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January 2, 2025

New Jersey Sinfonietta Young Artists’ Recital

Thu, Jan 2, 2025, 19:30

Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Chaeyeon Oh (Oboe), Jihoo Hwang (Violin), Jieon Lee (Cello), Yunseo Cho (Cello)

Returning to Hamburg for the again, New Jersey Sinfonietta presents four extraordinary young musicians, aged 14 to 17, who will captivate audiences with their award-winning performances. As winners of the 2024 competition, these gifted performers represent the future of classical music, combining technical mastery with artistic depth. Aligned with the New Jersey Sinfonietta’s mission to nurture young talent through exceptional performance opportunities, this concert is a unique chance to witness the next generation of classical virtuosos.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

December 15, 2024

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Jean-Yves Thibaudet / Marek Janowski

Sun, Dec 15, 2024, 18:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Piano), Marek Janowski (Conductor)

A luminary of the German Romantic symphonic repertoire meets a master of elegant French piano playing: Marek Janowski returns to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra to perform Robert Schumann’s Fourth Symphony and Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 5 with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

December 12, 2024

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Jean-Yves Thibaudet / Marek Janowski

Thu, Dec 12, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Piano), Marek Janowski (Conductor)

A luminary of the German Romantic symphonic repertoire meets a master of elegant French piano playing: Marek Janowski returns to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra to perform Robert Schumann’s Fourth Symphony and Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 5 with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

December 11, 2024

Augustin Hadelich / Mozarteumorchester Salzburg / Andrew Manze

Wed, Dec 11, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Augustin Hadelich (Violin), Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Andrew Manze (Conductor)

A mysterious stranger who only reveals his true identity after some time. Two different personalities between whom an exciting scene unfolds: for Augustin Hadelich, Mozart’s music is stories. »He was a composer who always thought dramatically, in story arcs; he wrote operas – and much of his instrumental music is composed in precisely this kind of language.« In Hadelich’s ProArte concert, audiences can experience twice how these instrumental stories sound live – with Mozart’s Second and Fifth Violin Concertos. The orchestral part is in the hands of the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, which has Mozart’s music written into its DNA, so to speak. Robert Schumann’s Fourth Symphony, originally conceived as a »symphonic fantasy«, also tells a story.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

December 6, 2024

Chiaroscuro Quartet / Cédric Tiberghien

Fri, Dec 6, 2024, 20:00

Laeiszhalle, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Alina Ibragimova (Violin), Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux (Violin), Emilie Hörnlund (Viola), Claire Thirion (Cello), Cédric Tiberghien (Piano)

Founded while its members were all still studying at the renowned Royal College of Music in London, the Chiaroscuro Quartet will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next year. After all that time it is no wonder that Alina Ibragimova, Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux, Emilie Hörnlund and Claire Thirion share an implicit trust when making music together. One particular thing that makes them so special is the historical instruments they play on, which gives many well-known works an unexpected, fresh sound. They are joined by the world-class pianist Cédric Tiberghien, who has been Alina Ibragimova’s piano partner for many years now. He too is playing an historical grand piano for the evening’s programme. From his Op. 9 onwards, Joseph Haydn regarded his string quartets as part of the genre that he would go down in music history as having founded. Rather than writing divertimentos, commissioned by aristocratic patrons as a distracting amusement, he was now set on writing music to be listened to. And the Chiaroscuro Quartet, whose Haydn recordings were described by BR as a »sprightly, irresistibly brilliant attack on the ear – thrilling in the best sense of the word«, certainly demand to be listened to with a captivated attention. It promises to be equally lively when the quartet applies its playing style to the Romantics Schumann and Brahms, accompanied by the pianist Cédric Tiberghien, who won the German Record Critics’ Award with a Brahms chamber music album. Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet is at times tumultuous and at other times extremely tender, written to involve his wife, the piano virtuoso Clara Schumann, in the recent successes of his chamber music. Being a close friend of Johannes Brahms, she in turn encouraged him to rewrite a sonata for two pianos as a piano quintet, fearing that otherwise »many of the most beautiful ideas would be lost«. Brahms took her advice and went on to create chamber music filled with magnificent, almost orchestral tonal colours.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

