The turbine hall on Lake Stienitz, a striking industrial monument near Berlin, is the site of an extraordinary musical collaboration. Celebrated pianist Hélène Grimaud and rising star baritone Konstantin Krimmel come together in a unique space where nature and industry converge. The once-noisy hall now resonates with the sounds of the most direct and intimate of musical genres – the song. The duo presents a program that includes Brahms‘ Lieder und Gesänge op. 32, as well as a selection of the contemplative Stille Lieder by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov. Grimaud has been a champion of Silvestrov‘s music for more than two decades, and the selection of his songs adds a deeply meditative dimension to the program. The setting for this recording is a testament to the power of artistic collaboration to transform spaces and bring new life to old structures. Against the backdrop of unspoilt nature and a historic industrial site, Grimaud and Krimmel create a musical experience that is both timeless and deeply rooted in its surroundings. PROGRAM Brahms: Lieder und Gesänge op. 32; Silvestrov: Silent Songs (selection)
Vikingur Olafsson: Bach’s Goldberg Variations
Víkingur Ólafsson goes back to Bach for his highly anticipated new recording. Celebrated for his visionary interpretations of the composer’s music, the Icelandic pianist follows up the award-winning Johann Sebastian Bach of 2018 with this stunning recording of the Goldberg Variations, a work he’s dreamed of recording for 25 years. “At least to me, the Goldberg Variations’ genius lies not in the general, but the specific,” says Ólafsson. “As each variation unfolds, one must be wholly gripped by its individual drama and affect, drawn into its own marvellous little microcosm and filled with the joy of discovering it.” As part of a tour taking the work to venues around the world, this concert sees Ólafsson perform it to music-lovers in the South Korean capital.
Masaaki Suzuki plays Arp Schnitger Organs – Bach and Buxtehude
Arp Schnitger (1648-1719) was one of the most influential among the Northern European organ builders. Of his more than 150 organs built or rebuilt especially in the Netherlands and Northern Germany, a number of these instruments still survive and are being played to the day. Conductor, cembalist and organist Masaaki Suzuki, internationally known as a profound expert of J.S. Bach’s works as well as for his historical performance practice, travels to three churches in Northern Germany and the Netherlands to play on their historical Arp Schnitger-organs: The Martinikerk in Groningen, the Ludgeri Church in the German city of Norden as well as to the St. Jacobi Church in Hamburg, to perform organ master pieces of J. S. Bach and Dieterich Buxtehude.
Bruce Liu plays Chopin
Pianist Bruce Liu is the winner of the prestigious 2021 Chopin Competition and has been on the path of a stellar career ever since. Influenced by different cultures, he developed into one of the most musically expressive and technically gifted pianists of his generation. Bruce Liu made his grand debut in his native Paris with a Chopin program at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.
Yuja Wang – The Vienna Recital
Pianist Yuja Wang has become an integral part of the world‘s major stages, inspiring young and old alike. Her playing displays technical brilliance and a seemingly endless range of emotions. The Piano Recital from the Wiener Konzerthaus allows her to display her fiery virtuosity as well as her mature musicality and imagination with an eclectic, personally chosen program. It combines masterpieces from famous works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Alexander Scriabin to lesser-known compositions by György Ligeti and Nikolai Kapustin, including also sublime musical miniatures by Christoph Willibald Gluck and Philip Glass. A historical milestone that is not to be missed! „The hall went wild!“ (Der Standard)
Beethoven: The Last Three Piano Sonatas
Large industrial complexes, built of solid brick tell the story of industrialization of 19th century Leipzig. Where spinning wheels once rattled, chimneys smoked and thousands of workers carried out their daily work, new life has moved in over the past few years. Today, former factories are home to artists’ studios, galleries and manufactories. The term “industrial culture” is taken literally here. The Kunstkraftwerk Leipzig is one of these buildings that tell the story of time and was now the chosen location for a very special production: the exceptional Korean pianist Sunwook Kim played Ludwig van Beethoven’s last three Piano Sonatas op. 109-111 in an industrial setting framed by light projections that filled the brick hall. Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas occupy a very special place within his oeuvre. Completely deaf by then, the composer puts three of his most intimate and personal works on paper, which at the same time radiate optimism and point musically into the future like hardly any other works.
Beatrice Rana plays Bach, Debussy and Chopin
Italian pianist Beatrice Rana has been captivating listeners worldwide with electrifying performances that marry exhilarating power and precision with a startling sensitivity to the poetry underlying a musical score. “Her startling technique remains among the most faultless of young pianists today, and it was displayed, in this recital, in some dazzling repertoire.” — The Washington Post The Oratorio del Gonfalone in Rome is a former church of the 16th century. It is a jewel of the Roman Renaissence, with frescoes showing “The Stories of the Passion of Christ”, made by prominent artists such as Federico Zuccari, Cesare Nebbia and Livio Agresti between 1569 and 1576. The building is now profaned and and the site is used for many of the concerts by the Coro Polifonico Romano. PROGRAM Bach: French Suite No. 2; Debussy: Études, Book 1; Chopin: Scherzo Nos. 1-4
Daniil Trifonov – Bach: The Art of Life
Captivating the audience from the very first moment, Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov brings deep insight into the music-making of J.S. Bach at the Philharmonie in Berlin. Traversing the entirety of the keyboard with just his left hand, he performs a stunning rendition of Bach’s Chaconne in D Minor, before moving seamlessly into the monumental Art of Fugue. Trifonov navigates the 14 fugues and four canons with technical prowess, intimate understanding, careful detail, and exquisite touch and offers a self-composed conclusion of the final contrapunctus worthy of Bach’s genius, a performance of Dame Myra Hess’s moving transcription of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” and three encores by three of Bach’s sons, performed between bursts of thunderous applause. PROGRAM Bach: Chaconne in D Minor, Art of Fugue and encores
Quatuor pour la fin du temps
With Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Jörg Widmann, four outstanding soloists dedicated themselves to Olivier Messiaen’s “Quatuor pour la fin du temps”, a unique work of music history, and performed it together at the “Meetingpoint Music Messiaen” that was built on the site of the former prisoner of war camp just outside of German-Polish town Görlitz/Zgorzelec, exactly where the camp’s so-called “theater barrack” once stood. It was there that Messiaen composed the quartet and on January 15, 1941 performed it for the first time in front of fellow prisoners.
Angela Hewitt plays the Goldberg Variations
Since she was young, the Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt dedicated herself to the oeuvre of Johann Sebastian Bach with great passion and conviction. She has recorded all of his piano pieces on CD and performed them to audiences around the world in countless concerts. For her merits for this great composer, Hewitt is the first ever female recipient of the renowned Leipzig Bach Medal. On this occasion, she played Bach’s Goldberg Variations at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, at the authentic place where Bach served as Thomas Cantor and is buried.