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Philharmonie Berlin, Chamber Music Hall (Berlin)
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Mozart's Hoffmeister Quartet was written a year after he began composing „Figaro“ and was published by Hoffmeister in 1786. A strange mixture of cheerfulness and melancholy connects the great quartet with the opera. Alfred Einstein said of the Adagio that it „speaks of suffering never before heard in such depth“. Schubert's Quartet in G major D 887 from 1826 was ahead of its time - it took almost half a century for this „uncompromising exploration of the themes of major and minor, life and death, hope and despair“ to find an appropriate response from critics and audiences.
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.
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.
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.
»Ecstatic screams from the audience, standing ovations« was how the Tagesspiegel described Mao Fujita’s DSO debut in April 2023. Fujita’s god is Mozart. One music track from his ›Mozart Reworked‹ CD made it all the way to the top on Apple Music’s ›Piano Chill Playlist‹; his recording of all the piano sonatas has been enthusiastically received by the critics. A real discovery.
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 2013, Jörg Widmann composed his first—and to date his only—song cycle. Das heiße Herz (“The Hot Heart”) is based on the works of a wide range of authors, including Clemens Brentano, Heinrich Heine, Klabund, and Peter Härtling, as well as lesser known poems from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Christian Immler and Andreas Frese, who have won acclaim for their collaboration on the cycle’s premiere recording, perform Widmann’s songs opposite works by Schumann and Mahler.
“It is the best thing I have written in my life”, declared Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1784 of his piano quintet. Many of his most famous works had not yet been written, but the quintet remains a Mozartian jewel, with its melodic beauty and charming dialogues between the instruments. It is no wonder that the young Ludwig van Beethoven was inspired by Mozart’s example to write an equally enchanting quintet. Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker play both works with pianist Kit Armstrong. Contemporary counterpoints are provided in the form of wind quintets by Hans Werner Henze and Wolfgang Rihm.
For more than six decades, the chamber concerts by musicians from the Staatskapelle have been a constant feature of the Staatsoper programme. This season, ensembles have come together to select music from different periods, styles and cultures under the theme of ‘playing together’. On eleven dates in the Apollosaal, which with its special atmosphere is an ideal venue for chamber music and communicative interaction between players and listeners, works from the Baroque to the present day will be performed in constellations that are both exciting and harmonious, in which tangible contrasts play just as important a role as a common resonance and the balancing of opposites.
The music of Robert Schumann has long been a major influence on Jörg Widmann’s own compositions. Joined by Sir András Schiff and Antoine Tamestit, he now brings three of Schumann’s works to the Pierre Boulez Saal that draw inspiration from poetic and non-musical ideas and reflect the Romantic fascination with the world of fairy tales. Alban Berg’s aphoristic Four Pieces of 1913 provide a striking contrast. The program concludes with Mozart’s “Kegelstatt” Trio, the historical model for the unusual combination of clarinet, viola, and piano.
Music is like time, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Its tempo can be steady like a heartbeat or expansive like the universe. In this concert, we journey through the vastness of space, across seasons and time, until we arrive in the present moment.
Last season, Julia Hamos made a highly successful debut performing Ligeti’s virtuosic Piano Concerto with the Boulez Ensemble. For her first solo recital, the young Hungarian-American pianist, who studied with Sir András Schiff at the Barenboim-Said Akademie, has chosen rarely heard pieces by Kurtág and Janáček, in a program bookended by Mozart’s A-minor Sonata K. 310 and Schumann’s monumental C-major Fantasy.
p>Chamber music is one of the great joys of life for our orchestral musicians. Here they meet up with Lera Auerbach, the composer, pianist and visual artist to whom a ‘Creative Portrait’ is dedicated this season. She will play Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor, first performed in 1785, in a version with string quintet. As the orchestra plays the role of a partner to the solo instrument in this concerto far more than in earlier representatives of the genre, K. 466 is probably a particularly good choice for such an arrangement! Antonín Dvořák wrote three string quintets - but only included the double bass in the middle one from 1875, thus providing an additional foundation. Czech folk music, dreamy passages and ‘dance melodies carried by shimmering sonorities’ - anyone who loves the composer's string serenade will also like this quintet. The programme also includes compositions by Lera Auerbach, which are yet to be announced.