November 27, 2024

Ivo Pogorelich / Piano Recital

Wed, Nov 27, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Ivo Pogorelich (Piano)

Ivo Pogorelich is undoubtedly one of the most renowned pianists in the world. His unique musical talent and innovative approach make him one of the most original musical thinkers of our time. His adventurous spirit, appreciated for his clarity in discovering new forms of musical expression, is expressed in piano playing of the highest aesthetic value, inimitable virtuosity and technical mastery. An eccentric, he is known for his spectacular performances and profound interpretations that leave listeners breathless.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

November 24, 2024

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal / Daniil Trifonov / Rafael Payare

Sun, Nov 24, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Daniil Trifonov (Piano), Rafael Payare (Conductor)

Quiet, shy, introverted: Daniil Trifonov often seems to be from another world. And perhaps he reveals this world in every one of his concerts. Because when the native Russian now living in New York sits down at the piano, an incomparable magic unfolds, eliciting sounds and feelings from his instrument that seem to defy rational explanation. It is fitting that he plays Robert Schumann’s highly romantic piano concerto in this ProArte concert. With Hector Berlioz’ intoxicating Symphonie fantastique, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal presents the instrumental counterpart to Schumann’s introverted soundscapes in the second half of the concert.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

November 23, 2024

Haydn-Orchester Hamburg / Mathias Weber / Rida Murtada

Sat, Nov 23, 2024, 20:00

Laeiszhalle, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Haydn-Orchester, Mathias Weber (Piano), Rida Murtada (Conductor)

The Haydn-Orchester Hamburg is regarded as one of northern Germany’s top amateur orchestras. Founded in 1977, Rida Murtada has occupied the position of musical director since 2003. The orchestra performs biannually at the Laeiszhalle.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

November 13, 2024

London Philharmonic Orchestra / Pablo Ferrández / Edward Gardner

Wed, Nov 13, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pablo Ferrández (Cello), Edward Gardner (Conductor)

»I’m Pablo and I play the cello,« was how Pablo Ferrández naturally introduced himself as a young child. And how could it be any different for someone who was named after the »father of all cellists« – Pablo Casals – and was given his first cello at the age of three? Since then, the instrument has been his second voice – a means of expression that can be used to say anything. The Spanish cellist was able to bear eloquent witness to this to the ProArte audience alongside Anne-Sophie Mutter back in 2022. The anticipation of being able to experience him again as the protagonist in Schumann’s Cello Concerto is correspondingly great. The great narrative gesture that accompanies this concerto can also be found in Beethoven’s »Eroica« Symphony, which the London Philharmonic Orchestra performs in the second half of the concert.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

November 7, 2024

Julia Fischer & Jan Lisiecki

Thu, Nov 7, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Julia Fischer (Violin), Jan Lisiecki (Piano)

It is by no means a given that outstanding soloists are also brilliant chamber musicians. How do you find a common musical breath? How do you bring your sound ideas together and mould them into a musical thought? Not problems for Julia Fischer and Jan Lisiecki! When they appeared on stage as a duo for the first time at the Rheingau Music Festival in 2022, it was clear that they had found themselves a dream team. The same undisguised view of the works, the same joy of playing and enthusiasm for working together. Luckily for the audience, the pair will also be making a stop in Hamburg on their next tour together, enriching the ProArte programme with a fine evening of chamber music featuring sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

October 19, 2024

Katharina Konradi / Catriona Morison / Song Recital

Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 19:30

Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Katharina Konradi (Soprano), Catriona Morison (Mezzo-Soprano), Ammiel Bushakevitz (Piano)

