ConcertPulse
Musik in Zeiten des Krieges
The Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra performs their historical program from March 29, 1945.
Filters
The Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra performs their historical program from March 29, 1945.
Wherever it is important to convey the impression of enormous speed, of a rapid, glorious final spurt by means of selected music to moving images, the film and advertising industry prefer to use the well-known gallop from the William Tell Overture. However, this unspeakable habit creates a completely false impression of the entire overture to Rossini’s last opera. Who would have thought to expect the wonderful interplay between the solo cellos at the beginning or the refreshing freshness provided by the cor anglais and flute after the great thunderstorm - or indeed the whole breadth of the canvas that Rossini painted for his magnificent overture?
The programme that contrabassist Igor Prokopets has put together with four string colleagues for our matinee two days before Christmas ranges from unusual duos to orchestral symbiosis in a quintet. Each piece combines the eight strings of two string instruments differently: sometimes very high with very low in the “sophisticated Piazzolla arrangement, in which the double bass also becomes a percussionist and the violin literally celebrates the tango” (Prokopets). Sometimes as a neighborly encounter between violin and viola, which instead of the original piano trace a short piece from Bartók's great Hungarian journey in 1905 in “Seven Romanian Dances”. Or with violin and cello, who take on the famous Passacaglia from Handel's G minor suite for harpsichord. Igor Prokopets could tell a lot about Giovanni Bottesini, whose “Gran Quintetto” forms the finale: As a musician, the Italian found his way to the lowest string instrument at an early age and wrote numerous pieces to suit it, including three concertos that are still popular today. He later became a conductor and even conducted the world premiere of Verdi's “Aida” in Cairo - but his heart definitely belonged to the double bass!
Summer Nights Villanelle (a type of poem) The Ghost of the Rose Absence The Unknown Island
Soprano Julia Lezhneva's career was prophesied early on: ‘I must have shouted so suddenly right after giving birth that the doctor almost dropped me and told my mother that I was a born opera singer,’ she says. The Moscow-trained artist clearly has a sense of humour - and is now one of the most sought-after soloists of her generation, from the Salzburg Festival to the Royal Opera House. This is not the first time she has performed with us either. The programme includes ouvertures as well as arias by Mozart and Rossini, and the Konzerthausorchester will continue its seasons-spanning Haydn focus with one of the composer's famous London symphonies under the baton of Joana Mallwitz.
Soprano Julia Lezhneva's career was prophesied early on: ‘I must have shouted so suddenly right after giving birth that the doctor almost dropped me and told my mother that I was a born opera singer,’ she says. The Moscow-trained artist clearly has a sense of humour - and is now one of the most sought-after soloists of her generation, from the Salzburg Festival to the Royal Opera House. This is not the first time she has performed with us either. The programme includes ouvertures as well as arias by Mozart and Rossini, and the Konzerthausorchester will continue its seasons-spanning Haydn focus with one of the composer's famous London symphonies under the baton of Joana Mallwitz.
In the evening at the bar, someone tells great stories: Adventure, drama, entanglement, love, wisdom, humour. The radioeins storytelling lounge has been creating exactly this situation since 2023. The actress and author Meike Rötzer tells in her own words what she has gleaned from the most productive of all. The radioeins storytelling lounge now becomes a radioeins storytelling concert thanks to the RSB! The literary radio format takes to the live stage, musically enhanced by the large symphony orchestra and suitable works from Gustav Mahler to Maria Herz (!). Thomas Mann’s cult novel “The Magic Mountain” is itself an invitation.The event takes about 3 hours including a break.
Franz Liszt is a recurrent theme throughout Mariam Batsashvili’s life. For example, the Georgian pianist not only studied at the University of Music in Weimar named after Liszt, she also successfully took part in the International Franz Liszt Competition for Young Pianists there and won the Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht in 2024. And, besides Frédéric Chopin, her debut album from 2019 is also dedicated to the Austro-Hungarian composer. So, there is no question that she has now brought along several works by Liszt to kick off the »Pianomania« series in which this time everything revolves around the theme of »Transcriptions« – and with him probably one of the most ingenious arrangers in the history of music. In her programme, Batsashvili reveals what kind of magnificent new music Liszt created from opera melodies by Handel, Mozart and Gounod. Also, the Austrian composer Sigismund Thalberg took a Bellini opera as a template when he wrote his virtuoso »Grande Caprice«. With a concerto in the style of Alessandro Marcello, Batsashvili also demonstrates that even a genius like Johann Sebastian Bach was not afraid of re-arranging works by others before he then became the template for numerous arrangements himself. One of the most famous works in this respect is surely the rendering of Bach’s Chaconne in D minor. Originally composed for solo violin, it was arranged for the piano by Ferruccio Busoni. Batsashvili also presents Busoni’s version in her concert.
This concert marks the end of the 10th edition of the International Mendelssohn Festival and presents a »colourful series« of musical treasures. It begins with Schubert’s monumental Octet for mixed winds and strings, which, in his own words, is already »on the way to becoming a great symphony«. The Duetto for cello and double bass by Giaochino Rossini is less well known. The three-movement piece in D major is a true duo: both voices are almost equal and talk to each other. Everyone first associates Puccini with opera; his song »Storiella d’amore« is performed on stage as an arrangement for clarinet and string quintet. Also included: George Gershwin’s world-famous »Rhapsody in Blue« for clarinet, string quartet and double bass, which promises a colourful array of rhythms and harmonies from jazz and blues. Finally, a crowning finale that unites all the evening’s musicians: a world premiere by Fredrik Schwenk, »Bunte Reihe, einmal wohltemperiert«, a fantasy about the number 24 for 12 instruments.
