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.
Sleeping Beauty – A ballet by Christian Spuck
In 1890, Sleeping Beauty, choreographed by Marius Petipa, was premiered in St. Petersburg with Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s immortal music. In his version for Ballett Zürich, Christian Spuck revives the ballet classic in his own personal artistic style. He takes the old Sleeping Beauty story and scrutinizes every aspect of it. With a great deal of humor, Christian Spuck addresses the complex process of growing up, relating themes such as generational conflicts with one’s parents, the difficulties of becoming a mature adult, and, last but not least, love and sexuality. Whenever possible, he frees the characters from their traditional role clichés. Petipa’s version becomes a model that Christian Spuck occasionally cites yet repeatedly questions and counteracts with irony and occasionally irritating moments.
Rock Chicks – I am not female to you
The world out there on stages is a man’s world. Or is that just what they want us to believe? What if the true King of Rock and Roll is a Queen? Listen closely and you hear Memphis Minnie’s guitar in Chuck Berry and Eric Clapton, Sister Rosetta’s unbridled spirit in Jerry Lee Lewis, Big Mama Thornton’s growl in Elvis. Still the fact that women rocked the stages from the1950s on has been successfully pushed out of the collective memory. Time to pull out the roots and tell the other side of the story. The women we meet on our journey devote their lifes to rock music, each of them is an icebreaker and they are as inspiring as different. ‘You have to be like a man. But I can do it, I am a woman with balls’, is Linda Gail Lewis’ Credo, while Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go’s considers herself a ‘rare bird’. Suzi Quatro proclaims that she doesn’t do gender at all, while Rosie Flores emphasizes her female qualities when playing the guitar. And Kristin Hersh of Throwing Muses decided to leave the sexist music business to be listener-supported, because: ‘What would my kids think if I looked at every camera like I wanted to fuck it – as they tell you to do?’ Rock Chicks – I am not female to you is a film about music as an inner need, about fighting for your dreams and daring to be yourself.
Pushing Borders
The film Set in Motion accompanies choreographers Jefta van Dinther, Milla Koistinen, and Arno Schuitemaker, who react to new beginnings after a period of stillness in works specifically put together for this film. In their performances, they represent the changeable feelings that accompany the return from isolation to closeness: from fear to overcome, from curiosity to euphoria. Carefully, they unfold a return to mutual support and trust with the unifying expressive power of contemporary dance and show how dance can also be a celebration of life and joy. The three-part work was created in cooperation with euro-scene at Kunstkraftwerk Leipzig.
Der Freischütz
The Catalan theatre company La Fura dels Baus is acclaimed worldwide for its avant-garde opera productions. In their production of “Der Freischütz,” created to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the opera’s premiere at the Konzerthaus Berlin as well as the 200th anniversary of the concert hall itself, La Fura dels Baus created a virtual forest in which the cast of amazing soloists as well as the choir performed with the Konzerthausorchester under music director Christoph Eschenbach. Without any audience present, the Great Hall of the Konzerthaus was thus transformed into a myth-filled installation – a 360-degree experience for all the senses.
Fabio Luisi’s Farewell Concert from Zurich: Bruckner No. 7
In his nine years as the General Music Director of the Opernhaus Zürich, Fabio Luisi decisively shaped the musical tone of the house. His Verdi interpretations, his cycle of operas by Vincenzo Bellini and his forays into the symphonic-romantic repertoire are unforgettable. In June 2021, Luisi gave his farewell concert on the rostrum of the Philharmonia Zürich with an intense and memorable performance of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7. Conducting without a baton, Fabio Luisi led the orchestra in his signature style combining precision with emotion, moulding out every heraldic and delicate passage from an orchestra in top form.
Lucia di Lammermoor
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor is by no means a private love tragedy, but rather an eminently political story that demonstrates how a system of power deforms and ultimately corrodes human relationships. Donizetti provided his most haunting music for the rebellion and extinction of betrayed love; the revenge is bloody, the madness deadly. In this new production of the Opernhaus Zürich, soprano Irina Lungu sings the title role of Lucia. Piotr Beczala appears as her lover and Massimo Cavalletti as her brother. Tatjana Gürbaca, renowned for her precise direction, staged the visually powerful production under the musical direction of Speranza Scappucci.
Paavo Järvi conducts Mahler 3 – Tonhalle Zürich Reopening
After four years of restoration work, the Tonhalle Zürich, one of the most impressive concert halls in Europe, reopened its doors on September 15, 2021. The Tonhalle-Orchester returned to its historic home with a captivating performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony under the direction of its Music Director Paavo Järvi, one of the great Mahler interpreters of our time. Hardly any work is as suitable for pushing the freshly renovated hall to its limits as Gustav Mahler’s longest symphony with an overwhelming orchestral cast, the alto Wiebke Lehmkuhl, the women of the Sing-Akademie Zürich and the Zurich Boys’ Choir.
Josquin des Préz – A Concert Hommage
Franco-Flemish vocal polyphony finds its culmination in the work of a man who was courted by princes and music publishers, esteemed by contemporaries such as Martin Luther and respected by fellow composers and singers like no other: Josquin des Préz, darling of the gods. In a way unmatched by others, he succeeded in merging contrapuntal arts and verbal expression, techné and ars, brain and heart. With a program of Josquin’s Masses and Motets, ensemble amarcord paid homage in the opening concert of the a cappella festival 2021 to the jubilarian whose work touched people – and aimed at eternity.