Author: Andrea Kerner

The Nordic Lights Festival brings together the four most important baroque orchestras in Northern Europe – Barokkanerne, Concerto Copenhagen, Drottningholms Barockensemble, Finnish Baroque Orchestra – and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra for an inspiring celebration of music in Berlin.

The festival will begin with a performance of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Philharmonie Berlin conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado. Following the performance, the four orchestras of the Nordic Baroque Scene and the FBO will continue their journey north together and present Edvard Grieg’s “From Holberg’s Time” as a string ensemble for one evening.

On the following evening, the five orchestras will present a diverse programme that not only demonstrates the musical richness of Northern and Central Europe, but also the almost unlimited interpretation possibilities for original sound instrumentation.

Friday, 30 June 2023, Philharmonie Berlin – Live broadcasted by Deutschlandfunk Kultur Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, op. 61
Max Urlacher, actor / Pablo Heras-Casado, conductor / RIAS Kammerchor / Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Edvard Grieg: “From Holberg’s time” Suite for string orchestra op. 40
Gottfried von der Goltz, musical director / Barokkanerne / Concerto Copenhagen / Drottingholms Barocksemble / Finnish Baroque Orchestra / Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Saturday, 01 July 2023, Säälchen at the Holzmarkt
NORDIC LIGHTS FESTIVAL
Barokkanerne & Ragnhild Hemsing, Hardanger fiddle / Concerto Copenhagen & Jakob Bloch Jespersen, bass-baritone / Drottningholm Baroque Orchestra & Torbjörn Näsbom, nyckelharpa / Finnish Baroque Orchestra & Petri Kumela, baroque guitar / Freiburger Barockorchester
Traditional music from Sweden and Norway / Works by A. Vivaldi, F. Couperin, D. Buxtehude, J. H. Roman, J. Agrell, F. Berwald, L. Boccherini, C. Baguer, M. Marais, J. Haydn, A. Auvinen, A. I. Pettersen

The first summer festivals of the 2023/24 season start in June, including the Potsdam Sanssouci Music Festival, Kissingen Sommer an Bach Festival Leipzig.

Potsdam’s theme this year is “Friendship” and explores possible influences that strong spiritual and emotional ties and common interests can have or have had on music. Among others, the Italian baroque orchestra Il Giardino Armonico and Giovanni Antonini are invited to follow the traces of the Bassano family in London in their programme IL VIAGGIO DI BASSANO. Shortly afterwards, the orchestra and soprano Anna Prohaska will be guests at the Kissinger Sommer with their long-running SERPENT & FIRE.

Fabio Biondi and his orchestra Europa Galante explore the many connections between the work of Antonio Vivaldi and various works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Friedrich Händel on the occasion of this year’s Bach Festival Leipzig.

11 June 2023, Potsdam Sanssouci Music Festival
IL VIAGGIO DI BASSANO
Giovanni Antonini, transverse flute & musical direction
Virtuoso Wind Music from Renaissance & Early Baroque
18 June 2023, Kissinger Summer
SERPENT & FIRE
Anna Proaska, soprano
Works by H. Purcell, G. F. Händel, J. A. Hasse a.o.

15 June 2023, Bach Festival Leipzig
CONCERTS AVEC PLUSIEURS INSTRUMENTS II
Fabio Biondi, violin & musical direction
Works by J. S. Bach & A. Vivaldi
17 June 2023, Bachfest Leipzig
CONCERTS AVEC PLUSIEURS INSTRUMENTS V
Fabio Biondi, musical direction / Roberta Invernizzi, soprano
Works by J. S. Bach, G. F. Händel & A. Vivaldi

“The COE is like a good CEO: it is an undisputed leader but uses its power with discretion and always in the service of music. It has been my privilege over the years to join the orchestra for many unforgettable concerts.” (Herbert Blomstedt)

Although still in her early twenties, Spanish violinist Maria Dueñas has already received an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, has been named one of the BBC New Generation Artists 2021-2023 and has been awarded the Princesa de Girona Art and Culture 2023 Prize. Maria Dueñas is also a successful composer: Her solo piano piece “Farewell” was awarded a prize in the “Of Foreign Lands and People” competition for young composers in 2016.

24 May 2023, Cologne Philharmonic Hall
25 May 2023, Dortmund Concert Hall
26 May 2023, Philharmonie Luxembourg
BERWALD/MENDELSSOHN
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
F. Berwald: Symphony No. 4 in E flat major “Naïve F.
F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, op. 56 “Scottish”

28 May 2023, Dresden Music Festival
MENDELSSOHN
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor / Maria Dueñas, violin
F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Konzert für Violine und Orchester e-Moll op. 64
F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, op. 56 “Scottish”

The legendary Kronos Quartet celebrates its 50th anniversary and is a guest at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal for a week as part of the Quartet Summer. In addition to a concert of groundbreaking string quartet works of the 20th and 21st centuries, the quartet will also present a live musical documentation of its eventful history. In addition, a comprehensive education programme with up-and-coming string quartets will accompany the residency.

