He is currently revolutioning the classical music world with his brilliant playing and progressive, cross-genre approach to music: as a phenomenon at the piano, Hayato Sumino has been appointed as 2026 Artist in Residence Rheingau Musik Festival. He kicks off his residency as a soloist in Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, performing in the impressive Friedrich von Thiersch Hall of the Wiesbaden Kurhaus. Joining him on stage will be the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and its principal conductor Alain Altinoglu. In addition to Rachmaninoff, the programme also includes Borodin’s spirited Polovtsian Dances and Elgar’s mysterious Enigma Variations, which transport the audience to a late Romantic era full of sumptuous melodies and orchestral passion. PROGRAM Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No 2; Elgar: Enigma Variations; Borodin: Polovtsian Dances
Bruckner, Symphony No.4 in E flat major “Romantic”
The performance of all six of Anton Bruckner’s mature symphonies on six nearly consecutive evenings is an accomplishment that can truly be called “superhuman” (Der Tagesspiegel). Daniel Barenboim – conductor, pianist, all round musical genius – set himself this task in June 2010 with the Staatskapelle Berlin at the Berlin Philharmonie. What Barenboim and his orchestra – he has been its principal conductor since 1992 – achieve in thi marathon is a new view of the Bruckner opus that opts for grandeur and the mighty theatrical gesture. Bruckner’s symphonies as “operas without words” (Der Tagesspiegel).
Mauro Bigonzetti – A Choreographer Between the Worlds
Christian Thielemann conducts Chausson, Debussy and Fauré
Christian Thielemann conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker in a programme of late Romantic French masterpieces, accompanied by the outstanding voices of Christiane Karg, Sophie Koch and Adrian Eröd. Gabriel Fauré’s heart-easing Requiem with its famous “Pie Jesu” is turned into a “magical moment” by Karg’s “divine” way of singing (Kulturradio). Ernest Chausson’s haunting song cycle Poème de l’amour et de la mer, in which Sophie Koch performs “superbly with her dramatic, yet light voice” (FAZ), constitutes the Requiem’s temporal counterpart. Thematically bridging the two works are Debussy’s Danse sacrée and Danse profane for harp and strings, with the orchestra’s principal harp Marie-Pierre Langlamet creating “cascades of artful polyphony in delicate nuances” (FAZ).
Christian Thielemann – My Strauss
On the occasion of Richard Strauss‘ 150th birthday, conductor Christian Thielemann reflects in an intensive portrait about his personal relation to the composer. Most interesting for Thielemann of course is the conductor and composer Strauss. But also the person, the director, the festival founder and careerist in times of National Socialism finds its place in this documentary.
Christian Thielemann – Brahms Cycle: Symphony No. 4 & Violin Concerto
Christian Thielemann and Lisa Batiashvili performing Brahms in Dresden. The concert is part of Christian Thielemann’s Brahms-Cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden. On the program: Brahms, Academic Festival Overture in C minor, Op. 80, the Violin Concerto D major, Op. 77 and the Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98.
Thielemann Brahms Cycle: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Violin Concerto D major, Op. 77
Third Part of Christian Thielemann’s Brahms Cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden. On the program: BRAHMS’ Academic Festival Overture in C minor, Op. 80, the Violin Concerto D major, Op. 77 (with Lisa Batashvili as soloist) and the Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98.
Albrecht Mayer and Christian Thielemann: Bruckner, Strauss
Christian Thielemann’s international fame rests to a large extent on his interpretations of BRUCKNER. In this concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker he conducts the composer’s most popular work, the Fourth Symphony. As the epithet “Romantic” implies, Bruckner here creates a vision of a better past. The Oboe Concerto by RICHARD STRAUSS which opens the concert has a similarly nostalgic flavour. The soloist is Albrecht Mayer, principal oboist with the Berliner Philharmoniker since 1992.—– Program: Richard STRAUSS, Oboe Concerto in D major; Johann Sebastian BACH, Sinfonia from Cantata BWV 156, Anton BRUCKNER, Symphony No. 4 in E flat major “Romantic”
Bruckner, Symphony No.8 in C minor (Edition Robert Haas)
The performance of all six of Anton Bruckner’s mature symphonies on six nearly consecutive evenings is an accomplishment that can truly be called “superhuman” (Der Tagesspiegel). Daniel Barenboim – conductor, pianist, all-round musical genius – set himself this task in June 2010 with the Staatskapelle Berlin at the Berlin Philharmonie. What Barenboim and his orchestra – he has been its principal conductor since 1992 – achieve in this marathon is a new view of the Bruckner opus that opts for grandeur and the mighty theatrical gesture. Bruckner’s symphonies as “operas without words” (Der Tagesspiegel).
Portrait Alison Balsom – The Trumpet’s Splendour
In only a few years, trumpeter Alison Balsom has shot forward to the topmost ranks of today’s instrumental soloists, reaching untold popularity for her playing – and for the trumpet. At the latest since her appearance in a live international broadcast of the ‘Last Night of the Proms,’ she has become one of the best-known UK artists of today, with sales of her CDs topping the charts. At the center of the documentary are two performances. One is a public performance of Haydn’s celebrated Trumpet Concerto in E flat major with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under the Chinese conductor Xian Zhang, recorded in the classicistic hall of the Konzerthaus Berlin. The other is a ‘private’ recording of Bach’s Concerto in D major BWV 972 and Gigue BWV 1008, Debussy’s ‘Syrinx’, and George Thalben-Ball’s Elegy for trumpet and organ, performed with organist David Goode at Berlin’s historic Sophienkirche.