ConcertPulse
Guest performance
Philharmonie Berlin, Chamber Music Hall (Berlin)
Filters
Opera Arias, Zarzuelas and Latin American Songs
Anyone who delves into George Frideric Handel’s vocal and instrumental music will find a wealth of treasures. Elegance, virtuosity, delicacy – all this can be discovered in an endlessly inventive world of musical expression. In a programme with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and conductor Robin Ticciati, you can experience some of Handel’s most beautiful arias and orchestral pieces from operas and other works. Iestyn Davies, one of the leading countertenors of our time, is the soloist. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a great admirer of Handel. His festive and exuberant “Haffner Symphony” concludes the programme.
In homage to a city where so much is possible: All three ensembles in this concert have their artistic home in Berlin – and also enjoy successful international careers. Singer Lucia Cadotsch and her trio ‘Speak Low’ captivate with their gentle, feather-light, unpretentious music, while the quartet of pianist and composer Julia Hülsmann is characterised by a style that is both intense and subtle. Kurt Rosenwinkel, who has worked with musicians such as Eric Clapton, Gary Burton and Brad Mehldau, is one of the most important voices on the Berlin and global jazz scene as a guitarist, composer and producer.
In this series, the Berliner Philharmoniker and guests spark enthusiasm for classical music and take a closer look at the art of composing. In moderated concerts, they present the timbres of the instruments. In the school concert “Klassik rockt” with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the music and comedy duo Carrington-Brown and the children’s songwriter Suli Puschban, young and old can also sing along – across all musical styles.
Strong and yet vulnerable – on the international music scene, Souad Massi's voice is unmistakable. The Algerian began her career as a member of a heavy metal band, later establishing herself as a singer-songwriter in her exile home of Paris. In her songs, Souad Massis mixes elements of French chanson and Algerian music with folk rock and country music. Her music addresses existential themes such as freedom, justice and female self-determination. In her programme Sequana, she sings about the fragility of nature.
»The omnipotent corruptor of taste in Italy.« »Immaturity, tastelessness, and ugliness.« Quite some impudence, what Verdi heard from Wagner conductor Hans von Bülow in 1874. Another critic found: »After all, isn’t the Italian entitled to ask whether he is allowed to speak Italian with God?« And for Verdi, this is how speaking with God about death in Italian goes: happy for some theatrics, but the Mass should by no means sound »like an opera«. Whether he succeeded—everyone will have to judge for themselves.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pierre Boulez, an influential composer and conductor closely associated with the Staatskapelle Berlin. The FESTTAGE concert will feature music by Alban Berg and Gustav Mahler, composers with whom Boulez had a special relationship, and Boulez's own "Notations" for large orchestra, a piece familiar to the Staatskapelle.
Aida – Rigoletto – La Bohème – Gianni Schicchi – La traviata and other operas
For her it is true love, for him just an affair. Giacomo Puccini transformed John Luther Long’s 1898 story of teenaged geisha Cio-Cio-San and cavalier American naval lieutenant Pinkerton into one of the most popular operas of all time – and a commentary on colonialism that remains ripe for re-examination. His music reflects both the orientalism of his time and the sentimentality of late verismo. After leading staged performances in Baden-Baden, Kirill Petrenko presents Madama Butterfly in concert to the Berlin public. The title role will be sung by Eleonora Buratto, who was celebrated for her performance of this part at the New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Star tenor Jonathan Tetelman takes the role of Pinkerton.