ConcertPulse
Guest performance Album Release: Hopes & Fears
Philharmonie Berlin, Chamber Music Hall (Berlin)
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!
Under the motto »Orchestra for Democracy«, the DSO invites the audience to two concerts that combine music and speech to make a powerful plea for human rights and the value of our democracy. Central works of classical modernism and late romanticism meet contemporary reflections and create a format that places the demands and reality of our society at the centre.
For several years, Schaghajegh Nosrati has championed the music of French composer and pianist Charles Valentin Alkan, contributing to his rediscovery with an acclaimed recording of several of his piano works. As the final piece of her solo recital, she has chosen Alkan’s unconventional and highly virtuosic “Symphony for Solo Piano.” The program also includes works by Bach, Bartók, Haydn, and contemporary German composer Charlotte Seither.
Tango Suite for 2 Guitars (1984) by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) consists of three movements: Allegro, libero; Andante rubato, melancolico; and Allegro.
About the work A nation is cowed by its princess. Turandot, beautiful and fascinating representative of a royal dynasty, presides over a gruesome ritual: only her marriage to a suitor will bring an end to the violence, but no would-be bridegroom has yet managed to solve the riddles. The same old spectacle plays out, ending in yet another execution, until Calaf, the son of a deposed ruler from a foreign land, unexpectedly answers the riddles correctly. He then turns the tables on Turandot, forcing her to answer his own question if she wants to steal out of her obligation. Puccini’s times are changing rapidly, the art world is going through drastic transformation and new, abstract forms are being coined to reflect modern-day experience. And the composer, in his early 60s, is again trying to break new ground. Puccini spent the last four years of his life working on TURANDOT, based on a fairy tale by Carlo Gozzi [1762]. The score was his richest and altogether most dissonant. Far from being the soundtrack to a cutesy picture of a doll-like China, the exotic music provided the backdrop to a world suffused in an atmosphere of unimaginable cruelty. Try as he might, Puccini never did settle on a resolution to his drama. The composer who was ever leery of happy endings never managed to escape from the dead-end that he’d created for himself through Liù’s sacrifice and the imminent pairing of Turandot and Calaf. The question of how the two might ever discover some common ground remained unanswered. Puccini was variously intrigued and repelled by the idea of presenting of an all-encompassing love as a means to redemption in the face of everything that speaks against it – and could not bring himself to paint such a utopia. He left only a fragment behind when he died and the Ricordi publishing house brought in the composer Franco Alfano to complete the opera, based on sketches left behind by Puccini. About the production Lorenzo Fioroni’s production sets the action of the story ...
Astor Piazzolla's "Adiós Nonino", a version for violin and guitar, from the years 1921-1992.
Music is shaped not only by diverse tones and melodies but also by incredibly versatile rhythms and tempos. From spirited to melancholic, slow to fast, we explore the rhythmic variety in music. Clap, sneak, and dance along in the children's concert Takt auf, Takt ab!
What Jean Sibelius is to Finland, Edward Elgar is to England: both composers gave their country its own national musical language. With his Lemminkäinen Suite, Sibelius transports us to the world of Finnish legends. He tells of the adventures of a young, high-spirited hero in music that is as impassioned as it is sincere. Edward Elgar’s violin concerto reflects the values of Victorian England – profound, romantic, noble. The violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann, widely acclaimed for his selfless musicality, performs the concerto under the direction of Dima Slobodeniouk, who steps in for Kirill Petrenko.
