Mozart premiered his first minor-key piano concerto in Vienna on February 11, 1785. This concerto in D minor marks a departure from his usual pleasing style. Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony's scherzo reflects Stalin's terrifying image, while the Allegretto and finale assert the composer's presence through his musical initials (D-Es-C-H).
The Harvestehuder Sinfonieorchester has been an integral part of Hamburg’s musical life since 1966. Twice a year, its performances in the Laeiszhalle prove that amateur ensembles can also give concerts on a professional level. Each member is required to have outstanding instrumental ability and extensive orchestral experience before they can contribute to musical projects. In more than 130 concerts, the 90-strong ensemble has, under selected conductors, performed works by more than 80 composers, including Hamburg premieres of works by contemporary composers.
»Auf nach Paris!« (Off to Paris!) is the motto of the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn’s concert in February. This time, the orchestra looks to neighbouring France and has designed the programme with this in mind: it starts with Haydn’s Symphony No. 83 with the beautiful nickname »La Poule« (The Chicken). The work was composed in 1785 for the concert series »Le Concert de la Loge Olympique« and confirmed Haydn’s fame in France.
When listening to Igor Levit play Beethoven, you feel that you are being taken by the hand, that you are being led in a determined and yet extremely friendly manner on an exploration of a densely built-up terrain. An unexpected attraction captivates at every bend in the road, everything is there in its intimacy, grandeur, in its deep, ethical seriousness. And yet it seems close, accessible, completely present. This also applies when Levit takes on a work that was not actually intended for piano, such as Beethoven’s expansive »Eroica« Symphony: Beethoven is as direct, spontaneous and physical as life itself. But also as existential and uncomfortable as the things that determine our happiness and our worries. Igor Levit achieves that magical balance between the telling details and the meaningfulness of the big picture that characterises the classic Beethoven.
The Junge Symphoniker Hamburg, conducted by Daniel Kirchmann, will be performing two works by great composers in their spring concert programme: the orchestra will begin the concert with an elegant yet fateful work by Ludwig van Beethoven: his Third Piano Concerto is in C minor, the same key as the Fifth Symphony, which gave the work a huge boost in popularity as an early example of the »heroic phase« of the titan of Viennese classical music. The solo part will be performed by the young Japanese pianist Yoichiro Chiba, who recently won third place in the Possehl Music Competition at the Lübeck Musikhochschule. A real triumph after great disappointment was the Second Symphony for Sergei Rachmaninov, which is performed in the second part of the concert: with this highly emotional work, the composer finally overcame a creative crisis that had overtaken him after the disastrous premiere of his First Symphony. In the Second, he wanted to do everything better - and did so successfully: the symphony remains one of Rachmaninov’s most popular works to this day. Composed shortly after the famous Second Piano Concerto, it shares its rapturous tone and gripping melody.
The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, also known as the Symphoniker Hamburg, is a German orchestra based in Hamburg. It was founded in 1957.
The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, also known as the Symphoniker Hamburg, is a German orchestra based in Hamburg. It was founded in 1957.
Rachmaninov had been living with his wife on Lake Lucerne in his newly built villa »Senar« (Sergei & Natalia Rachmaninov) for four years when he composed his Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini in 1934. The theme comes from the last of the 24 Caprices for solo violin, which are so technically tricky that they contributed significantly to Paganini’s reputation as the devil’s violinist. The curious list of composers who were inspired by Paganini’s theme ranges from Brahms and Liszt to Szymanowski, Blacher, Lutosławski and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Rachmaninov uses the theme as the starting material for a series of 24 variations with an introduction and coda, ingeniously combining the structure of the work with that of a three-movement concerto. Adaptations of the opulent 18th variation (in the rare key of D flat major) can be found in films as well as pop songs and video games. In the seventh variation, Rachmaninov also introduces the »Dies irae« – a cross-reference that appears like a signature in many of his works and also recurs at the end of the variations.
Trilling and chirping birds in spring, buzzing and humming bees just before a furious thunderstorm in summer, grape harvest in autumn, biting cold and falling snowflakes in winter – no artistic work describes the four seasons better than Antonio Vivaldi’s cycle of the same name. The Tschechische Kammerphilharmonie Prag will be performing it as well as Handel’s »Water Music« and Haydn’s »Farewell Symphony« in the Grand Hall of the Laeiszhalle.