„It's the sound in particular. Nobody else has it in this way [...] . And I think it's also the way you present the music to the audience. For me, it's very important that you have very quick access to the audience.“ This is how the renowned American baroque specialist, conductor and harpsichordist William Christie describes the French ensemble Les Arts Florissants, which he has led since 1979. The Konzerthausorchester is hosting them for the first time to perform Mozart and Haydn together - the latter fits in perfectly with the orchestra's focus on Haydn's works over several seasons. The „Litaniae Lauretanae“ KV 195 from 1774 is one of four litanies or supplications that Mozart composed in Salzburg during the course of his life. The name „Lauretana“ refers to the Marian devotion reflected in it. Due to its large orchestration and virtuoso solo parts, the work is one of the „Litaniae solemnes“ that were performed in Salzburg Cathedral. Joseph Haydn's Missa in B flat major or „Harmoniemesse“ was composed in 1802 and is the last of the six great mass compositions that - alongside The Creation and The Seasons - brought his vocal works to a crowning conclusion and his last completed composition. It was given its name because of the important „harmony-filling“ role of the obbligato wind parts.
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”.
„It's the sound in particular. Nobody else has it in this way [...] . And I think it's also the way you present the music to the audience. For me, it's very important that you have very quick access to the audience.“ This is how the renowned American baroque specialist, conductor and harpsichordist William Christie describes the French ensemble Les Arts Florissants, which he has led since 1979. The Konzerthausorchester is hosting them for the first time to perform Mozart and Haydn together - the latter fits in perfectly with the orchestra's focus on Haydn's works over several seasons. The „Litaniae Lauretanae“ KV 195 from 1774 is one of four litanies or supplications that Mozart composed in Salzburg during the course of his life. The name „Lauretana“ refers to the Marian devotion reflected in it. Due to its large orchestration and virtuoso solo parts, the work is one of the „Litaniae solemnes“ that were performed in Salzburg Cathedral. Joseph Haydn's Missa in B flat major or „Harmoniemesse“ was composed in 1802 and is the last of the six great mass compositions that - alongside The Creation and The Seasons - brought his vocal works to a crowning conclusion and his last completed composition. It was given its name because of the important „harmony-filling“ role of the obbligato wind parts.
Highlights from Mozart's chamber music oeuvre take centre stage in this concert by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and its wind soloists Xenia Löffler and Erwin Wieringa. Mozart's works for wind instruments are indebted to his friendships with great contemporary virtuosos: when he wrote his horn concertos and his masterful horn quintet (the latter a concerto in miniature, so to speak), the composer had Joseph Leutgeb's phenomenal playing in his ear. His only chamber music work with solo oboe was dedicated to his friend Friedrich Ramm. The member of the famous Mannheim court orchestra performed the premiere in 1781.
Highlights from Mozart's chamber music oeuvre take centre stage in this concert by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and its wind soloists Xenia Löffler and Erwin Wieringa. Mozart's works for wind instruments are indebted to his friendships with great contemporary virtuosos: when he wrote his horn concertos and his masterful horn quintet (the latter a concerto in miniature, so to speak), the composer had Joseph Leutgeb's phenomenal playing in his ear. His only chamber music work with solo oboe was dedicated to his friend Friedrich Ramm. The member of the famous Mannheim court orchestra performed the premiere in 1781.
Highlights from Mozart's chamber music oeuvre take centre stage in this concert by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and its wind soloists Xenia Löffler and Erwin Wieringa. Mozart's works for wind instruments are indebted to his friendships with great contemporary virtuosos: when he wrote his horn concertos and his masterful horn quintet (the latter a concerto in miniature, so to speak), the composer had Joseph Leutgeb's phenomenal playing in his ear. His only chamber music work with solo oboe was dedicated to his friend Friedrich Ramm. The member of the famous Mannheim court orchestra performed the premiere in 1781.