Forsythe is a legendary choreographer, revered worldwide as one of the most creative innovators of the ballet tradition. Since the 1970s, he has revolutionised dance by intelligently developing academic ballet in a way that frees the human body from its predetermined corset and broadens choreographic expression in unprecedented ways. Many of William Forsythe’s virtuoso compositions have long become modern classics. In this homage, the Staatsballett will perform three groundbreaking pieces by the American choreographer. Approximate Sonata 2016 is a series of pas de deux, offering the performers the opportunity to mutually craft finely differentiated nuances within a choreographic structure whose forms are frequently difficult to sustain. The performers have a balanced agency in determining the dynamic outcome of these forms, striving to accommodate the choices the other is making in order to advance each other’s intentions. For all the hazardous torrent of dancers moving relentlessly around metal tables, One Flat Thing, reproduced (2000) is actually a purposeful chapter in ongoing research into the visual distribution of contrapuntal balletic structure. The work is set up as a linked ‹machinery› that is created through the interaction of three systems of organization: numerous individual movement themes, a dense system of distributed cueing and complex alignments of forms and/or movement flow. Although the dancer’s field of action is seriously delimited, the unyielding maze of tables also offers the unusual possibility of composing interrelated action on three levels. Blake Works I , staged for the Paris Opera Ballet in 2016, was the first work created in the classical idiom after a hiatus from ballet of more than 17 years. The work deploys a distinctly historical approach to the genre, versus the analytical approach used in a majority of the previous ballet oriented works. Blake Works I radiates an affection for the language of ballet, and even revives several iconic ...
Forsythe is a legendary choreographer, revered worldwide as one of the most creative innovators of the ballet tradition. Since the 1970s, he has revolutionised dance by intelligently developing academic ballet in a way that frees the human body from its predetermined corset and broadens choreographic expression in unprecedented ways. Many of William Forsythe’s virtuoso compositions have long become modern classics. In this homage, the Staatsballett will perform three groundbreaking pieces by the American choreographer. Approximate Sonata 2016 is a series of pas de deux, offering the performers the opportunity to mutually craft finely differentiated nuances within a choreographic structure whose forms are frequently difficult to sustain. The performers have a balanced agency in determining the dynamic outcome of these forms, striving to accommodate the choices the other is making in order to advance each other’s intentions. For all the hazardous torrent of dancers moving relentlessly around metal tables, One Flat Thing, reproduced (2000) is actually a purposeful chapter in ongoing research into the visual distribution of contrapuntal balletic structure. The work is set up as a linked ‹machinery› that is created through the interaction of three systems of organization: numerous individual movement themes, a dense system of distributed cueing and complex alignments of forms and/or movement flow. Although the dancer’s field of action is seriously delimited, the unyielding maze of tables also offers the unusual possibility of composing interrelated action on three levels. Blake Works I , staged for the Paris Opera Ballet in 2016, was the first work created in the classical idiom after a hiatus from ballet of more than 17 years. The work deploys a distinctly historical approach to the genre, versus the analytical approach used in a majority of the previous ballet oriented works. Blake Works I radiates an affection for the language of ballet, and even revives several iconic ...
Forsythe is a legendary choreographer, revered worldwide as one of the most creative innovators of the ballet tradition. Since the 1970s, he has revolutionised dance by intelligently developing academic ballet in a way that frees the human body from its predetermined corset and broadens choreographic expression in unprecedented ways. Many of William Forsythe’s virtuoso compositions have long become modern classics. In this homage, the Staatsballett will perform three groundbreaking pieces by the American choreographer. Approximate Sonata 2016 is a series of pas de deux, offering the performers the opportunity to mutually craft finely differentiated nuances within a choreographic structure whose forms are frequently difficult to sustain. The performers have a balanced agency in determining the dynamic outcome of these forms, striving to accommodate the choices the other is making in order to advance each other’s intentions. For all the hazardous torrent of dancers moving relentlessly around metal tables, One Flat Thing, reproduced (2000) is actually a purposeful chapter in ongoing research into the visual distribution of contrapuntal balletic structure. The work is set up as a linked ‹machinery› that is created through the interaction of three systems of organization: numerous individual movement themes, a dense system of distributed cueing and complex alignments of forms and/or movement flow. Although the dancer’s field of action is seriously delimited, the unyielding maze of tables also offers the unusual possibility of composing interrelated action on three levels. Blake Works I , staged for the Paris Opera Ballet in 2016, was the first work created in the classical idiom after a hiatus from ballet of more than 17 years. The work deploys a distinctly historical approach to the genre, versus the analytical approach used in a majority of the previous ballet oriented works. Blake Works I radiates an affection for the language of ballet, and even revives several iconic ...
The nearly 40-member chamber choir presents their current a-cappella program with works from Michael J. Trotta to Knut Nystedt and from Wilhelm Berger to Jakko Mäntijärvi. The singers are students of the Technical University and the Free University and rehearse during the semester for concerts, competitions and travels.
