For the 2022/23 season, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin welcomed Cairo-born Fatma Said, a multi-award-winning soprano of international renown, as Artist in Residence. Said is known for the impressive diversity of her voice and repertoire: whether classical, jazz or traditional music, the young artist is well at home in many worlds. Her role as an intermediary between the musical cultures around the Mediterranean is particularly evident in the concert entitled “On the Way to Egypt”. The multi-faceted program, conducted by Alondra de la Parra, begins by looking from Egypt to the European compositional tradition and then from Western Europe to North Africa and Arabia.
On Air – 100 Years of Radio Orchestras
The subject of radio orchestras is a global phenomenon that had its origins in Germany and is associated with exciting stories, great conductors, outstanding soloists and, above all, contemporary composers. The 56-minute documentary “On Air – 100 Years of Radio Orchestras” is the first comprehensive look at how they developed – a cultural history from the technological age closely linked to the history of the 20th century. At the same time, it explores their vision for the future. A film about tradition and innovation, identity, new music and the radio itself.
Joana Mallwitz – The Inaugural Concert
Joana Mallwitz was welcomed as the new principal conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin with a triumphant inaugural concert. The program included three first symphonies by Sergei Prokofiev, Kurt Weill, and Gustav Mahler. The audience gave enthusiastic standing ovations and critics labeled her inaugural concert “a triumph.” (Süddeutsche) PROGRAM Prokofiev: Symphony No.1; Weill: Symphony No.1; Mahler: Symphony No.1
Joana Mallwitz – Momentum
Over two years, the film follows conductor Joana Mallwitz to the top of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, one of Germany’s leading classical orchestras, in August 2023. As she embarks on a decisive phase of her international career with debuts in Munich, Paris, Salzburg, and Amsterdam, she and her husband have to reorganize their lives after the birth of their first child. JOANA MALLWITZ – MOMENTUM offers a candid and detailed portrait of the musician. Despite all her success, we feel the enormous pressure that the conducting profession brings with it.
Christmas Oratorio
Bach’s timeless, irresistible Christmas Oratorio returns to Leipzig – and to St. Thomas’s Church, where several of its six gorgeous cantatas were heard for the very first time in 1734-35! Adding to the historical import of this unmissable event are the Gewandhausorchester, one of the world’s oldest and most venerated orchestras founded in 1781, and the Thomanerchor (St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig), a legendary ensemble formed over eight hundred years ago in 1212 and directed by Bach himself between 1723 and 1750. The eighteenth person to hold the post of Thomaskantor since Bach, Andreas Reize leads the impeccable orchestra and choir – joined by soloists Christina Landshamer, Benedikt Kristjánsson, and Konstantin Krimmel – in a festive and delightful performance of one of those cherished works from which the holiday spirit flows unfettered and ebullient.
Herbert Blomstedt – When Music Resounds, the Soul Is Spoken
The feature-length film portrait When Music Resounds, the Soul Is Spoken To was created between his 90th and 95th birthdays. It accompanies Herbert Blomstedt in his work with selected orchestras, which are representative of the many international ensembles he has either led or with which he still works regularly, and observes the gifted communicator during rehearsals and concerts. Blomstedt vividly conveys his clear interpretive ideas, turning every orchestra rehearsal into an experience. As an exciting discourse on life philosophies, musical life and experiences as a musician, the film is a portrait of an unpretentious artist who has decisively shaped the classical music world for decades and continues to do so to this day.
Mitten Wir Im Leben Sind/Bach6Cellosuiten
J.S. Bach’s Cello Suites are considered a milestone in the history of Western music. The title, Mitten Wir Im Leben Sind/Bach6Cellosuiten, (In the Midst of Life/Bach’s Cello Suites), comes from the opening words of a Martin Luther chorale: “In the midst of life, we are in death.” Placing the acclaimed cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras at the center of the piece, contemporary dance luminary Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker builds on her choreographic language, developed in tune with Bach’s musical one, to capture an affinity between the music and five dancers, of which De Keersmaeker herself is one. In a feat of physical endurance, the suites are played in their entirety, making this a rare chance to hear all six together.
Leif Ove Andsnes plays Mozart
Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra continue their collaborative exploration of Mozart’s great piano concertos and their surroundings. This large-scale project is receiving acclaim in the most prestigious concert halls as well as award-winning results in the recording studio. In the Great Hall of the Mozarteum, attention is now focused on works composed in 1785/86 that are characterized by ambiguous twilight and expressive instability: It begins with the great Piano Concerto KV 482 with its heartbreaking Andante in C minor, a set of variations that had to be repeated at the premiere; carries over to the “Prague Symphony,” and concludes with the singularly plaintive chromaticism of the C minor Piano Concerto, KV 491 – all testaments to Mozart as arguably the first Romantic composer. PROGRAM Mozart: Piano Concertos KV 482 & 491, KV 504 “Prague Symphony”
Lucerne Festival 2022: Riccardo Chailly & Mao Fujita
Sergei Rachmaninov is perhaps most remembered—and beloved—for his piano concertos, which still stand as pillars of Romanticism, though mostly written in the 20th century. At the 2022 Lucerne Festival, virtuoso pianist Mao Fujita performs the composer’s celebrated Piano Concerto No. 2—absolutely brimming with memorable melody and poignant harmony—alongside maestro Riccardo Chailly at the head of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra!
Lucerne Festival 2022: Chailly conducts Rachmaninov
For Riccardo Chailly, celebrating Rachmaninov in Lucerne is something dear to his heart. This summer, he is devoting himself to the Symphony No. 2 in E Minor – the composer’s richest and densest contribution to the genre, evoking Tchaikovsky in form, as well as Borodin and Sibelius in the epic, almost Nordic spirit of its music.