France calls the German art song »Le lied«. This resonates respect for this world-famous phenomenon, but also a lot of autonomy at the same time. The French art song is actually very self-confidently called »mélodie«. With Katharina Konradi and Catriona Morison, two equally top-class singers present a programme which delightfully contrasts Schumann and Brahms’ songs with their French contemporaries. Katharina Konradi is best known to the Hamburg audience from the local State Opera, where you could already have experienced her as an ensemble member in numerous leading roles. Catriona Morison’s award-winning mezzo-soprano impresses with its »warm-earthy timbre and excellent clarity«, as the FAZ wrote about one of her song recitals. The political and military conflicts between Germany and France in the 19th century did not stop even when it came to art – many French composers wanted to audibly break away from their neighbours. However, this does not mean that people had closed their ears to sounds beyond the border. France’s most important song composer, Gabriel Fauré, loved the classical song form just as much as Brahms. Ernest Chausson gravitated more to Richard Wagner’s free recitative. As repertoire gems, the singer duo have brought along songs by a sister duo: the opera diva Maria Malibran died at just 28 years old and, in addition to umpteen thousands of fans, also left behind a handful of songs. Her sister Pauline Viardot-García, conversely, became very old – and is one of France’s composers absolutely worth rediscovering!

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

October 17, 2024

Symphoniker Hamburg / Clara-Jumi Kang / Ilan Volkov

Thu, Oct 17, 2024, 19:30

Laeiszhalle, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Symphoniker Hamburg, Clara-Jumi Kang (Violin), Ilan Volkov (Conductor)

Time for a celebration! On 18 October 1748, the Peace of Aachen put an end to the eight-year War of the Austrian Succession. For the celebrations, an »opéra pour la paix« (opera for peace) was commissioned from the Paris Opera, to which two leading artists lent their pens: Louis de Cahusac for the libretto and the already 66-year-old Jean-Philippe Rameau for the music. The two consummate professionals needed less than five weeks before »Naïs« could go on stage with great pomp: opulent décor with a magnificent Neptune Palace, new costumes with real jewellery and pyrotechnic effects! Rameau’s overture traces »the din of war, the clamour and the tumultuous movements of the Titans and giants«, from which the love story from the ancient world of man and god develops.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

September 27, 2024

Xi Zhai / Piano Recital

Fri, Sep 27, 2024, 19:30

Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Xi Zhai (Piano)

Following his successful Elbphilharmonie debut in September 2023, Chinese pianist Xi Zhai returns to the Recital Hall with an exquisite piano recital. Xi Zhai is an up-and-coming star at the beginning of a great career. The pianist, who trained in Shanghai and Frankfurt, has won numerous prizes at international competitions and performs regularly in concert halls in both Germany and China. His playing is characterised by a deeply felt musicality, paired with an extraordinary touch and a superior technique, which never becomes an end in itself, but serves entirely to explore the musical content. On this evening, Xi Zhai presents a particularly demanding programme with works by Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann – a fusion of the highest virtuosity and intense expression.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

September 16, 2024

International Mendelssohn Festival 2024

Mon, Sep 16, 2024, 19:30

Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Ralph Evans (Violin), Efim Boico (Violin), Gil Sharon (Viola), Niklas Schmidt (Cello), Cyprien Katsaris (Piano)

The great opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, who opens this concert evening, called his only string quartet »a gimmick«. Legend has it that he composed his quartet purely as a pastime, as rehearsals for performances of his »Aida« in Naples had come to a standstill. As so often, Verdi was understating the case. The French-Cypriot pianist Cyprien Katsaris continues the gimmick with a spontaneous improvisation on Verdi’s operatic themes. In the rest of the programme, Katsaris plays romances, songs and fantasies by Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Liszt. Cyprien Katsaris is a piano virtuoso with a very special affinity for Liszt and has contributed greatly to a new view of Liszt’s piano works throughout his life. In 2023, he received the Franz Liszt Prize of Honour, awarded by the Klassik Stiftung Weimar and the Neue Liszt Stiftung.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

September 15, 2024

Mathias Weber / Piano Recital

Sun, Sep 15, 2024, 19:30

Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Mathias Weber (Piano)

The phenomenon of movement is one of the basic elements of music. This manifests itself in a wide variety of forms. An essential manifestation is dance and thus rhythm. There are changing relationships between this and the other basic musical elements, of which melody and harmony are representative. From this field of tension, a multitude of the greatest musical works of art could be created. The horizon extends from the miniature of a mazurka to the large-scale form of the Baroque, the suite, from the carnival swing to the melancholy waltz to the effervescent joie de vivre of a tarantella.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