Founded in 2018 by Prof. Nawri, the Eisler Sinfonietta, a chamber ensemble of the university, regularly performs orchestral repertoire in ensemble arrangements. Experience a captivating concert featuring works by Stravinsky, Debussy, and Bartók.
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!
“Parental Leave” concerts are aimed at all new mothers and fathers (as well as uncles, aunts, grand parents…) who would like to experience music together with their babies in a relaxed setting. The number of seats is limited, and all amenities to make your visit as pleasant as possible are provided in the lobby. These concerts, featuring Pierre Boulez Saal artists performing excerpts from their programs, are approximately 45 minutes long and intended exclusively for visitors with babies aged 12 months and younger.
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.
Jean Rondeau is not only a highly respected interpreter of harpsichord works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, among others, but also a great jazz musician. So it comes as no surprise that he is passionate about improvisation – an art that is equally at home in both genres. Jean Rondeau presents an evening of improvisation designed to inspire through surprise: “In the absence of prior knowledge, the unexpected happens,” he explains.
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.
What Jean Sibelius is to Finland, Edward Elgar is to England: both composers gave their country its own national musical language. With his Lemminkäinen Suite, Sibelius transports us to the world of Finnish legends. He tells of the adventures of a young, high-spirited hero in music that is as impassioned as it is sincere. Edward Elgar’s violin concerto reflects the values of Victorian England – profound, romantic, noble. The violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann, widely acclaimed for his selfless musicality, performs the concerto under the direction of Dima Slobodeniouk, who steps in for Kirill Petrenko.
Danish composer Louise Alenius challenges the conventions of classical performance practice with her daring and experimental works. Her latest piece now receives its world premiere at the Pierre Boulez Saal: Apatiens anatomi (“The Anatomy of Apathy”) was written for Trio con Brio Copenhagen, which continues its tradition of presenting a new composition from its homeland in Berlin every season. The program also includes Beethoven’s youthful Opus 1 and Tchaikovsky’s romantic Piano Trio, composed in 1882.
The nearly 40-member chamber choir presents their current a-cappella program with works from Michael J. Trotta to Knut Nystedt and from Wilhelm Berger to Jakko Mäntijärvi. The singers are students of the Technical University and the Free University and rehearse during the semester for concerts, competitions and travels.
Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano in E-flat major op. 40 by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).
About the work According to Hugo von Hofmannsthal in a 1911 letter to Richard Strauss, in which he set out his idea for another collaboration between the two men, their next opera would be to THE MAGIC FLUTE what THE KNIGHT OF THE ROSE had been to FIGARO. And the work that premiered a full eight years later did indeed have strong echoes of Mozart’s »grand opéra«: there is the clash of different social classes, the fairytale-like, highly symbolic storyline and above all the strong feeling that ground-breaking change is underway which is challenging accepted orthodoxy and forcing issues of human interaction and values to the top of the political agenda. And in both cases enlightenment is gained only through ordeal and adversity. Here the shadow has a pivotal function as a metaphor for female fertility: the barren Empress and her nurse bargain with the dyer’s wife for her shadow. Only when the Empress rebels against achieving marital happiness and maternal contentment at someone else’s expense does a path to social harmony open up. About the production Tobias Kratzer has chosen this monumental fantasy opera to close his cycle of Strauss works at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Where ARABELLA explores how hard it can be to even start a relationship based on equal rights and INTERMEZZO depicts what can happen in a marriage that has gone stale, in THE WOMAN WITHOUT A SHADOW Kratzer focuses on the challenge of rekindling a bond that has weakened through years of poor nurturing – an approach that extends far beyond the domestic sphere due to the ethical issues surrounding surrogate motherhood.
In the Karajan Akademie of the Berliner Philharmoniker, outstanding young musicians are prepared for artistic work in a world-class orchestra. The concert series Carte blanche – Berlin, hör mal! particularly highlights the Academy’s educational mission. Here, the young musicians step out of the orchestra to perform as soloists or in ensembles. They select the repertoire and design the programmes themselves – a true Carte blanche in every sense of the term.
