ConcertPulse
SOLD OUT: Residence at the Elbphilharmonie
After last season‘s two-concert guest performance at the river Elbe in Hamburg, our orchestra is looking forward to a veritable »residency« with three programmes in the great hall of the Elbphilharmonie – by the way, already our concerts nos. 6 to 8 in this iconic landmark. Ludwig van Beethoven‘s symphonies are the link between the three programmes, each of which aims to retrace the influence of his music on the composers of the Romantic and Modern eras. This is most apparent in Richard Strauss‘s tone poem »Ein Heldenleben«, whose relationship to Beethoven‘s »Eroica« is not only evident in the title, but can also be heard musically as one listens through the work. Strauss himself wrote to his father during the composing process, ironically referring to the »Eroica«, that he was now working on a larger tone poem entitled »Heldenleben« (»Heroic Life«) »to remedy an urgent need, without a funeral march, but still in E-flat major, with lots of horns, which for once are aimed towards heroism«. Beethoven‘s 7th Symphony was soon described as the »apotheosis of dance«, particularly for its wild, dance-like finale. Stravinsky spoke highly of the »constructive power of order« in Beethoven‘s works and once said that he should be revered only for his music: »In the supreme quality of his tone material, not in the nature of his ideas, lies his true greatness«. In »Sacre du Printemps«, Stravinsky elevates the idea of dance to the archaic, the monstrous, and the juxtaposition of the two compositions, tying ritual, dance and movement into symphonic frames, is particularly attractive. Finally, in Hamburg we combine Beethoven's 5th Symphony with his 5th Piano Concerto – two model works by the composer, which in their respective genres both exerted the greatest influence on many of his successors. Our soloist Lukas Sternath in 2022 created a sensation at the International ARD Music Competition – in addition to the 1st prize, he was awarded seven special prizes, including the audience prize and the award for the best interpretation of the commissioned composition.