Berlin
A Flowering Tree in Berlin
For those of you who live in Berlin: rush over to the Berliner Philharmoniker website and buy a ticket for today’s (December 22) performance of John Adams’ newest opera “A flowering tree”. For those of you who cannot make it in time: read on …
Munich Opera House
Last night, Seda and I went to the Munich Opera House where we saw the Bayerisches Staatsballett with a very interesting program featuring Century Rolls (Davide Bombana, John Adams), In the Country of Last Things (Michael Simon, Heiner Goebbels), and Elemental (Jacopo Godani, 48nord). A couple of weeks ago I read an illuminating article in […]
Vengerov just wants to have fun
– Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Adagio in E major K 261 (arranged for violin and piano by Max Rostal – Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 7 in c minor Op. 30 No. 2 – Sergey Prokofiev: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in f minor Op. 80 – Dmitri Shostakovich: Selection […]
Delicate miniatures and melancholic sonatas
This season, the Konzerthaus Berlin has put up some intriguing programs celebrating the 100th birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich. Among these concerts were performances by the Jerusalem Quartet (all string quartets), the Konzerthausorchester (Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and String Orchestra), as well as the Berlin Sinfonietta (Chamber Symphony). In an engaging performance on Thursday night, Alexei […]
Russian Program at the Konzerthaus
This promises to be an exciting evening at the Konzerthaus in Berlin: Alexei Lubimov, piano Galina Ustvolskaya Sonata No. 5 Dmitri Shostakovich Five Preludes for Piano (1919-20) Sergey Prokofjew Sonata No. 7 op. 83 Alexander Skryabin Five Preludes op. 74 Andrej Volkonsky “Musica stricta” Dmitri Shostakovich Sonata No. 2 op. 64 November 16, 2006. Konzerthaus […]
Tenso Days Berlin
This should be interesting: the newest space for the arts in Berlin, the Radialsystem, hosts this year’s Tenso Days Festival. The festival features three concerts with contemporary music for chamber choirs. Works include well-known pieces by Rihm (Astralis), Lachenmann (Consolation II), Scelsi (Tre canti sacri), and Ligeti (Lux aeterna) as well as premieres by Franck […]
Mozart in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
Since today, visitors of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin can marvel at fifty Mozart autographs from the library’s collection. Among the items on display are the scores of Idomeneo, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Le nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte and La clemenza di Tito. This is a page from the Posthornserenade, K […]
Dido and Aeneas
(Image taken from the Staatsoper website) This was the first time that I saw Dido and Aeneas on stage. A couple of years ago I was listening to a recording of this piece quite often and I always wondered how it would work out on stage. There is a lot of reflection but very little […]
Sting to perform at the Yellow Lounge
I first heard the rumour at JP’s birthday party last Friday: Sting will be the special guest performing at the next yellow lounge event on Monday in Berlin. The yellow lounge? It’s a marketing move from Universal Music to promote their label Deutsche Grammophon. The idea is pretty straight forward: combine a classical music DJ […]
musica reanimata revives music of Karel Reiner
musica reanimata is the name of an ambitious association of musicians and musicologists in Berlin that revives the music of composers persecuted by the Nazis. The association organizes concerts, conferences, and publishes books. For their efforts they have recently been awarded the prestigious Kritikerpreis für Musik 2006. Yesterday, at the Konzerthaus Berlin, musica reanimata hosted […]
Deutsche Oper cancels Mozart’s Idomeneo due to Islamist Threat
After a phone call from the minister of the interior of Berlin, the artistic director of the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Kirsten Harms, canceled four performances of Mozart’s Idomeneo. According to tagesschau.de the minister speaks of an “incalculable threat” for audiences and members of the staff. Apparently the minister informed her of an anonymous hint […]
Arditti Quartet Plays Webern, Berg, and Harvey
What a great program! Anton Webern Fünf Sätze für Streichquartett op. 5, Alban Berg Lyrische Suite für Streichquartett, and then, after a short intermission, Jonathan Harvey’s String Quartet No. 4 with live electronics. The Arditti Quartet gave yet another memorable concert and again the hall was half empty. This is something I just cannot understand. […]
DSO Berlin Podcast
I just came across this podcast from the Deutsche Welle that features the DSO Berlin under Kent Nagano playing six symphonies by what the Deutsche Welle website calls “six master composers.” The pieces are: Richard Strauss: An Alpine Symphony Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 3 (Rhenish) Johannes Brahms: Symphony […]
Birtwistle, Britten, Strauss and Schulhoff at the Musikfest Berlin
Inescapable doom and a melancholic fate were looming large yesterday at the Philharmonie, where the Bamberger Symphoniker under Jonathan Nott gave a spectacular concert that included Birtwistle’s The Shadow of Night, Britten’s Violin Concerto, and Strauss’s Tod und Verklärung. The concert was spectacular for two reasons: First, for the subtle programming of the evening, and, […]
C. Bechstein in Kreuzberg
Walking around in my neighbourhood today I came across the old C. Bechstein piano manufactury in Ohlauer Strasse. This is virtually around the corner from where I live but I had no idea it existed! It was a nice coincidence that I had my camera with me to take this shot of the C. Bechstein […]
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