August 30, 2024

Orchestre Français des Jeunes / Elisabeth Leonskaja / Kristiina Poska

Fri, Aug 30, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Orchestre Français des Jeunes, Elisabeth Leonskaja (Piano), Kristiina Poska (Conductor)

It is the counterpart to the German National Youth Orchestra and therefore the best youth orchestra in France: the Orchestre Français des Jeunes. Every summer, the young musicians go on a major tour of Europe and this year their first stop will be at the Elbphilharmonie. Alongside their designated chief conductor Kristiina Poska, they will accompany Elisabeth Leonskaja, a true piano legend, and explore the soundscapes of Berlioz, Tchaikovsky and Schumann with youthful vigour. In complete contrast to the rest of the opera, the overture to »Benvenuto Cellini« by Hector Berlioz was a great success at its premiere and remains so to this day. Full of variety, the music sets the mood for colourful carnival hustle and bustle and a dramatic love story. Piotr I. Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto, on the other hand, tends to lead a shadowy existence in the concert world. And yet the work is full of pianistic discoveries and beautiful melodies, with several highly virtuoso piano solos in the first movement, a dialogue between piano, violin and cello in the second movement and a typically lively Tchaikovsky finale. In the second half of the concert, the orchestra will present Robert Schumann’s »Rhenish« Symphony, which was given its nickname by a friend of Schumann. The composer had recently moved to Düsseldorf and travelled from here to other places on the Rhine. He probably captured many an impression of the river, paddle steamers, dancing country dances and even the towering Cologne Cathedral in music.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

June 26, 2024

Portrait Concert Sir András Schiff

Wed, Jun 26, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Sir András Schiff (Piano), Ema Nikolovska (Mezzo-Soprano), Julian Prégardien (Tenor), Marie-Luise Neunecker (French horn), Stephen Waarts (Violin), Timothy Ridout (Viola), Julia Hagen (Cello)

One of András Schiff’s maxims is: »It’s important to be able to listen.« This principle applies especially to chamber music, which has always been a matter close to his heart. Because it is precisely this togetherness, and this listening and responding to each other, that are for him the most beautiful form of making music. Schiff now delivers precisely those kinds of moments of musical bliss with close musical friends such as the tenor Julian Prégardien and the cellist Julia Hagen. For the programme, Schiff has selected Romantic works by his favourite composers. These include Franz Schubert the prince of song and Robert Schumann, whose 1840 »Eichendorff« lieder cycle is on the programme. The programme also features Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 2, which was premiered in Leipzig in 1852, and the Piano Quartet No. 1 by Schumann’s friend Brahms, which was premiered in Hamburg in 1861.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

June 19, 2024

Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra / Zlatomir Fung / Benjamin Zander

Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (Orchestra), Zlatomir Fung (Cello), Benjamin Zander (Conductor)

The Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra is one of the finest youth orchestras in North America. The orchestra is celebrated worldwide in its performances in major concert halls such as the Vienna Musikverein, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the KKL Lucerne, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Berlin Philharmonie and Carnegie Hall in New York. On its European tour in 2024, the orchestra will now make its debut at the Elbphilharmonie together with its founder Maestro Benjamin Zander and the up-and-coming cellist Zlatomir Fung.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

June 12, 2024

Hélène Grimaud / Camerata Salzburg / Giovanni Guzzo

Wed, Jun 12, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Hélène Grimaud (Piano), Camerata Salzburg, Giovanni Guzzo (Conductor)

»Hélène takes us down different paths, and each of them can yield its own meaning. It’s like with a painter: he has an idea, and it produces a certain colour.« This is Giovanni Guzzo waxing lyrical about working together with French pianist Hélène Grimaud. In her hands notes are transformed into colours, sounds into impressionst paintings, for her gift of synesthesia gives her a very special access to music.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

June 10, 2024

Schumann: Das Paradies und die Peri

Mon, Jun 10, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Chor St. Michaelis, ensemble reflektor, Olivia Boen (Soprano), Katja Stuber (Soprano), Marie Henriette Reinhold (Alto), Patrick Grahl (Tenor), Manuel Walser (Bass), Jörg Endebrock (Director)