16 May 2023, Pierre Boulez Hall
A THOUSAND THOUGHTS – A Live Documentary with the Kronos Quartet
Sam Green, Speaker / Kronos Quartet

20 May 2023, Pierre Boulez Saal
BLACK ANGELS
Kronos Quartet
Works for string quartets by F. Ali-Sade, S. Gubaidulina, M. Gordon, T. Riley & G. Crumb

21 May 2023, Pierre Boulez Saal
OPEN DAY
Kronos Quartet / students of the Barenboim-Said Akademie, Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler“ and Berliner Universität der Künste
Works for string quartet of different composers

The 2023/24 season is gradually drawing to a close. All the more reason to look forward to the next few weeks, when some of our orchestras and ensembles will be performing in major concert halls and at renowned festivals in Europe:

Freiburg Baroque Orchestra travels to Switzerland with Mozart
Kronos Quartet comes to Berlin for a week
Building Bridges: Young Pianists Present Themselves
Nordic Lights Festival: Musical Midsummer Night in Berlin
Il Giardino Armonico as guest in Potsdam and Bad Kissingen
Europa Galante at the Bach Festival Leipzig
Babylon Orchestra brings the Mediterranean to Ludwigsburg
Chamber Orchestra of Europe on tour with Herbert Blomstedt
In Eichstätt and Aldeburgh: Phantasm Viol Consort
Avi Avital and the Between Worlds Ensemble in Ravensburg

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s incidental music to the famous Shakespeare comedy about the trials and tribulations of a midsummer’s night has lost none of its wit, originality and freshness in the 180 years since it was first performed in Berlin – when the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Pablos Heras-Casado take on the work, magic will not only be cast in the forest! After a series of guest performances in May, Midsummer Night’s Dream will be heard in Berlin at the end of June – as a prelude to the Nordic Ligths Festival!

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
with Max Urlacher, actor / Pablo Heras-Casado, conductor / RIAS Chamber Choir / Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: A Midsommer Night’s Dream op. 61
F. Schubert: Symphony no. 6 in C major D. 589
03 May 2023, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
04 May 2023, Musikverein Wien
06 May 2023, Staatstheater Wiesbaden
07 May 2023, Konzerthaus Freiburg
10 May 2023, Kölner Philharmonie
30 June 2023, Philharmonie Berlin

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe is regarded by audiences and the press, as well as soloists and conductors, as a guarantor of incomparable musical experiences. The experience of making music together reliably leads to the regular return of renowned artists – like a visit to old friends. From 17 April 2023, the COE will tour with Robin Ticciati and Lisa Batiashvili, and devote itself to love – spring fever not excluded!

SPRING TOUR
Lisa Batiashvili, violin / Robin Ticciati, conductor
L. van Beethoven: Violinconcrto in D major op. 61 / Egmont op. 84: inter act music I
J. Widmann: Liebeslied for eight instruments
L. van Beethoven: Egmont op. 84: inter act music II
H. Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette, Dramatic Symphony op. 17: love scene
L. van Beethoven: Egmont op. 84: Music, signifying Clärchen’s death / Egmont in F minor op. 84: overture
17 April 2023, Auditorium Bordaux
19 April 2023, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
20 April 2023, Berliner Philharmonie, Kammermusiksaal
22 April 2023, Schloss Esterházy,
Eisenstadt 24 April 2023, Festspielhaus Bregenz

Giovanni Antonini and Il Giardino Armonico are delighting baroque fans around the globe: after their successful European tour with Fatma Said, the Labeque sisters and Kristian Bezuidenhout, the orchestra will travel to the Tongyeong International Music Festival, the “Salzburg of Asia”, in South Korea in April. Dedicated to the memory of the German-Korean composer Isang Yun, the festival not only presents its own festival orchestra each spring, but also invites selected European artists to create a programme that is as diverse and multi-perspective as possible. Il Giardino Armonico is represented with two programmes, including one with the Korean-American singer Kangmin Justin Kim.

BAROQUE & THE 20TH CENTURY
Giovanni Antonini, recorder & conductor / Il Giardino Armonico
With works by A. Vivaldi, Isang Yun and others
07 April 2023, Tongyeong International Music Festival

HÄNDEL & CO.
With overtures and arias by G. F. Handel and other baroque composers
Kangmin Justin Kim, countertenor / Giovanni Antonini, conductor / Il Giardino Armonico
08 April 2023, Tongyeong International Music Festival

A performance combining 16th and 17th century music, dance and visual art. Laurence Dreyfus and the Ensemble Phantasm, choreographer Sommer Ulrickson and visual artist Alexander Polzin transform the stage of the Pierre Boulez Hall into a laboratory for communication between people and artistic disciplines. The piece will premiere on 23 March, with further performances on 24 and 25 March.

Thursday, 23 & Friday, 24 & Saturday, 25 March 2023, Pierre Boulez Saal
The Art of Being Human
With Works by William Byrd, John Dowland, William Lawes, Henry Purcell and others. Laurence Dreyfus, Treble Viol and Musical Direction / Alexander Polzin, Visual Concept / Sommer Ulrickson, Choreography / Dance: Saeed Hani Moeller, Sami Similae, Yamila Khodr, Camille Jackson, Rodolfo Piazza