The dramaturgy of the Kammerphilharmonie Hamburg’s programme as a whole and within the individual compositions leads from dark, melancholy states to relaxation, brightness and joy of playing. The Kammerphilharmomie Hamburg was founded more than 30 years ago by students at the University of Music. Its members now work full-time in cultural orchestras throughout Germany or as instrumentalists and music teachers.
Journeys are an excellent balm for the soul – Mendelssohn already knew this when he set off for Italy in 1830 and, during a stopover in Weimar, may well have heard his friend Goethe say: »The free sea frees the spirit«. The Italian landscape inspired Mendelssohn to compose his fourth symphony: especially the melodic, gushing opening movement and the intoxicating saltarello finale seem wonderfully bathed in sunlight. Mozart's numerous itineraries have also left their mark: in 1773, at the age of only sixteen, he wrote the sometimes jubilant, sometimes heartfelt motet »Exsultate, jubilate« in Milan for an Italian castrato who is said to have sung »like an angel«. No less angelic will star soprano Julia Lezhneva perform this work for us. Unlike Mozart, Haydn spent most of his time in the provinces in his cherished »Esterházy's fairy land«, except for his later trips to London – but the great cities nevertheless became aware of him, so he travelled in spirit. The symphony no. 85, written for Paris in 1785, was given the title »La Reine« because Queen Marie Antoinette held it in particularly high esteem: A splendid composition that takes the folk song »La gentille et jeune Lisette« and integrates it with a number of surprises. Rossini also left behind grandiose numbers in his many operas, such as the soulful lament »Assisa a piè d'un salice« and the bravura aria »Tanti affetti in tal momento«. Born in a small harbour town on the Adriatic Sea, he was revered throughout Europe. We look forward to the conducting of Giovanni Antonini, who has become a regular guest in Bamberg!Recording & broadcast BR-KLASSIK
Journeys are an excellent balm for the soul – Mendelssohn already knew this when he set off for Italy in 1830 and, during a stopover in Weimar, may well have heard his friend Goethe say: »The free sea frees the spirit«. The Italian landscape inspired Mendelssohn to compose his fourth symphony: especially the melodic, gushing opening movement and the intoxicating saltarello finale seem wonderfully bathed in sunlight. Mozart's numerous itineraries have also left their mark: in 1773, at the age of only sixteen, he wrote the sometimes jubilant, sometimes heartfelt motet »Exsultate, jubilate« in Milan for an Italian castrato who is said to have sung »like an angel«. No less angelic will star soprano Julia Lezhneva perform this work for us. Unlike Mozart, Haydn spent most of his time in the provinces in his cherished »Esterházy's fairy land«, except for his later trips to London – but the great cities nevertheless became aware of him, so he travelled in spirit. The symphony no. 85, written for Paris in 1785, was given the title »La Reine« because Queen Marie Antoinette held it in particularly high esteem: A splendid composition that takes the folk song »La gentille et jeune Lisette« and integrates it with a number of surprises. Rossini also left behind grandiose numbers in his many operas, such as the soulful lament »Assisa a piè d'un salice« and the bravura aria »Tanti affetti in tal momento«. Born in a small harbour town on the Adriatic Sea, he was revered throughout Europe. We look forward to the conducting of Giovanni Antonini, who has become a regular guest in Bamberg!Recording & broadcast BR-KLASSIK
The hr-Symphony Orchestra Frankfurt welcomes the new year with an attractive and entertaining program at the Wiesbaden Kurhaus, led by Portuguese conductor Nuno Coelho. He and South Korean violinist Bomsori Kim present music with French esprit, Spanish temperament, and Mediterranean flair.
Once per season, the scholarship holders of the orchestra academy can be experienced in a chamber music setting: the highly talented orchestral offspring alone and together with members of the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt. This time, the program includes works by Mozart, Poulenc, Rossini, Piazzolla, Britten, Arnold, and Schubert. The concert lasts approximately 110 minutes, including a break.
The hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt will regularly perform at the Kronberg Festival in the new Casals Forum. This season, they will perform with Christoph Eschenbach and Tabea Zimmermann. The program includes Rossini's "William Tell" Overture, Bartók's Viola Concerto, and Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony.
In our guest appearance in Augsburg conducted by the internationally sought-after conductor Gemma New, we begin with an earworm piece by Rossini, who once remarked: »What love is to the soul, appetite is to the body«. After having written 39 operas, the Italian retired from his musical career at just 37 years of age, choosing to devote himself to indulgent idleness as a hedonist and to the composition of culinary creations. The opera »Wilhelm Tell«, based on the play of the same name by Schiller, was composed in 1829 as his last dramatic work and is a story about love, patriotism and the desire for freedom – together with the legendary apple shot. We then welcome Sebastian Knauer as soloist for the glittering »Rhapsody in Blue« by Gershwin, who put the quintessence of his composing in a nutshell in these words: »In music, only one thing matters: ideas plus feeling!« In 1924, he wrote his popular piano concerto in the style of symphonic jazz: swing themes, sparkling rhythms and blues elements pop up in a loose fitting and paint a picture of his homeland’s soul. Gershwin called it a »musical kaleidoscope of America – our enormous melting pot, our typical quirks«. We conclude with a famous masterpiece by Beethoven, who once said of his inner creative urge: »What’s on my mind must come out, and that's why I compose.« In his Fifth Symphony from 1808, everything revolves around overcoming an almost overpowering fate and the music takes »its listeners into spirit realms«, where Beethoven appears as the »unrestricted sovereign over the spaces of the souls« – that is how the admiring E.T.A. Hoffmann perceived it.
