First comes the Overture to Il Ruggiero, Johann Adolph Hasse’s – and Pietro Metastasio’s – final work from Orlando furioso. Originally commanded by Maria Theresa for the marriage of Maria Antonia/Marie Antoinette and the French Dauphin, the work's libretto was not completed in time, so it served instead for the 1771 marriage of the Empress's son Archduke Ferdinand Charles, Governor of the Duchy of Milan, to Maria Beatrice, daughter of Ercole (Hercules) III d’Este, Duke of Modena, and his estranged wife, Maria Teresa, Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara in her own right. As heiress to fou ..read more

Pierre Boulez Saal Hindemith: Trauermusik for viola and strings Fanny Hensel: String Quartet in E-flat major Carter: Au Quai for bassoon and viola; Duettone for violin and cello Beethoven: Septet in E-flat major, op.20 Michael Barenboim (violin, viola) Miriam Manaserhov (viola) Assif Binness (cello) David Santos Luque (double bass) Daniel Gurfinkel (clarinet) Mor Biron (bassoon) Ben Goldscheider (horn) Images: Peter Adamik 9 November is a date full, too full, of resonance for German history. From the proclamation of the Republic in 1918 to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, it ..read more

Philharmonie Mozart: Symphony no.29 in A major, KV 201/186a Berg: Three Orchestral Pieces, op.6 Brahms: Symphony no.4 in E minor, op.98 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Kirill Petrenko (conductor) Image: Frederike van der Straeten As his wont, Kirill Petrenko, offered readings of three symphonic works with the Berlin Philharmonic that were in many ways refreshing, certainly rethought, beholden neither to hidebound tradition nor to fashionable novelty. First was Mozart’s A major Symphony, KV201/186a, especially interesting to hear in the light of the orchestra’s all-Mozart concert wi ..read more

Pierre Boulez Saal Debussy: Sonata for flute, viola, and harp Manoury: Passacaille pour Tokyo Debussy: Sonata for cello and piano Manoury: Grammaires du sonore Jean-Frédéric Neuburger (piano) Boulez Ensemble François-Xavier Roth (conductor) Images: Jakob Tillmann Intelligent and revealing programming is always a joy. François-Xavier Roth ranks highly among those conductors regularly offering it. When married to equally intelligent and revealing performances it becomes all the more a joy, such as in this concert from the Boulez Ensemble, founded by Daniel Barenboim to include mem ..read more

Philharmonie Così fan tutte, KV 588: Overture Symphony no.35 in D major, KV 385, ‘Haffner’ Concertone in C major for two violins and orchestra, KV 190/186e Symphony no.40 in G minor, KV 550 Noah Bendix-Bagley, Thomas Timm (violins) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Riccardo Minasi (conductor) Images: Stephan Rabold A wonderful concert, this, in which Riccardo Minasi, making his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, showed himself a musician who would not only listen to and learn from the orchestra, but also to and from every musician within it; and the orchestra and its musicians in t ..read more

Carmen – Aigul Akhmetshina Don José – David Butt Philip Micaëla – Maria Motolygina Escamillo – Byung Gil Kim Zuniga – Christian Simmons Moralès – Dean Murphy Frasquita – Meechot Marrero Mercédès – Arianna Manganello Dancaïro – Artur Garbas Remendado – Kieran Carrel Lillas Pastia – Dean Street Mercédès’s daughter – Fatima Hammad Ole Anders Tandberg (directo) Erlend Birkeland (set designs) Maria Geber (costumes) Ellen Ruge (lighting) Silke Sense (choreography) Children’s Chorus of the Deutsche Oper (chorus director: Christian Lindhorst) Chorus of the Deutsche Oper (chorus director: Jerem ..read more

Kammermusiksaal Beethoven: Overture: Coriolan, op.62 Mozart: Piano Concerto no.21 in C major, KV 467 Haydn: Symphony no.98 in B-flat major Jan Lisiecki (piano) Chamber Orchestra of Europe Andrew Manze (conductor) In some ways, this concert proved a mixed bag, but it was well planned and it came right where ultimately it mattered. Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture was the weakest of the three performances. The symphonic Beethoven continues to elude not only, it seems, the grasp of most though not all contemporary conductors; this seems often to hold for audiences too, seemingly unaware as they ..read more

Images unless otherwise stated: (c) Jakob Tillmann Klytämnestra – Waltraud Meier Elektra – Ricarda Merbeth Chrysothemis – Vida Miknevičiūtė Orest – Lauri Vasar Aegisth – Stephan Rügamer First Maid – Bonita Hyman Second Maid, Train-bearer – Natalia Skrycka Third Maid – Katharina Kammerloher Fourth Maid – Anna Samuil Fifth Maid – Roberta Alexander Overseer, Confidante – Cheryl Studer Young Servant – Siyabonga Maqungo Old Servant – Olaf Bär Orest’s Tutor – David Wakeham Patrice Chéreau (director) Vincent Huguet (assistant director) Richard Peduzzi (set designs) Caroline de Vivaise (c ..read more

Pierre Boulez Saal Ligeti: String Quartet no.1, ‘Métamorphoses nocturnes’ Lachenmann: String Quartet no.3, ‘Grido’ Brahms: String Quartet no.2 in A minor, op.51 no.2 Yun-Peng Zhao, Léo Marillier (violins) Franck Chevalier (viola) Alexis Descharmes (cello) Another splendid string quartet recital in Berlin, to rival or better to complement that I heard last week in a different venue, the Philharmonie’s Kammermusiksaal, from the Quatuor Ébène. One of the mysteries of the musical world is the seeming inability of French symphony orchestras to match those who might be their peers in German- and ..read more

Philharmonie Dvořák: Stabat Mater, op.58 Corinne Winters (soprano) Marvic Monreal (mezzo-soprano) David Butt Philip (tenor) Matthew Rose (bass) Rundfunkchor Berlin (chorus director: Gijs Leenaars) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Jakub Hrůša (conductor)   © Bettina Stöß / Berliner Philharmoniker Dvořák’s Stabat Mater is clearly a favourite work for Jakub Hrůša. Six years ago he conducted it in this same hall, Berlin’s Philharmonie, with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra; in 2023, it was the turn of the Berlin Philharmonic. Hrůša has called the piece a ‘wonder ..read more