ConcertPulse
Guest performance
Philharmonie Berlin, Main Auditorium (Berlin)
Filters
Love, jealousy, and death take center stage in Andreas Homoki and Frank Philipp Schlößmann's production of Verdi's opera. The minimalist staging emphasizes raw emotions and powerful music. Recommended for ages 15 and up.
Aus aufgepeitschten, entfesselten Meeresstürmen steigt ein siegreicher Held empor: Otello! Der ruhmreiche, in den Diensten Venedigs stehende Feldherr liebt die bezaubernde Desdemona. Gegen den Willen ihres Vaters befreite sie sich aus dem goldenen Käfig und liebt nun den Mann, der so schön im Glanze der Gesellschaft schimmert und doch so fremd bleibt. Der Dritte im Bunde betritt nun die Bühne: Jago. Von Neid auf Otellos Ruhm zerfressen, verrät er uns in Shakespeares zeitloser Vorlage: »Ich bin nicht, was ich bin.« Die Spiele um Lug und Trug mögen beginnen! Jago sät Bilder von Betrug und Zweifel, die immer schneller und erbarmungsloser zu Albträumen und krankhafter Eifersucht mutieren. Einmal zum Leben erweckt, nähren sie sich scheinbar von selbst, bis sie schließlich jede Faser von Otellos Körper durchseuchen und ihm den Verstand rauben: Desdemona! »Schau mir ins Gesicht! Sag mir, wer du bist!« In einer Welt, die von Krieg, Intrigen und vergifteter Heldensuche trieft, sucht Desdemona einen Gleichgesinnten und findet am Ende den Tod.
The Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra performs their historical program from March 29, 1945.
Ring in the new year with a stirring celebration of classical favourites, including a complimentary drink.
„Thus, fate is knocking on the door” – as anecdote has it, that was how Beethoven described the famous, dramatically forceful motif opening his Symphony No. 5. The initial sounds of the overture to Giuseppe Verdi’s The Force of Destiny opera have a similar effect of activating one’s imagination. They serve as a lavish introduction to a story of melodramatic love, which maestro Verdi generously decorated with the intense colours of the monumental wind section. The Italian style and a captivating narrative are also the elements that fuel Nino Rota’s Concerto for bassoon and orchestra. Born in Milan, the composer became famous thanks to the scores he wrote for giants of cinema, the likes of Fellini, Visconti and Coppola. Can we hear that the concert pieces come from the same composer whose sounds told the story of the Corleone family? Obviously! The Concerto for bassoon and orchestra is a gripping narrative led by the noble sound of the solo instrument, filled with plot twists, tightly-packed dramatic events, and even with humour.Film music has borrowed from the works of late Romanticism with abandon. After all, Nino Rota himself is also deeply indebted to Wagner or Verdi, the latter’s work also constituting the finale of this concert. Just like film music, which began to build its own prominence and storm concert halls in Nino Rota’s time, the ballet music from Verdi’s opera Don Carlos gained independence from theatre stages and, over time, found a life of its own as a concert piece. To this day, the instrumental parts inspire awe with their epic orchestration and enthralling dramatic sequences, held together by suspense of a nearly cinematic scale. Krzysztof SiwońConcert duration: approximately 70 minutes
Jérémie Rhorer and Le Cercle de l’Harmonie return to Verdi’s La Traviata, after their acclaimed production of the opera in 2018.
This concert takes you on a musical voyage through the history of four female composers and one of the most underestimated female figures in opera history. It begins with Louise Farrenc – an exceptional figure of her time: as a pianist, professor, publisher, cultural manager and mother, she stands both as a pivotal figure in French music, and as an icon of creative combativeness.