Accompanied by delicate harp sounds and soft strings, this evening is a feast for the senses: in an intimate atmosphere, floating light accents conjure up points of inspiration on the stage. The light from the lanterns creates a warmth that creates a connection between the artists and the audience. The music of great composers tells stories that touch the heart and soul. With its lively and clear melodies, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s serenade »Eine kleine Nachtmusik« is one of the most famous compositions in classical music. George Frideric Handel’s Harp Concerto in B flat major enchants with its elegant lightness and subtle nuances that make the harp shine as a solo instrument. Gustav Mahler’s Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony is a deeply emotional piece that is considered a musical love poem and makes time stand still with its tenderness. Finally, Antonín Dvořák’s String Serenade in E major exudes a touch of romanticism, full of Bohemian folk melodies and swinging elegance.
Two highlights of classical music, W.A. Mozart’s Requiem in D minor and the mighty »German Mass« No. 2 by Franz Schubert - two of the most moving masterpieces for orchestra and choir on one concert evening! The Czech Symphony Orchestra Prague takes up the great challenge of presenting these two works in one event.They will be masterfully and vocally supported by four excellent soloists and the Coro di Praga.
Christoph Willibald Gluck's opera "Alceste" deeply impressed the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Years later, Mozart completed a symphonic trio. Franz Liszt, inspired by a drawing, revisited his symphonic poem form two decades later. Richard Wagner's "Tristan" prelude encapsulates the struggle of hopeless love.
The season of the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn ends as it began – with Beethoven! This time, however, Beethoven’s most famous symphony, Symphony No. 5, which has become known as the Fate Symphony, is juxtaposed with a piano concerto by Johannes Brahms. Brahms’s second piano concerto was composed 22 years after the first work in this genre and is partly symphonic in scale. And yet Brahms himself wrote about the work to Elisabeth von Herzogenberg that he had written »a very small piano concerto with a very small, delicate scherzo«. The soloist in this concert is the 21-year-old American Caleb Borick, who won the International Telekom Beethoven Competition in 2023. But the beginning of the concert starts up north to the Scottish Hebrides: Felix Mendelssohn was privileged by his wealthy family, enabling him to undertake numerous journeys – including to Scotland, to the Hebrides, whose rugged beauty he translated into nature.
Mozart's "little" G minor symphony, written at age 17, gained fame through Miloš Forman's 1984 film "Amadeus." Mozart valued it enough to request the score ten years later. Completed on October 5, 1773, after his third Italian trip, it's his first minor key symphony, inspired by Haydn's 39th symphony. Mahler's Fifth Symphony quotes Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio." Mahler struggled with the Fifth, revising it multiple times. The famous Adagietto, a love letter to his wife Alma, shouldn't be played too slowly.
When Verdi’s »Patria oppressa« meets Kendlinger’s »Höre Mensch«, musical forces unite for human rights. There is an essential point of contact in the work of the maestro of Italian opera and the contemporary Austrian composer Matthias Georg Kendlinger – it is always people who take centre stage.
In 1829, 20-year-old Felix Mendelssohn sketched the Hebrides Overture while in Scotland. Years later, it premiered in London after revisions. Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto, influenced by Alban Berg, premiered in New York in 1940 after revisions. Beethoven's Second Symphony, despite being composed during a difficult period, is surprisingly bright and unconventional, challenging traditional forms.
Stravinsky's "Jeu de cartes" ballet was inspired by a Parisian taxi ride and his love for card games. The music incorporates various quotes, including Rossini, Strauss, Ravel, and Beethoven. The text also discusses Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, written for his friend Anton Stadler and his basset clarinet, and Schubert's Symphony No. 4, nicknamed "Tragic," reflecting the composer's personal struggles and triumphs.
Luciano Berio, a prominent 20th-century Italian composer, had a unique relationship with tradition, creating numerous arrangements and transcriptions of various composers. In his 1989 work "Rendering," based on Schubert's unfinished Symphony No. 10, his arranging and composing skills merge. Berio likened his restoration approach to that of frescoes, reviving old colors without hiding time's damage. 1907 was a devastating year for Mahler, marked by his daughter's death, a heart condition diagnosis, anti-Semitic attacks, and his resignation from the Vienna Court Opera. Seeking solace, he found "The Chinese Flute," which inspired "Das Lied von der Erde," his personal farewell to the world, with the final song, "Der Abschied," being the longest.
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