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What about the musical family? I’m not talking about the Mozarts, the Bachs or the Kanneh-Masons. But rather the musicians with whom, without any help, a special bond is formed, with whom you are always happy to get together. For Dirk Kaftan, Tetiana Miyus and Alexandre Tharaud definitely belong to this circle of people. He has performed countless opera evenings with Tetiana Miyus in Graz, she was the soloist in a guest performance by the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra in Taiwan and she has also performed twice in Bonn, both times on a smaller scale. Now she sings the final movement of Gustav Mahler’s pastoral, heavenly, enigmatic 4th Symphony in G major as part of a Freitagskonzert at the end of the season. There is talk of saints and angels, of the little lamb and Herod. A great »as if«, so it is said of this symphony. Maurice Ravel was also a master of the »as i«. As a tribute to his 150th birthday, we are playing his groovy, humorous Piano Concerto in G major after the intoxicating Daphnis and Chloé in the second symphony concert. A request from Alexandre Tharaud after he performed Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand with the Beethoven Orchestra in 2018. G major: What a difference between the playful lightness and bite of Ravel’s concerto and Mahler’s symphony in the same key, smiling with tears (or crying with a smile) … Two masters of modernism with different views of the world. Incidentally, Lili Boulanger – unlike Maurice Ravel – was the first composer to win the coveted Prix de Rome, which was to pave the way for a great career for French composers. Unfortunately, she was already seriously ill at the time and died far too young. The inscription on Franz Schubert’s grave could also have been dedicated to her: » The art of music buried here a rich possession; but even more beautiful hopes. «

1900: The world flew apart! Psychoanalysis dissected the human soul, physics divided atoms, the churches visibly lost their importance. The belief in a God-created and God-ordained universe was reduced to rubble in numerous conflicts that flared up all over the world, but at the latest in the trenches of the First World War. One of the first to attempt to capture the world in musical form in all its collage-like, kaleidoscopic diversity was Gustav Mahler. His 4th Symphony, written in seemingly cheerful G major, tells of heaven and hell, promises us paradise and pulls the rug from under our feet. What is the balance between diversity and unity in our time? What do we believe in and what do we long for? Bettina Böttinger and Dirk Kaftan get to the bottom of these questions.

In the summer of 2025, the idea of telling musical stories from the Bonn of the young Ludwig van Beethoven with the Beethoven Orchestra is more than seven years old. In preparation for the Beethoven anniversary in 2020, we asked ourselves how we could best resurrect Beethoven in Bonn. The answer seemed as simple as it was obvious: by playing the music he grew up with. Music that he played as a pianist, organist and violist, that he listened to at home and at parties. The most modern and best music of his time: the Elector of the time owned scores of all the Haydn-symphonies that were available, including the symphony known today as La Poule (The Chicken) No. 83. Some of the orchestral musicians were outstanding composers, such as Andreas Romberg. And they must also have had outstanding instrumental qualities, considering the technical difficulties for the solo instrument that characterise Romberg’s violin concertos, for example. A panorama of Bonn’s musical history from the second half of the 18th century … and in some cases – such as Romberg’s violin concerto – even new in a way, as it has not actually been played for around 230 years.

Big people are very strange, the little prince realises on his journey between the planets. He encounters a pilot who has crashed, a king who has no subjects or a scientist who doesn’t do his own research. And he realises that what is really important in life cannot be seen. Go on a dreamlike journey with the little prince!

Summery and lively – just like every summer, we transform the wonderful Kunst!Rasen into the largest and most beautiful classical concert hall in Bonn. And our audience sits on chairs and picnic blankets with crackers and coffee, champagne and salmon and has a great time. As always, we offer a colorful mix of light classical music, film music and songs from pop, rock and jazz. And who knows, maybe Dirk Kaftan will invite the audience to dance along again…

This will be the open air highlight of 2025! »Schicht am Schacht« is the motto when we meet our favorite cult Kölsch rockers in Hückelhoven again.