Robert Schumann’s only oratorio is based on an oriental legend: the Peri, a fallen angelic being, seeks the way back to heavenly paradise. Only those who bring »heaven’s favourite gift« will open the door to heaven. The Peri travels around the world searching until she finally finds the right gift and »Eden’s gate« opens for her again. Robert Schumann learnt about the story of the fallen angel from the Irish poet Thomas Moore, who put this »oriental romance« into verse. It inspired him to write one of his most beautiful and important works, a »new genre for the concert hall, an oratorio, but not for the prayer hall – but for cheerful people«.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

Grigory Sokolov / Piano Recital

Mon, Jun 10, 2024, 19:30

Laeiszhalle, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Grigory Sokolov (Piano)

With the stage lights dimmed, pianist Grigory Sokolov manages at every appearance at the Laeiszhalle to fascinate the audience with his unpretentious virtuosity. He never fails to show his unerring sense for the quiet and tender notes in the music. It doesn’t matter so much which works he chooses to play: another Solokov tradition is that the programme is just as unknown at the time of writing as the number of encores he will give.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

June 8, 2024

Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Chor Hamburg / Symphoniker Hamburg / Hansjörg Albrecht

Sat, Jun 8, 2024, 19:30

Laeiszhalle, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Chor Hamburg, Neuer Knabenchor Hamburg, Symphoniker Hamburg, Elise van Es (Soprano), Wolfram Lattke (Tenor), Daniel Ochoa (Bass), Hansjörg Albrecht (Director)

»Could you give your orchestra a little longing for spring when you play it, because I had that with me when I wrote it. I would like the very first trumpet blast to sound as if from on high, like a call to awakening,« wrote Robert Schumann to the conductor Wilhelm Taubert about his First Symphony in B flat major, of which he once proudly proclaimed: »It was born in a fiery hour.« It was written in a true creative frenzy: the 31-year-old composer sketched it in just four days at the end of January 1841 and finished the entire score a good three weeks later, on 20 February. This early spring symphony by Robert Schumann forms the opening of this intoxicating evening, the second half of which features the famous Carmina Burana. Carl Orff became famous overnight in 1937 with the large-scale Carmina Burana. Contemporary harmonies and expressive melodies are combined here with elements of medieval music, powerful rhythms and an artful simplicity. Orff composed this work to Latin, Middle and Old High German songs that were found in 1803 in the Benediktbeuren monastery in Bavaria and are today among the most important literary testimonies of the Middle Ages. In three parts, the songs of Carmina Burana tell of love and courtship, of romance and mysticism, but above all of the cycle of life. To this day, the work is one of the most popular pieces of serious music of the 20th century.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

June 7, 2024

Discover Talent: Dmytro Choni / Piano Recital

Fri, Jun 7, 2024, 19:30

Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Dmytro Choni (Piano)

»For me, success means continually growing both as a musician and a person, and never ceasing to search for the truth in music.« Dmytro Choni’s maxim speaks for his artistic maturity – as does the list of his musical partners and of the venues where he has already appeared. The Ukrainian pianist was born in Kyiv in 1993; he had his first piano lessons when he was four, and is currently a student at the University of Music and the Fine Arts in Graz. He has worked his way to the top of his field, and it’s a little surprising that he has only recently been discovered. All the better, then, that he can be heard this season with a recital programme that directly reflects his complex artistic personality.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

May 25, 2024

Amatis Piano Trio / Thomas Quasthoff

Sat, May 25, 2024, 19:30

Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Lea Hausmann (Violin), Samuel Shepherd (Cello), Mengjie Han (Piano), Thomas Quasthoff (Reading)

