Author: Andrea Kerner

Dear colleagues & business partners, We bid farewell to the year with concerts by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Phantasm Viol Consort, Il Giardino Armonico and Avi Avital and another opera series by La Folia Barockorchester in Vienna. Before we continue in the new year with Sarah Willis’ Sarahbanda, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the young talents of the Building Bridges series, we would like to wish you all happy holidays and a happy and hopefully peaceful 2024!

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

Our office will be closed between 23 December 2023 and 2 January 2024.

After the universally delightful first collaboration on the occasion of a series of performances of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie in 2018, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle are coming together again in November to land another baroque opera coup: Charpentier’s opera Médée is on the programme, presented by a truly all-star cast: alongside Magdalena Kožená in the title role are Carolyn Sampson as Créuse and Reinoud Van Mechelen as Jason in a production by Peter Sellars.

19., 23., 25., 30. November, 02. Dezember 2023, Staatsoper unter den Linden, Berlin
21. November 2023, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
27. November 2023, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona
MÉDÉE
Magdalena Kožená Médée / Reinoud Van Mechelen Jason / Luca Tittoto Créon Carolyn Sampson Créuse / Jehanne Amzal Cléone / Gyula Orendt Oronte / Markéta Cukrová Nérine, Bellone, Fantome / Gonzalo Quinchahual La Jalousie / Dionysios Avgerinos La Vengance / Staatsopernchor / Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Simon Rattle Musical direction / Peter Sellars Staging / Frank Gehry Stage design / Camille Assaf Costume design / James F. Ingalls Lighting / Dani Juris Choir rehearsals / Antonio Cuenca Ruiz, Detlef Giese Dramaturgy

M.-A. Charpentier: Médée. Tragédie mise en musique (1693)

Influenced by its most important mentor in the early years, Claudio Abbado, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) pays the highest value on the careful selection of its artistic partners, with whom it builds long-lasting and sustainable relationships and sometimes realises epoch-making projects. With pianist Jan Lisiecki, an international Beethoven cycle was planned for the Beethoven Year 2020, which had to be cancelled in large parts due to the pandemic. All the greater the anticipation for the upcoming reunion in October! Conductor Andrew Manze is also one of the orchestra’s artistic friends.

22 October 2023, Alte Oper Frankfurt
23 October 2023, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
24 October 2023, Kammermusiksaal der Philharmonie Berlin
29 October 2023, Schloss Esterházy, Eisenstadt
AUTUMN TOUR
Jan Lisiecki, piano / Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Andrew Manze, conductor
Works by L. v. Beethoven, W. A. Mozart & F. Chopin

With the oratorio Theodora, first performed in 1750, George Frideric Handel created a contemplative work about religious tolerance, Christian virtues and humanistic values. The world-renowned countertenor and Handel interpreter Bejun Mehta makes his conducting debut at the Theater an der Wien with the La Folia Baroque Orchestra.

Premiere: 19 October 2023, Museumsquartier (Theater an der Wien)
Further performances: 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 Oktober 2023
THEODORA
Jacquelyn Wagner, Theodora / Christopher Lowrey, Didymus / David Portillo, Septimus / Evan Hughes, Valens / Julie Boulianne, Irene / Stefan Herheim, director / La Folia Barockorchester / Bejun Metha, conductor
G. F. Handel: Theodora – Oratorio in three parts

Preview: In December 2023, the La Folia Baroque Orchestra will once again be a guest at the Theater an der Wien with Mozart’s “La Finta Giardiniera”!

Ten years ago, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century brought Mozart’s iconic opera Così fan tutte to international concert halls for the first time. The press cheered at the time: “Absolutely spectacular” (De Volkskrant) and Dagblad Trouw characterised the orchestra as “sublimely playing”. In this production, the opera about the trials and tribulations of the heart is conducted by Manoj Kamps, directed by Lisenka Heijboer Castañón and sung by wonderful soloists: Katharine Dain as Fiordiligi, Josy Santos as Dorabella, Claron McFadden as Despina, Linard Vrielink as Ferrando, Drew Santini as Guglielmo and Henk Neven as Don Alfonso.