"Luisa Miller" is Giuseppe Verdi’s third setting of a play by Friedrich Schiller. “It is a great drama, full of passion and very effective in theatrical terms,” the composer wrote to the librettist Salvadore Cammarano about Kabale und Liebe. In order to conform to the expectations of the censors and audience, Verdi first had to reduce the play to a libretto suitable for opera, moving the focus from Schiller’s political tale to the family drama. In his opera, first performed in Naples in 1849, Verdi produced outstanding character studies of all his protagonists. In this work he laid the foundation for many “Verdi types” of later years, e.g. Iago, Giorgio Germont, Aida or Desdemona. Luisa Miller was first performed in Hamburg at the Hamburg State Opera in 1981 in a new production conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli and directed by Luciano Damiani, who also designed the sets and costumes at the time. Director: Andreas Homoki Set Designer: Paul Zoller Costume Designer: Gideon Davey Lighting Designer: Franck Evin Premiere: 16.11.2014
"Luisa Miller" is Giuseppe Verdi’s third setting of a play by Friedrich Schiller. “It is a great drama, full of passion and very effective in theatrical terms,” the composer wrote to the librettist Salvadore Cammarano about Kabale und Liebe. In order to conform to the expectations of the censors and audience, Verdi first had to reduce the play to a libretto suitable for opera, moving the focus from Schiller’s political tale to the family drama. In his opera, first performed in Naples in 1849, Verdi produced outstanding character studies of all his protagonists. In this work he laid the foundation for many “Verdi types” of later years, e.g. Iago, Giorgio Germont, Aida or Desdemona. Luisa Miller was first performed in Hamburg at the Hamburg State Opera in 1981 in a new production conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli and directed by Luciano Damiani, who also designed the sets and costumes at the time. Director: Andreas Homoki Set Designer: Paul Zoller Costume Designer: Gideon Davey Lighting Designer: Franck Evin Premiere: 16.11.2014
"Luisa Miller" is Giuseppe Verdi’s third setting of a play by Friedrich Schiller. “It is a great drama, full of passion and very effective in theatrical terms,” the composer wrote to the librettist Salvadore Cammarano about Kabale und Liebe. In order to conform to the expectations of the censors and audience, Verdi first had to reduce the play to a libretto suitable for opera, moving the focus from Schiller’s political tale to the family drama. In his opera, first performed in Naples in 1849, Verdi produced outstanding character studies of all his protagonists. In this work he laid the foundation for many “Verdi types” of later years, e.g. Iago, Giorgio Germont, Aida or Desdemona. Luisa Miller was first performed in Hamburg at the Hamburg State Opera in 1981 in a new production conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli and directed by Luciano Damiani, who also designed the sets and costumes at the time. Director: Andreas Homoki Set Designer: Paul Zoller Costume Designer: Gideon Davey Lighting Designer: Franck Evin Premiere: 16.11.2014
"Luisa Miller" is Giuseppe Verdi’s third setting of a play by Friedrich Schiller. “It is a great drama, full of passion and very effective in theatrical terms,” the composer wrote to the librettist Salvadore Cammarano about Kabale und Liebe. In order to conform to the expectations of the censors and audience, Verdi first had to reduce the play to a libretto suitable for opera, moving the focus from Schiller’s political tale to the family drama. In his opera, first performed in Naples in 1849, Verdi produced outstanding character studies of all his protagonists. In this work he laid the foundation for many “Verdi types” of later years, e.g. Iago, Giorgio Germont, Aida or Desdemona. Luisa Miller was first performed in Hamburg at the Hamburg State Opera in 1981 in a new production conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli and directed by Luciano Damiani, who also designed the sets and costumes at the time. Director: Andreas Homoki Set Designer: Paul Zoller Costume Designer: Gideon Davey Lighting Designer: Franck Evin Premiere: 16.11.2014
As head of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo regularly commutes between the UK and Sweden. He brings works from both countries with him to Hamburg. One is criminally underestimated in Germany and therefore played far too rarely, and another one has never been performed before. However, the programme opens with an excursion to the south: to Giuseppe Verdi and his overture from »La forza del destino«.
As head of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo regularly commutes between the UK and Sweden. He brings works from both countries with him to Hamburg. One is criminally underestimated in Germany and therefore played far too rarely, and another one has never been performed before. However, the programme opens with an excursion to the south: to Giuseppe Verdi and his overture from »La forza del destino«.
Tamina Kallert geht mit dem WDR Rundfunkchor auf eine Wunderschön-Reise nach Italien: Sie machen Halt an erlesenen Stationen mit italienischer Chor- und Opernliteratur und traditionellen Gassenhauern wie "Santa Lucia", "O sole mio", Puccinis "Nessun dorma" und weiteren Titeln von Monteverdi bis Morricone.
The Vienna Boys' Choir is the world's most famous boys' choir. Its roots trace back to 1498 (!), and among the choir's former members, you'll find classical giants like Joseph Haydn and Franz Schubert. Now, the choir is making a rare guest appearance at the Concert Hall, featuring Swedish music!The diverse programme showcases many facets of the choir, with much of the music specially arranged for this occasion. Before the interval, the classical dominates with music by Purcell, Mozart, Schubert, Verdi, and Orff, among others. And, of course, there's the quintessential Viennese with both Strauss waltzes and a polka.After the interval, there are also some Swedish elements, such as Gabriella's Song from the film As It Is in Heaven, and ABBA's Mamma Mia and Thank You for the Music. Perhaps not what one might expect from the Vienna Boys' Choir! This part also includes jazz, musicals, and even Italian crooning – Volare (actually titled Nel blu dipinto di blu) and O Sole Mio!
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.