The horrors of the First World War have often been described in literature. Books such as Erich Maria Remarque’s »All Quiet on the Western Front« speak of the brutality of trench warfare and the deadening effect of being surrounded by death. However, there are also more optimistic accounts, such as the Christmas truce when enemies laid down their weapons and sang carols together. With his legendary baritone voice, Thomas Quasthoff reads from First World War letters and diaries. In alternation, the award-winning young Amatis Piano Trio performs excerpts from the Romantic and modern chamber music repertoire, reflecting the mood of the individual texts. Young soldiers of various nationalities are represented, as are relatives writing to the front from back home. The texts bear witness to the barbarism of war, and to youthful blue-eyed enthusiasm turning into disillusionment and horror in the face of the bloody reality. But they also reveal humanity and mutual respect – even between enemies. The stories speak of individual fates and give a face to the bare figures. They are accompanied by slow movements from piano trios by composers such as Schubert and Shostakovich, who composed his Piano Trio No. 2 while mourning the death of a friend in the Second World War. Works such as Korngold’s »Dogberry and Verges – March of the Watch«, which caricature the initial enthusiasm of young soldiers for war, lighten the mood.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

May 9, 2024

Günther Groissböck / Malcolm Martineau

Thu, May 9, 2024, 19:30

Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Günther Groissböck (Bass), Malcolm Martineau (Piano)

Günther Groissböck’s career has taken him to the world’s great opera houses, from Vienna through New York to Bayreuth. The Austrian bass is at the top of his game, but it’s not only with Wagner, Strauss et al. that he delights audiences with his jet-black voice. He also makes regular appearances as a sensitive and versatile lieder singer, and comes to Hamburg now with a particularly moving programme. Contemporaries of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky must have felt that his music had been beamed down from a distant star. The »Songs and Dances of Death«, written in 1875, are bold and new, gripping music full of experiment, in which Mussorgsky has Death assume different roles and even appear in person. Transience is also a central theme in the works of Gustav Mahler, who returned repeatedly to the collection of folk poems »Des Knaben Wunderhorn« for texts to base his songs on. His setting of »Urlicht« is particularly well-known: it later appeared in an orchestral version in Mahler’s Second Symphony, and achieved great popularity in that form.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

May 6, 2024

Mao Fujita / Piano Recital

Mon, May 6, 2024, 19:30

Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Mao Fujita (Piano)

At the age of just 24, Mao Fujita is already at home on the world’s top concert platforms and at the side of major orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. In his hometown, he studied at the Tokyo College of Music, and he is currently refining his playing as a student of Kirill Gerstein’s in Berlin. He has also received a lot of praise for his recording of the complete Mozart sonatas: »You can hear how much pleasure he takes in the many, often witty little details,« commented the NDR reviewer. It’s with Mozart that Fujita opens his first solo recital at the Elbphilharmonie. The varied foray into the worlds of Classical and Romantic music continues with a Chopin Barcarolle, with the »Kreisleriana« that Schumann dedicated to Chopin, and then Prokofiev’s impressive F-minor Sonata. In addition, an interesting rarity in the shape of the dreamy and playful »Les fêtes« by French impressionist Déodat de Séverac is on the programme.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

April 19, 2024

Leonkoro Quartett

Fri, Apr 19, 2024, 20:00

Laeiszhalle, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Jonathan Schwarz (Violin), Amelie Wallner (Violin), Mayu Konoe (Viola), Lukas Schwarz (Cello)

Founded in 2019, the Berlin-based Leonkoro Quartett won a number of internationally recognised prizes in 2022 and attracted international attention. Since then, the young ensemble’s career has been skyrocketing: »This quartet should soon be one of the most famous quartets of our time,« according to a review of their first album. »Leonkoro« means »lion heart« in Esperanto, an allusion to the famous children’s book of the same name by Astrid Lindgren about two courageous brothers. The quartet is framed by the brothers Jonathan and Lukas Schwarz on first violin and cello. Together with violinist Amelie Wallner and violist Mayu Konoe, they studied with string quartet luminaries such as Heime Müller from the Artemis Quartet and Günter Pichler from the Alban Berg Quartet.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

April 13, 2024

Discover Talent: Illia Ovcharenko

Sat, Apr 13, 2024, 19:30

Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Illia Ovcharenko (Piano)

