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“It's always very special to share wonderful music in one place with musicians who really care about it, and with an audience that is open to getting to know us and our relationship with music,” says our artist in residence, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason. One of these musicians and a good friend is jazz pianist Harry Baker. He wanted to perform a concert evening with him that fits perfectly into the festival: An exploration of music between Bach, Lianne La Havas and Pat Metheny.
Mit nur 17 Jahren gewann Sheku Kanneh-Mason 2016 den Wettbewerb BBC Young Musician of the Year und zählt seitdem zu den Shootingstars der internationalen Klassikwelt. Wie gemacht für das virtuos-sinnliche Spiel des jungen Briten ist Schostakowitschs erstes Cellokonzert, hinter dessen tänzerischer Freude sich viele Momente großer emotionaler Tiefe verbergen. Das packende Werk mit seinen schillernden Klangfarben passt wunderbar zu den klingenden Märchen aus Tausendundeiner Nacht von Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakow, in dem die Abenteuer von Sindbad und anderen Helden in einem fulminanten Tongemälde vorüberziehen.
Does the cello have so many fans because it is most similar to the human voice? At least that's what cellists like to say about their instrument, which became the new star in string heaven during the Romantic period. Since the Baroque era, the violin had been the undisputed queen, with the cello relegated to the continuo with the double bass. Antonín Dvořák also had to make friends with the cello, which was sometimes derided as a “sorrow box” due to its pronounced melancholic qualities. As a guest in the USA, he finally wrote a great dance-like concerto for the instrument, which became a favorite piece from his pen around the world, rich in melody and virtuoso. The family concert title “Hello Cello!” is a greeting with which we and our audience aged 8 and over welcome artist in residence Sheku Kanneh-Mason, his wonderful instrument and the Dvořák concert. And an exclamation of surprised admiration: Hello - what this cello can do!
Joana Mallwitz leads the Konzerthausorchester Berlin into her second season as Chief Conductor with a programme of dance music, which for her is ‘perfect’ for the opening of the season. What's more, our new Artist in Residence Sheku Kanneh-Mason is making his first appearance - with Antonín Dvorak's Cello Concerto, which ‘adds a particularly festive element thanks to its familiarity and elegance,’ says our chief conductor. ‘Apart from that, it goes very well with John Adams’ ‘The Chairman Dances’ and Sergei Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances: We have three composers from three eras who went to America and dealt with issues of exile, flight and home. While abroad, they incorporated musical elements from their homeland into their works.’ We are very much looking forward to starting a 2024/25 season with you that is as full of musical energy and excitement as this opening!
Joana Mallwitz leads the Konzerthausorchester Berlin into her second season as Chief Conductor with a programme of dance music, which for her is ‘perfect’ for the opening of the season. What's more, our new Artist in Residence Sheku Kanneh-Mason is making his first appearance - with Antonín Dvorak's Cello Concerto, which ‘adds a particularly festive element thanks to its familiarity and elegance,’ says our chief conductor. ‘Apart from that, it goes very well with John Adams’ ‘The Chairman Dances’ and Sergei Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances: We have three composers from three eras who went to America and dealt with issues of exile, flight and home. While abroad, they incorporated musical elements from their homeland into their works.’ We are very much looking forward to starting a 2024/25 season with you that is as full of musical energy and excitement as this opening!
Following a brilliant Elbphilharmonie debut in 2019 with »his« Bamberg Symphony, conductor Jakub Hrůša has become a popular regular visitor to the Elbphilharmonie. From his Czech homeland, he not only brings undoubtedly its best orchestra, but also provides a wonderful programme. This evening’s soloist is the young talented star Sheku Kanneh-Mason performing an all-time favourite cello concerto. Dvořák’s Cello Concerto is one of the most frequently performed cello concertos of all, although Dvořák apparently considered the instrument no more than »a piece of wood that screeches at the top and drones at the bottom«. Yet, the composer must have secretly loved the cello because this composition is captivating with enchanting songlike melodies, great dramatic progressions and delicately lyrical passages. This evening’s soloist is 24-year-old British rising star Sheku Kanneh-Mason, winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician award. This piece with its virtuoso leaps and technical intricacies offers him many possibilities to demonstrate the qualities of this instrument. »The music saved me!« writes Josef Suk, who dedicated the »Asrael« Symphony to two dear relatives, who had recently passed away. The work is named after the archangel who, in Islam, guides the souls of the dead to paradise. It is a work of magnificent beauty; despair and grief meet poetically transfiguring memory. Funeral March, Dance of Death, tender portrait of his wife – the music is so emotionally powerful that one wonders why Suk has not (yet) achieved the popularity of his contemporary Gustav Mahler or his father-in-law Antonín Dvořák!
