It is one of the most beloved violin concertos of all time – and a work with an unusual backstory. A new version of the Violin Concerto in D minor will be premiered on 30 August 2025 in Lüneburg, near Hamburg, at the final concert of the International Masterclass for Conductors Hamburg 2025.
A musical plea for peace: Jörg Widmann’s Cantata in tempore belli ('Cantata in times of war') premieres on February 2 in Hamburg. A highlight of the season that inspires reflection.
A monumental event: the Hamburg State Opera will stage Carl Orff's triptych Trionfi on 21 September 2024. The production will be directed by Calixto Bieito and conducted by Kent Nagano.
The Carmina Burana with their mighty O Fortuna choirs are undoubtedly one of the most famous musical works of the modern era. However, the performance as a ‘Trittico teatrale’, i.e. as a combination of the three works Carmina Burana, Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite, is a rarity on the world's stages. With Trionfi, Carl Orff created a trilogy that searches for new forms of expression for music theatre and moves between the poles of opera, oratorio and cantata.
The title of the triptych refers back to the so-called Trionfi, the pageants and masquerades in the Italian republics and principalities of the Renaissance: heroes and gods of antiquity and their entourages were traditionally presented in these processions. In Orff's Trionfi, however, it is not a mythical figure that is at the centre of the action, but the world-dominating driving force of love itself is shown in its most diverse facets. In a sense, this driving force is explored by going back to the beginnings of our occidental history: from the Middle Ages back to Roman antiquity, and from there back to ancient Greece.
From a monastery text via Catullus to the Greek poet Sappho: Orff's enthusiasm was ignited by her timeless love poetry. However, as only fragments of this poet have survived, Orff felt compelled to mould lyrical fragments, individual stanzas and short verses into a whole. In contrast to the visually powerful Carmina Burana and the action-packed Catulli Carmina, the Trionfo di Afrodite is a ‘scenic concerto’ based primarily on words and music. (Johannes Schindlbeck, Orff Centre Munich)
Trionfi will be performed in a total of six performances at the Hamburg State Opera until 12 October 2024. This rarity is not to be missed.
Further Reading:
Carl Orff: composer profile https://www.schott-music.com/en/person/carl-orff
Trionfi: work details and online score https://www.schott-music.com/en/trionfi-no250853.html
Website Hamburg State Opera https://www.staatsoper-hamburg.de/en/schedule/event.php?AuffNr=210249
photo: Andrii Yalanskyi
He has always admired composer Robert Schumann and often drawn inspiration from his works: Jörg Widmann’s new piece, Schumannliebe (“Love for Schumann”), for voice and ensemble will have its world premiere at the Casa da Música in Porto, Portugal on October 4th, 2023. Baritone Matthias Goerne will perform alongside the Remix Ensemble under the direction of Peter Rundel.
Inspired by the first science fiction film ever made, on 18 February 2023, Andrew Norman’s new arrangement of A Trip to the Moon will excitingly receive its world premiere at the Hamburg State Opera. Now written with German libretto and orchestrated for chamber ensemble, this debut will be conducted by Luiz de Godoy along with imaginative staging by Stephan Witzlinger for the Opera Stabile venue.
Yellow River is an extraordinary piano concerto: A politically drenched piece based on the cantata with the same name by Xian Xinghai. Under the musical direction of Renchang Fu and with Haiou Zhang at the piano, the concerto is coming to Nuremberg on October 8th and in Hamburg on October 10th.
For Penderecki, The Devils of Loudun is a work about tolerance and intolerance. Grandier was the victim of political intrigue, where even Jeanne was not really his enemy, but a victim of religious-political fanatics; her erotic neuroses exaggerated by Richelieu’s handiwork into a necessary possession by the Devil. – Wolfram Schwinger
The Brecht text is not a period piece. It is absolutely contemporary. In our day The Seven Deadly Sins is a manifesto against capitalism run amok, and it's a dangerous piece - for the capitalists. Because it lays bare how the world works: if you are honest, you have to pay the price, here, during this life. It is even more timely than it was twenty or thirty years ago. (HK Gruber)
It is an ‘ark of culture’, where we as humans may find refuge with our happiness but also our suffering, especially in this very turbulent time. It is a refuge in a politically stormy sea, where art takes place, and where music takes place. I think it is fantastic that it was built; it also contains something sacred. – Widmann
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