Author: Andrea Kerner

The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Kristian Bezuidenhout are popular around the globe. At the end of March, Mozart fans in Australia can look forward to a multi-day visit by the orchestra and their favourite pianist: the programme includes the Piano Concerto in E flat major and the Violin Concerto in A major as well as various arias and symphonies by the Salzburg genius.

25 & 26 March 2025, Recital Centre, Melbourne / 28 March 2025, ACO Pier, Sydney / 29 March 2025, Snow Concert Hall, Canberra
MOZART IN AUSTRALIA
Kris Bezuidenhout, piano / Siobhan Stagg, soprano / Gottfried von der Goltz, violin & musical direction
Works by J. C. Bach & W. A. Mozart

In their first collaboration, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) and pianist Sunwook Kim combine Beethoven’s piano concertos with works by two contemporary British composers: Anna Clyne’s string piece Stride, which is inspired by Beethoven’s music, and Helen Grime’s Elegiac Inflections, which explores the diverse sonic possibilities of a wind ensemble.

“We are particularly thankful to Hyundai Motor whose generous support has made this project possible and whose headquarters are located just down the road in Offenbach am Main.” (Chamber Orchestra of Europe)

24 March 2025, Kammermusiksaal Philharmonie Berlin / 29 March 2025, Schloss Esterházy, Eisenstadt
BEETHOVEN
Sunwook Kim, piano & musical direction
A. Clyne: Stride / L. v. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, op. 37 / H. Grime: Elegiac Inflections / L. v. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major op. 58

From mid-March 2025, the Phantasm Viol Consort will be hosting its own concert series at St Elisabeth Church in Berlin-Mitte. The concerts will be dedicated entirely to polyphony and will each focus on a composer who is particularly prominent in this compositional technique. Under the title The Well-Tempered Consort, the opening concert on 14 March 2025 is dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach. Transcribed for three to five viols in various sizes, his works will plunge listeners into unimagined depths both intellectually and emotionally – even if they are already familiar with the repertoire. The concert also presents the ensemble’s latest recording, The Art of Fugue, which will be released on the same day by Linn Records/Outhere Music. Find out more here.

Before starting the series in Berlin, however, the ensemble will be travelling internationally: in a trio formation, the musicians will present Perilous Polyphonies with experimental works by English composers that were daring in their time, while in Hamburg there will be a revival of the spectacular production The Art of Being Human, a performance that combines 16th and 17th century music, dance and visuals.

22 February 2025, Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht & 23 February 2025, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Amsterdam
PERILOUS POLYPHONIES
Laurence Dreyfus, treble viol & musical direction / Jonathan Manson / Markku Luolajan-Mikkola
Works by C. Tye, E. Bevin, W. Byrd, H. Purcell and others
12 March 2025, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
THE ART OF BEING HUMAN
Laurence Dreyfus, treble viol & musical direction / Alexander Polzin, visual concept / Sommer Ulrickson, choreography / dancer: Saeed Hani Moeller, Sami Similae, Yamila Khodr, Camille Jackson, Rodolfo Piazza
Works by W. Byrd, J. Dowland, W. Lawes, H. Purcell and others
14 March 2025, St. Elisabeth-Kirche, Berlin
THE WELL-TEMPERED CONSORT
Phantasm Viol Consort / Laurence Dreyfus, concept & artistic direction
Works by J. S. Bach

Dear colleagues & friends

Now that you have hopefully all arrived safe and sound in the new year, we are delighted to send you an overview of our concerts and tours in the coming weeks. We have a selection of varied programmes with the Phantasm Viol Consort, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the Building Bridges pianists, Sarah Willis and the Sarahbanda, Europa Galante and the Oberon Trio. It’s also time to get ready for this year’s edition of Classical:NEXT!

One of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe‘s most important partners is Robin Ticciati, with whom the COE will perform in Berlin and Hamburg in January 2025. Joining as soloist is British countertenor Iestyn Davies, who is performing with the COE for the first time. The concert programme juxtaposes arias from operas and oratorios by George Frideric Handel with arias from Mozart’s opera Mitridate, which he composed at the age of 14, and explores the transition between the late Baroque and Classical periods. For as different as the two epochs appear in form, content and orientation, there are still significant references to be discovered.

The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (FBO) and René Jacobs, who have long been settings standards for opera productions, present their interpretation of Mozart’s Idomeneo, a work that the then 25-year-old composer commissioned from the Munich Elector Karl-Theodor. Mozart broke new ground in Idomeneo; while its core elements are still indebted to the traditions of opera seria, its differentiated role portraits (which were literally composed to fit the cast of the premiere) and the extensive choral parts already point to the musical future. With a more than promising vocal cast and the congenial Zürcher Sing-Akademie, the FBO and René Jacobs are guests in some of the most important opera houses and concert halls in Europe.

