At the Rising Stars Festival, the Elbphilharmonie Recital Hall again becomes the stage for the most exciting musicians of the young generation in January 2025. Amongst these stars of tomorrow is the Quatuor Agate, as the only ensemble. The string quartet formed in Berlin in 2016 and the musicians’ joint career long since assumed an international format. The Guardian enthuses about the Brahms debut album by the four Frenchmen: »Warm, wonderfully refined sound, impeccable intonation and punctilious attention to detail.« Under the heading »Outlaws«, the Quatuor Agate presents a well-thought out concept programme in Hamburg with String Quartet No. 8 by Dmitri Shostakovich at its heart. Under the impact of the tyranny of his Russian homeland, Shostakovich created a piece of bloodcurdling intensity in 1960 that he saw as his own musical obituary. Adrien Jurkovic, Thomas Descamps, Raphaël Pagnon and Simon Iachemet surround this confessional music with a broad-based programme combination which ranges from the Renaissance to the present day. Projections accompany the programme and shine a light on the life of the composers. With singing, the musicians rise far above their usual role as instrumentalists in the commissioned composition by Anna Korsun.
The illustrious circle of »Rising Stars« 2024/25, selected from the great European concert halls, includes clarinettist Carlos Ferreira – although the title of a Rising Star almost seems too small. Solo clarinettist of the Orchestre National de France, prize winner of the famous ARD Music Competition and recipient of the solo artist prize from the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – the Portuguese star is already high in the sky! Ferreira presents a broadly-based programme that he designed together with pianist Pedro Emanuel Pereira. Both of them had already recorded an album together in 2023 and, as a well-functioning duo, carry off the Hamburg audience into the most diverse soundscapes. The spectrum of the evening ranges from the supple elegance of Claude Debussy via the warm melancholy of Johannes Brahms to the charming preposterousness of Francis Poulenc. If that is not enough variety for anyone, they can look forward to brand new music by young Chinese composer Lanqing Ding with the commissioned work for Carlos Ferreira.
Experience the most exciting young personalities of the classical music world for a whole week – the Rising Stars Festival makes this possible. Chosen from the most famous concert halls in Europe, six excellent young musicians use the Elbphilharmonie Recital Hall to give the Hamburg audience sonic samples of their star potential. The festival kicks off with the Franco-Dutch violist Sào Soulez Larivière, whom the Elbphilharmonie itself nominated as its personal Rising Star for the 2024/25 season and who was already a guest in the »Teatime Classics« series. Larivière builds his programme around an equally rare and fascinating combination: the sonorous sound of the viola impacts on the kaleidoscope of sound of the percussion. The violist gets support from drummer and former Rising Star Christoph Sietzen – and this extraordinary line-up naturally does not offer standard repertoire, but a programme selection full of surprises and discoveries, which Larivière presents as a young artist with an open mind and mature personality.
This concert has been cancelled due to illness. Tickets can be refunded at point of purchase. 40 years ago, Mischa Maisky recorded the six solo suites for cello by Johann Sebastian Bach – a legendary recording. »Bach was the greatest Romantic of his time, and on many different levels.« With these words, cellist Mischa Maisky describes his approach to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach not only wrote the greatest amount of remarkable music in the history of music, he was also a father and was therefore at the centre of life. Maisky’s gripping, emotionally charged interpretation of the Thomaskantor’s music is based on this understanding, making it certainly one of, if not the central work in Maisky’s concert repertoire. With a mischievous smile, he declaims: »If I say that music is my religion, then these six solo suites are my bible.« Who is still surprised that Maisky’s cello suites are an absolute hit on YouTube? The first suite currently has over 58 million views, a figure that dwarfs anything comparable. But contact with the audience has always been the most important thing for Maisky. Performing the complete Bach suites is one of the most strenuous tasks as a soloist: »They are undoubtedly the greatest challenge. And the most beautiful when they succeed.« However, he is never interested in showing how well he can play. »I will never be the best cellist, but I could certainly play more precisely and clearly if I concentrated on that.« But then something else that is more essential to him would be lost: »Expressiveness. That’s more important to me than perfection.«
We have often heard from you how vividly our artists in residence and their concerts are remembered - and that we should definitely invite this or that artist again! We have taken this to heart and are launching a new subscription series in the Great Hall. Countertenor Philippe Jaroussky is one of the first to confirm his participation. The 2015/16 artist in residence and his pianist Jérôme Ducros will perform songs from the Viennese classical period and French fin de siècle music. Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947), whose glamorous Parisian bohemian life included a love affair (and subsequent close friendship) with Marcel Proust, is likely to be a discovery among the well-known names.
Gabor Szabo violin