With technical brilliance and emotional insight, the young Ukrainian pianist Illia Ovcharenko presents a daring programme that really packs a punch. In the fifth and final concert of the Liszt spotlight in 2023/24, he combines two visionary Romantic piano works: Franz Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor and Robert Schumann’s Fantasie in C. Each in its own way, these works break down musical boundaries and still get even the most experienced pianists sweating. With stamina and uncompromising expressiveness, and pushing the limits of the pianistically possible, Liszt and Schumann create large arcs of suspense in which they cover the entire spectrum of human emotion. So when he performs these two milestones of piano music in Hamburg, you can be sure that Illia Ovcharenko will be giving it his all.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

April 3, 2024

Arcadi Volodos / Piano Recital

Wed, Apr 3, 2024, 20:00

Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)

Arcadi Volodos (Piano)

There is nothing the Russian pianist Arcadi Volodos could not play on his instrument. He quickly made a name for himself as a specialist in the highly virtuosic repertoire, but he also has a deep insight into the music like very few pianists of his generation. The Süddeutsche Zeitung accurately described him as »a searcher, a thinker, a spiritual musician«. Arcadi Volodos is the perfect artist to perform the music of Franz Schubert, who, with the piano sonatas of his middle and late creative period, opened the door to a sound cosmos of unfathomable breadth. The Piano Sonata D 845 – a work full of drama and dark passion – is a particularly beautiful part of that cosmos.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

April 1, 2024

Alexander Yakovlev / Piano Recital

Mon, Apr 1, 2024, 17:00

Laeiszhalle, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Alexander Yakovlev (Piano)

Alexander Yakovlev is a graduate of the Rostov State Conservatory, where he also completed postgraduate studies with Sergei Osipenko and studied composition with Leonid Klinichev. He then studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum with Alexei Lyubimov and in Berlin at the University of the Arts with Pascal Devoyon. The pianist’s international career grew rapidly after he won the Chopin Competition in Rome in 2006. The Vatican radio broadcast of his performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor was heard around the world. After a series of notable debuts on such prestigious stages as Carnegie Hall in New York, Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Grand Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Alexander Yakovlev has inspired an ever-growing public demand for his artistry.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)

Chiaroscuro Quartet / Cédric Tiberghien

Fri, Dec 6, 2024, 20:00

Laeiszhalle, Kleiner Saal (Hamburg)

Alina Ibragimova (Violin), Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux (Violin), Emilie Hörnlund (Viola), Claire Thirion (Cello), Cédric Tiberghien (Piano)

Founded while its members were all still studying at the renowned Royal College of Music in London, the Chiaroscuro Quartet will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next year. After all that time it is no wonder that Alina Ibragimova, Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux, Emilie Hörnlund and Claire Thirion share an implicit trust when making music together. One particular thing that makes them so special is the historical instruments they play on, which gives many well-known works an unexpected, fresh sound. They are joined by the world-class pianist Cédric Tiberghien, who has been Alina Ibragimova’s piano partner for many years now. He too is playing an historical grand piano for the evening’s programme. From his Op. 9 onwards, Joseph Haydn regarded his string quartets as part of the genre that he would go down in music history as having founded. Rather than writing divertimentos, commissioned by aristocratic patrons as a distracting amusement, he was now set on writing music to be listened to. And the Chiaroscuro Quartet, whose Haydn recordings were described by BR as a »sprightly, irresistibly brilliant attack on the ear – thrilling in the best sense of the word«, certainly demand to be listened to with a captivated attention. It promises to be equally lively when the quartet applies its playing style to the Romantics Schumann and Brahms, accompanied by the pianist Cédric Tiberghien, who won the German Record Critics’ Award with a Brahms chamber music album. Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet is at times tumultuous and at other times extremely tender, written to involve his wife, the piano virtuoso Clara Schumann, in the recent successes of his chamber music. Being a close friend of Johannes Brahms, she in turn encouraged him to rewrite a sonata for two pianos as a piano quintet, fearing that otherwise »many of the most beautiful ideas would be lost«. Brahms took her advice and went on to create chamber music filled with magnificent, almost orchestral tonal colours.

Info (www.elbphilharmonie.de)