2025 marks the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel's birth. Fittingly, the program presents a selection of works in which we encounter typical elements of Ravel's sensuous and sophisticated music: Effective virtuosity characterizes the popular "Tzigane," spectacular for the audience, yet highly demanding for the performers, a "virtuoso piece in the style of a Hungarian rhapsody," as the composer himself put it. In "La Valse," Ravel lets the musical worlds of Viennese waltzes and French Impressionism collide, while the second movement of his second violin sonata is inspired by the then-new and exciting jazz.

Serenade for Ravel

Theater Duisburg

Just as every new year has its January 1st, (almost) every opera has an overture: sometimes as a turbulent introduction to a comedy full of intrigue and passion, as in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Figaro", sometimes as a departure into an adventure fairy tale full of magic, as in Mikhail Glinka's "Ruslan and Ludmilla". The Duisburg Philharmonic's salon orchestra welcomes the year 2025 with a selection of overtures that is as varied as it is virtuoso, mixing lively sounds in three-quarter time. "Everything is a waltz" is not only the motto of Johann Strauss and his brother Josef, but also in Carl Maria von Weber's "Invitation to the Dance" from 1819 - the epitome of Biedermeier waltz bliss.

New Year's Concert with the Salon Orchestra

When orphan boy Krabat enters the mill in Koselbruch for the first time, he has no idea what secrets are guarded here by the mysterious master miller. The twelve apprentices stacking sacks of flour under the creaking beams are not only taught earthly craftsmanship, but also the art of black magic. Krabat quickly makes friends here, but something seems odd: year after year, one of the mill workers mysteriously dies. The power of the master, who has devoted himself to evil forces, takes its toll in order not to be weakened

Krabat

German Oper am Rhein

Almost exactly 100 years separate the two works in this program—and yet they have one thing in common: Both trios enjoyed enormous popularity immediately after their publication. Beethoven's Opus 38 was originally a septet—and in this form, it was one of his most frequently performed works. This is probably one of the reasons why he later reworked it into a piano trio, whose violin part could also be played by a clarinet. Alexander von Zemlinsky, however, had a different "role model" for his clarinet trio: his idol, Johannes Brahms. Brahms politely thanked his colleague for the flowers and advocated for its publication with his publisher, Simrock.

Trio with clarinet

Around 250 years separate the Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach from the Hungarian composer György Ligeti, one of the most distinguished representatives of New Music in the 20th century. Yet they have something in common: the radical concentration of compositional means with which they advanced into new realms of expression. It is therefore a fascinating dialogue when Bach's famous "Goldberg Variations," a crown jewel of keyboard literature to this day, encounters György Ligeti's String Quartet No. 1. While Bach uses a simply enchanting melody, which he develops into 30 variations, Ligeti takes a short four-note motif, which he then allows to undergo a series of metamorphoses.

Friedemann Pardall

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 1, 2026

Trio with clarinet · Duisburger Philharmoniker

Mar 15, 2026

Radical worlds of expression · Duisburger Philharmoniker

Past events

Nov 23, 2025

Serenade for Ravel · Duisburger Philharmoniker

Jan 19, 2025

New Year's Concert with the Salon Orchestra · Duisburger Philharmoniker

Future and recently performed repertoire

Cello in Violin Sonata No. 2 by Ravel

Duisburger Philharmoniker

Cello in Goldberg Variations by Bach

Duisburger Philharmoniker

Cello in Piano Trio No. 8 by Beethoven

Duisburger Philharmoniker

Cello in Piano Trio in A minor by Ravel

Duisburger Philharmoniker

Cello in Clarinet Trio by Zemlinsky

Duisburger Philharmoniker

Cello in String Quartet No. 1 by Ligeti

Duisburger Philharmoniker

About

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