Author: Andrea Kerner

We are looking forward to the major festivals for orchestras and ensembles in Bremen, Lucerne and Bonn, as well as to many more concerts by our orchestras at renowned concert series and festivals throughout Europe. The Building Bridges mentoring programme, which Sir András Schiff launched in 2014, will also start the 2022/23 season with new participants. Details of concerts with Il Giardino Armonico, Babylon Orchestra, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Vox Luminis, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Finnish Baroque Orchestra, CONTINUUM, Chamber Orchestra of Europa and the franz ensemble can be found in our current newsletter.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier is one of the most important works of Baroque piano literature. In its programme, the PHANTASM viol consort gets inside Bach’s head, not only to grasp the numerous references to arias, concertos, dances and sonatas in his glorious polyphony, but also to engage as instrumentalists with the amazing variety of characters, styles and emotions hidden beneath the surface of the notes. Even those already familiar with this keyboard repertoire will be amazed at how the clarity of the lines, played on the viols, seem to lead to entirely new works from Bach’s genius pen. Between 11 and 13 July 2022, the ensemble will be guests at the Palau de la Música Orfeó Català and at the Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus.

11 July, Bachcelona, Palau de la Música Orfeó Català, Barcelona
12 July, Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus
Johann Sebastian Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (Excerpts) / Keyboard exercises
13 July, Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus
Extraordinary Englishmen – Music by C. Tye, W. Byrd, J. Jenkins a.o.

The encounters between Sir Simon Rattle and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe have always taken place under special omens: Das Debütprojekt im Oktober 2021 war für das Orchester das erste seit Beginn der Corona-Pandemie, im Mai und Juni 2022 überschattete der Krieg in der Ukraine eine weitere Konzerttournee. With Strauss’ Metamorphosen and Mahler’s Lied von der Erde, works were now on the programme that demanded a great deal of emotional effort from all those involved.

The concerts at the Dresden Music Festival (31 May 2022), the Philharmonie Luxembourg (01 June 2022), the Cologne Philharmonie (03 June 2022), the Musikverein Vienna (05 June 2022) and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg (07 June 2022) were a complete success with jubilant reviews in the press and standing ovations from the audience. Sir Simon Rattle’s enthusiastic exclamation “I’ve been falling in love with this orchestra!” gives reason to hope for a continuation of this relationship, which was formed under not entirely easy conditions!

R. Strauss: Metamorphosen TrV 290
G. Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde

Magdalena Kožená, mezzosopran Andrew Staples, tenor Sir Simon Rattle: conductor Some excerpts from the press

“On Tuesday, this Gustav Mahler could be heard at the same venue as part of the music festival. Better: to suffer through. For Sir Simon Rattle and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe celebrated the farewell of a painter of tonal colours whom one can hardly get tired of hearing.”
(Sächsische Zeitung, 02 June 2022)
“The Chamber Orchestra of Europe has previously also been able to score multi-layered points in the realm of pure melancholy.”
(Der Standard, 08 June 2022)
“The visitors in the Kulturpalast listened as if hypnotised; after Sir Simon lowered the baton in each case, long breathless silence followed in the hall, filled with so many thoughts and feelings, and finally endless cheers.”
(Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, 02 June 2022)

The festival on the former Bavarian residence island of Herrenchiemsee has begun! In the last week of July, the La Folia Baroque Orchestra, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and the Freiburger Barockorchester, among others, will perform there.

Mondey, 25 July 2022 Glorious Revolution
Music from works by Henry Purcell: “The Fairy Queen”, “Dido and Aeneas”, “The Tempest”, “Bonduca”, “King Arthur”, “The Prophetess”, “Come Ye Sons of Art” a.o.
Anna Prohaska, soprano / Julia Böhme, alto / Richard Resch, tenor / Nikolay Borchev, baritone / Robin Peter Müller, violin and leader / La Folia Barockorchester

Thursday, 28 July 2022 Wassermusik
Ludwig von Beethoven: Romance for violin and orchestra no. 2 in F major, op. 50
Ludwig von Beethoven: Concerto for piano and orchestra no. 4 in G major, op. 58
Ludwig von Beethoven: Symphony no. 4 in B flat major, op. 60
Kreeta-Maria Kentala, concert master / Finnish Baroque Orchestra

Friday, 29 July 2022 Beethoven III
Georg Friedrich Händel: “Water Music” – Suites F major, HWV 348; D major, HWV 349; and G major, HWV 350
Johann Sebastian Bach: Orchestral suite no. 3 in D major, BWV 1068
Georg Friedrich Händel: “Music for the Royal Fireworks” in D major, HWV 351
Kristian Bezuidenhout, forte piano / Gottfried von der Goltz, concertmaster / Freiburger Barockorchester

It was probably the Freiburger Barockorchester‘s biggest project to date: Carl Maria von Weber’s “Der Freischütz” conducted by its spiritus rector René Jacobs. With a top-class vocal soloist and the congenial Zürcher Sing-Akademie including Arttu Kataja, Polina Pastirchak and Dimitry Ivashchenko, the orchestra and conductor gave rousing performances in Freiburg, Wiesbaden, Cologne and Hamburg in April and May 2022.

