Kirill Gerstein & Mao Fujita in Recital

Experience an extraordinary evening of piano artistry as acclaimed pianist Kirill Gerstein appears with his brilliant protégé Mao Fujita at the Ark Hall, Tokorozawa Civic Cultural Centre. This special concert offers a rare glimpse into the powerful artistic bond between master and student. A recipient of the Gilmore Artist Award and professor at Berlin’s Hanns Eisler Hochschule, Gerstein is internationally celebrated for his imaginative interpretations and distinctive blend of classical and jazz influences. Mao Fujita, silver medalist at the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition, has rapidly emerged as one of the most compelling pianists of his generation. Schubert: Variations Op. 46; Schumann: Andante and Variations Op. 46; Ravel: La Valse; Busoni: Duettino concertante based on Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 19; Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances Op. 45; Debussy: Lindaraja; Rachmaninoff: Waltz for 4 Hands Op.11, No.4

Michael Nyman in Concert

The Michael Nyman Band live at Studio Halle: Michael Nyman, who is famous for his Oscar nominated film score for Jane Campion’s film “The Piano”, is without doubt one of the great contemporary composers. Fitting the theme of the Handel-Year 2009, Michael Nyman celebrated the German premiere of his newest composition “The Musicologist Scores” in Handel’s hometown Halle. In that piece the composer looks deeply into the subject of Handel’s work. Furthermore, many other of Nyman’s works were performed. All over the world the powerful, energetic playing of The Michael Nyman Band – developed under Nyman‘s leadership over a period of three decades – brings his works to sparkling life and has long since become a characteristic feature of his music.

Manfred

As a young man, Schumann had got to know Byron’s works through his father’s publishing business. There is no question that the composer recognised his own psyche in Manfred’s rugged soul. But he also responded to the challenge of Byron’s artistic concept of Manfred as “mental theatre”.

In the Düsseldorf production, the audience “becomes” Manfred, experiencing through the eyes of the eponymous hero a projection of the visually alienated world of the Swiss mountains in which the story is set – visualisation by the Austrian media artist Johannes Deutsch.

Pierre Hantaï and Skip Sempé play Rameau’s “Symphonies for two harpsichords”

At the Chikurin Banquet Hall of Tokyo’s famous Gajoeng Hotel, Pierre Hantaï and Skip Sempé present their successful chamber music programme of Rameau’s “Symphonies for two Harpsichords”. It comprises transcriptions compiled from nine different works, among them Rameau’s first opera Hippolyte et Aricie, as well as Dardanus, Les Indes galantes, and the composer’s instrumental masterwork Pièces de clavecin en concert. Hantaï and Sempé, two artists situated at the forefront of today’s musical personalities in Renaissance and Baroque music, create a stunning atmosphere in this private recital. Recorded in the picturesque surrounding of extravagant Japanese-style murals and artworks preserved from the old Gajoen buildings – which used to be one of Japan’s first wedding complexes back in the 1930s –, this concert is a pleasure for both the eye and the ear.

Lahav Shani conducts the 80 Years of Liberation – May 8 Concert

On the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, known as Liberation Day in Germany, conductor Lahav Shani unites musicians from the Israel Philharmonic and the Münchner Philharmoniker for “a highly emotional performance” (Münchner Merkur) in the Isarphilharmonie. The two orchestras start their first ever collaboration with the deeply moving Prayer, a piece by 97-yearold Israeli composer Tzvi Avni, who travelled to Munich to witness this historic occasion. Then, the musicians come together to shape Mahler’s monumental Sixth Symphony. Shani’s Mahler is “robust, dark, rough, seeking depth” and manages to “achieve the ultimate in tragic expression here – horror and emotion give way to catharsis, to spiritual cleansing” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). PROGRAM: Avni: Prayer; Mahler: Symphony No. 6

Odeonsplatz Concert 2025: Lahav Shani & Lisa Batiashvili

For 25 years, the Odeonsplatz Concert has been an open-air highlight of the classical music summer, attracting over 16,000 viewers each year. In balmy summer temperatures, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, led by its designated chief conductor Lahav Shani, delivered a radiant performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with star soloist Lisa Batiashvili, whose interpretation held the audience spellbound. The evening culminated in a powerful rendition of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, filling the stage with sweeping orchestral colour. “Powerful and magical” (Münchner Merkur) PROGRAM Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major; Massenet: Meditation from Thaïs; Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, Op. 45; Dvorak : Slavonic Dance, Op. 46, No. 8

Staatskapelle Berlin – Christian Thielemann & Erin Morley

With the performance of all of Richard Strauss’s orchestral songs and all of Franz Liszt’s symphonic poems, Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Berlin are dedicating themselves to a rarely performed but artistically significant repertoire. The response to the first concert in this new series has been promising: “A moment of happiness that one would like to hold on to” (Die Presse). “Morley took the audience by storm” (Das Opernmagazin)

Odeonsplatz Concert 2025: Franz-Welser Möst & Daniil Trifonov

For 25 years, the Odeonsplatz Concert has been an open-air highlight of the classical music summer, attracting over 16,000 viewers each year. Star pianist Daniil Trifonov opened the evening with a thrilling performance of Prokofievís Third Piano Concerto, accompanied by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst. In the second half, Welser-Möst delighted the audience with the irresistible melodies from Richard Strauss’s Rosenkalavier. “Trifonov remains the ideal choice for Prokofiev” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). PROGRAM Prokofiev: Piano Concerto, No. 3; R. Strauss: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier (arranged by Franz Welser-Möst); J. Strauss: Unter Donner und Blitz

Festive Advent Concert at the Frauenkirche Dresden 2025

It is the traditional start to the pre-Christmas season for classical music lovers throughout Germany: on the eve of the First Advent, the Frauenkirche shines in its baroque splendour and offers a magnificent experience with the Sächsische Staatskapelle, the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor and the Kreuzchor Dresden. Conductor Nicholas Collon takes the podium for this year’s concert, joined by the dazzling soprano Elsa Dreisig, star tenor Benjamin Bernheim, and virtuoso violinist Daniel Hope. Together, they present a festive programme of Mozart, Berlioz, Bach, Gounod, and more.