06 October 2023, Concertgebouw Brugge (Premiere)
07 October 2023, Oosterpoort Groningen
12 October 2023, Stadsschouwburg Nijmegen – Concertgebouw de Vereeniging
13 October 2023, Amare – Den Haag
14 October 2023, De Doelen Rotterdam
17 October 2023, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam
18 October 2023, Tivoli Vredenburg

The Between Worlds Ensemble, founded by Avi Avital, combines different genres, cultures and musical worlds. At the beginning of October, they will be on tour together again to Antwerp, Ludwigshafen and Essen.The programme combines classical compositions with traditional music to form a coherent overall concept, as if it were quite natural that baroque fantasies, Yiddish melodies or Romanian folk dances should sound side by side.

03 October 2023, De Singel Antwerpen
05 October 2023, BASF-Feierabendhaus Ludwigshafen
06 October 2023, Philharmonie Essen
MIXED INSTRUMENT

The Beethovenfest Bonn 2023 is a festival with “music about life”. With its extraordinarily multifaceted programme, with much joy in experimentation and versatile accompanying events of all kinds, the Beethovenfest Bonn traces the pulse of time and places music in ever new and current contexts. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe will be in Bonn this year with two programmes. First, under the direction of Robin Ticciati, two works will be juxtaposed, both of which have nature as their central theme, but which look at it from completely different perspectives: While Gustav Mahler translated the search for a universal world song into a symphonic song cycle, Brett Dean sets to music in his “Pastoral Symphony” almost a hundred years later the threatening end of familiar and cherished natural phenomena, which threatens to bring about human destructiveness. With works by John Luther Evans and Hector Berlioz, with Schumann’s Violin Concerto and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, the COE, Christian Tetzlaff and Robin Ticciati will celebrate the conclusion of the Beethovenfest 2023 two days later.

22 September 2023, Festivalzentrale Kreuzkirche
LIED VON DER ERDE
Alice Coote, mezzo-soprano / Allan Clayton, tenor / Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Robin Ticciati, conductor
B. Dean: “Pastoral Symphony” / G. Mahler: “Das Lied von der Erde”, symphonic song cycle

24 September 2023, Oper Bonn
CLOSING CONCERT
Christian Tetzlaff, violine / Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Robin Ticciati, conductor
Works by J. L. Adams, H. Berlioz, R. Schumann, L. v. Beethoven

Sounds of sustainability – what does change sound like, what does change sound like? Stegreif – The Impfovising Symphony Orchestra addresses these questions in “symphony of change”, the third and final part of its project #bechange – 17 sounds of sustainability. The musical arc will span from Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), Wilhelmine von Bayreuth (1709- 1785), Emilie Mayer (1812-1883) to Clara Schumann (1819-1896). “symphony of change” will be premiered on 8 September 2023 at the Beethovenfest Bonn.

Artistic directors: Juri de Marco & Lorenz Blaumer / project management: Immanuel de Gilde / recomposition & arrangement: Tabea Schrenk, Nina Kazourian, Julia Biłat, Helena Montag, Franziska Aller / co-artistic director composition: Alistair Duncan / director, choreograph: David Fernández / choreographic cooperation: Lea Hladka / lightdesign: Vito Walter & Arnaud Poumarat / stage & costumes: Anja Kreher / dramaturgical collaboration: Catriona Fadke

08 September 2023, Beethovenfest Bonn
18 September 2023, Musikfest Berlin
05 Oktober 2023, Herbstliche Musiktage Bad Urach
SYMPHONY OF CHANGE
Featuring works by Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, Hildegard von Bingen, Clara Schumann and Emilie Mayer as well as recompositions and improvisation

Since 2014, Il Giardino Armonico and Giovanni Antonini have been diving deep into the extensive oeuvre of Josef Haydn as part of their Haydn2032 project, and with the recordings they have presented to date, the cleverly conceived programmes and their sensational interpretations, they have contributed to changing the general reception of Haydn in a lasting way. In 2019, they set standards with a series of performances and the recording of the “Creation” – now the “Seasons” will follow.

03. September 2023, LUCERNE FESTIVAL
05. September 2023, Beethovenfest Bonn
07. September 2023, Musikfest Bremen
19 September 2023, De Singel Antwerpen
THE SEASONS
Anett Fritsch, soprano / Maximilian Schmitt, tenor / Florian Boesch, bass / National Forum of Music Choir Wroclaw / Il Giardino Armonico / Giovanni Antonini, Conductor
J. Haydn: “The Seasons” Hob. XXI:3