Ian Koziara, tenor (Idomeneo) / Kateryna Kasper, soprano (Elettra) / Olivia Vermeulen, mezzo-soprano (Idamante) /Polina Pastirchak, soprano (Ilia) / Mark Milhofer, tenor (Arbace) / Kresimir Spicer, tenor (Gran Sacerdote di Nettuno & La voce) / Zürcher Sing-Akademie / René Jacobs, conductor

23 January 2025, Teatro Real Madrid / 29 January 2025, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona / 31 January 2025, DeSingel, Antwerpen / 2 February 2025, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg / 4 February 2025, Konzerthaus Freiburg

W. A. Mozart: Idomeneo, Rè di Creta K 366

Together with conductor José Méndez and pianist Jorge Aragón, Sarah Willis has been invited to present the Mozart y Mambo repertoire with the Coro Orquesta Sinfónica de Las Palmas at the Festival de Música de Canarias – enjoy some musical island hopping!

15 January – Auditorio Insular de La Gomera, Islas Canarias
16 January – Palacio de Formación y Congresos de Fuerteventura
17 January – Auditorio de Las Jameos del Agua, Lanzarote
18 January – Theater Cirdo de Mars, La Palma

Sarah Willis, horn / Jorge Aragón, piano & arrangements / Sinfónica de Las Palmas G.C. / José Méndez, conductor

Works by R. Egües, W.A. Mozart, J. Davis, J. Peña, I. Carrillo, M. Simons

Dear colleagues & friends

Another eventful and turbulent year is drawing to a close. Old and new crises, more or less unforeseen challenges, urgent topics and questions are hitting the world at a seemingly unprecedented speed. Of course, these developments do not stop at the cultural sector, even if we would actually prefer to focus on the good, the true and the beautiful. At the moment, it is the planned cuts to culture at federal, state and local levels that are causing us and many of our partners concern, but the wars in the Middle East and even closer to home are also having an impact on our work. It was with great regret that we had to cancel a tour with the Galilee Chamber Orchestra, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider and Saleem Ashkar in the summer.

This makes it all the more important for us to continue to actively work together with our many international partners towards a better world, to face the many challenges creatively and with good humour, and to do our part to ensure that art and music can freely unfold their potential for democratic, open and diverse societies and reveal their unifying power as often as possible.

This is another reason why we can look back on many enriching and great concerts, connections and events in our anniversary year and look forward to 2025 with energy and joy! Before we take a short holiday, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy and peaceful festive season and, of course, a happy new year! It may not be any easier than 2024 was, but we would like to continue working with you to ensure that there is a chance for improvement.

Let’s stay healthy and optimistic!

Andreas Richter, Andrea Kerner, Michael Sauter, Ina Holthaus, Daniela Gast, Raphael Reher, Capucine Valois & Benjamin Kaiser

Our office will not be staffed between 23 December 2024 and 6 January 2025.  

We are very much looking forward to the collaboration with BRYGGEN – Bruges Strings, the Festival Strings Lucerne, the Munich Chamber Orchestra & Simone Menezes and the Ensemble K!

From its home port of Bruges, the string orchestra BRYGGEN boldly sets course for the north, along the routes of the Hanseatic League, all the way to Scandinavia and the Baltic States. In search of new sounds and connections with cultures from all over the world. With united forces, sometimes even against the current.

“Bryggen’s interpretation is a bit like allowing yourself a moment of
meditation, free, in the sun and under an open sky.”
(crescendo, 22 July 2022)

The Festival Strings Lucerne have been setting off on musical adventures around the world from Lake Lucerne for almost 70 years – with a flexible ensemble size, the orchestra dedicates itself to repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary music, in chamber music formations or symphonic ensembles. Daniel Dodds has been the artistic director since 2012.

“They breathe together.”
(Süddeutsche Zeitung, 7 February 2022)

With its varied concert programmes, which always combine the familiar and the new in an exciting way, the Munich Chamber Orchestra delights audiences worldwide with its special sound culture and its outstanding level of interpretation.

“An impressive, warmly celebrated evening.”
(Süddeutsche Zeitung, 24 May 2024)

Simone Menezes explores the repertoire to create dialogues with contemporary society and develop projects of universal scope. In 2019, she founded an ensemble made up of a core of 14 strong and creative artistic personalities who share a cosmopolitan and curious vision. This is how Ensemble K was born, creating musical experiences that the term ‘concert’ does not adequately describe.

“Those who are open to new worlds of sound will have a lot to discover.”
(Onlinemerker, 21 Sept. 2024)