Classical concerts featuring

Fazıl Say

hr-Sinfonieorchester / Fazıl Say / Selina Ott / Gábor Boldoczki / Alain Altinoglu

The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1929 as one of the first radio symphony orchestras in Germany, is now one of the leading orchestras of the country and also enjoys an excellent international reputation. Together with its chief conductor Alain Altinoglu, it will be making a guest appearance at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival this summer – with a brilliant concert programme that portrait artist 2025 Fazıl Say is particularly looking forward to. »I have a long and deep friendship with Alain. He is not only a gifted conductor, but also an outstanding pianist. Together we will play Bach’s C minor Double Concerto. This radiant baroque masterpiece forms an exciting and striking contrast to my concerto for two solo trumpets and orchestra: the trumpet parts are based on Anatolian singing with irregular time signatures, while the orchestral part is very pastel-coloured.« Another highlight of the evening is Dvořák’s timeless symphony »From the New World«, in which the composer brilliantly and colourfully exploits the full orchestral sound spectrum.

Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra / Fazıl Say / Carlo Tenan

Fazıl Say and the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra – the most prominent orchestra from his home city of Istanbul – bring his Artist Portrait 2025 at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival to a close with a brilliant double finale. In Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Say will perform Ravel’s virtuoso and light-footed Piano Concerto in G major and Gershwin’s rousing »Rhapsody in Blue«, which will be juxtaposed with his Symphony No. 6. Say composed it in 2022 under the title »A 100-Year-Old Child« to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey. The title symbolises Turkey itself, which despite its 100-year existence is still a »child« in the eyes of the composer – young, learning and full of potential for development.

Guest performance

Fazıl Say / Piano Recital

Johann Sebastian Bach entitled his work, which later became timelessly famous under the title »Goldberg Variations«, simply »Piano Exercise«. Legend has it that a count at the Dresden court, who was unable to sleep, commissioned the piece from Bach around 1740 so that the count’s harpsichordist, Goldberg, could play it for him at night. Bach apparently had a lot of confidence in the then 13-year-old child prodigy Goldberg! The result is not only a masterpiece of music, but also a journey into the depths of the human soul, a quiet dialogue between complexity and clarity, between structure and emotion. Each variation has its own character – from dance-like lightness to meditative depth and explosive virtuosity. Pianist Fazıl Say first recorded the Goldberg Variations in 2022 – and it is not only since then that he has grown very fond of them, making them a central artistic milestone in his artist portrait at this year’s Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival: »What Bach has created in the 32 variations is a revolution. It is as if Bach is exploring the limits of the possibilities of a single musical theme, constantly finding new perspectives and showing us the infinity of creativity.«

hr-Sinfonieorchester / Fazıl Say / Selina Ott / Gábor Boldoczki / Alain Altinoglu

The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1929 as one of the first radio symphony orchestras in Germany, is now one of the leading orchestras of the country and also enjoys an excellent international reputation. Together with its chief conductor Alain Altinoglu, it will be making a guest appearance at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival this summer – with a brilliant concert programme that portrait artist 2025 Fazıl Say is particularly looking forward to. »I have a long and deep friendship with Alain. He is not only a gifted conductor, but also an outstanding pianist. Together we will play Bach’s C minor Double Concerto. This radiant baroque masterpiece forms an exciting and striking contrast to my concerto for two solo trumpets and orchestra: the trumpet parts are based on Anatolian singing with irregular time signatures, while the orchestral part is very pastel-coloured.« Another highlight of the evening is Dvořák’s timeless symphony »From the New World«, in which the composer brilliantly and colourfully exploits the full orchestral sound spectrum.