Ottokar / Kilian: Yannick Debus
Kuno: Matthias Winckhler
Agathe: Polina Pastirchak
Ännchen: Katharina Ruckgaber
Kaspar: Dimitry Ivashchenko
Max: Magnus Staveland
Ein Eremit: Torben Jürgens
Sprecher: Max Urlacher
Zürcher Sing-Akademie

Some excerpts from the press
“The longed-for, unique colour spectacles of bravura brass, wood, percussion and mystical gut strings made the heart beat faster.” (Bachtrack, 03 May 2022)
“But as in the recording, it is the FBO that takes command here, staging the melodrama as a film in sounds.” (Badische Zeitung, 30 April 2022)
“Presented in this way, Weber’s masterpiece became even better than it already sounds.” (Hamburger Abendblatt, 06 May 2022)
“All the more joy, gratitude and jubilation for the concertante or shall we say semi-staged performance under René Jacobs in the Cologne Philharmonie on 2 May 2022.” (operagazet.com, 06 May 2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beethoven’s complete piano concertos, a St. John Passion for three musicians, unleashed Brahms and well-tempered viol music – these are just a few examples of the exciting and stimulating programmes that our ensembles will be performing in June and July. Find out more about the concerts of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, La Folia Baroque Orchestra, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, STEGREIF.orchestra, Oberon Trio and Finnish Baroque Orchestra, PHANTASM, Europa Galante, Il Giardino Armonico and CONTINUUM in our new newsletter!

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe will be on tour in German-speaking countries from 26 May with two programmes: under the direction of Francois Leleux, the orchestra will first appear at the Mozart Festivals in Würzburg and Augsburg before going on tour with Sir Simon Rattle, Magdalena Kožená and Andrew Staples with works by Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss!.

Thursday, 26 May 2022 – Mozartfest Würzburg
Joseph Haydn: Symphony no. 22 in E flat Major Hob. I:22 »Der Philosoph«
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Arias from »Die Zauberflöte« K 620 and »Don Giovanni« K 527
Isabel Mundry: Le Corps des cordes for solo cello
Domenico Cimarosa: Concerto for oboe and strings in C minor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony no. 28 in C Major K 20
Kate Gould, cello / François Leleux, oboe and direction

Friday, 27 May 2022 – Mozartfest Augsburg
Joseph Haydn: Symphony no. 22 in E flat Major Hob. I:22 »Der Philosoph«
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Arias from »Die Zauberflöte« K 620 and »Don Giovanni« K 527
Jörg Widmann: Aria for violin, viola and eleven strings
Domenico Cimarosa: Concerto for oboe and strings in C minor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony no. 28 in C Major K 20
Kate Gould, cello / François Leleux, oboe and direction

Tuesday, 31 May 2022 – Dresdner Musikfestspiele
Wednesday, 1 June 2022 – Philharmonie Luxembourg
Friday, 3 June 2022 – Kölner Philharmonie
Sunday, 5 June 2022 – Musikverein Wien
Tuesday, 7 June 2022 – Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
Richard Strauss: »Metamorphosen« for 23 solo strings TrV 290
Gustav Mahler: »Das Lied von der Erde«. Symphony for altus, tenor and orchestra (arr. for chamber orchestra by Glenn Cortese)
Magdalena Kožená, Mezzo-soprano / Andrew Staples, Tenor / Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor

For its “50 for the Future” project, the famous Kronos Quartet asked 50 international composers to write new works. The compositions created and still being created follow a participatory approach in that the sheet music is accessible free of charge and supplemented by audio samples and interviews.

Saturday 21 May 2022 8.00 p.m.
Ehrenhof Residenzschloss Ludwigsburg !

In the coming months, Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra will be on tour in Germany and Italy. With Alexandre Kantorow, the orchestra will perform at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and at the Dresden Music Festival, along other venues. Afterwards, the BFO and Iván Fischer will return to the Spoleto Festival, which they will open as orchestra in residence in the picturesque Piazza Duomo.