Conductor

Edward Elgar's Serenade in E minor, an early work characterized by chamber music, full of lyrical warmth and subtle melancholy, opens the program, with Tomasz Skweres' "Ligament" serving as its pivotal piece. This work not only mediates compositionally between the evening's pieces but also builds bridges between time, space, and sound. Reconceived each time, it takes up electroacoustically altered motifs from the surrounding works and combines them into a new whole. The classical concert framework is also disrupted spatially: sounds wander through the space, musicians enter the hall from unusual directions—the audience becomes part of a vibrant sonic process.

EPSG:4326

Thursday Concert No. 2

Volkshaus Jena

Freedom, courage, and human rights are the existential themes that form the foundation of Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera, "Fidelio." It is the story of the arbitrarily imprisoned Florestan, whose loving wife, Leonore, disguises herself as a man against all danger to free him from prison in the role of "Fidelio." On the journey from imprisonment to a seemingly utopian freedom, the driving force of music transcends formal boundaries.

Fidelio

CityPalais

The mermaid Rusalka loves the prince - a human! She wants to risk everything, the loss of her family and her home, to become a human woman. Transformed by the witch Ježibaba, she must face the prince in silence, telling him of her love only through her looks and gestures. If the prince does not fall in love with her, he must die and she must live as an outcast from then on. Rusalka's appearance initially beguiles the prince, but the magical, voiceless creature remains a foreign body in the human world, and eventually her lover turns his back on her...

Rusalka

German Oper am Rhein

Don Giovanni: Is he the legendary rake, womanizer and heartbreaker who does not shy away from murder in his pursuit of erotic conquests? Or is he a radical free spirit whose urge for freedom shatters all norms and spares neither death nor punishment?

Don Giovanni

Theater Duisburg

Rachmaninoff had already been living with his wife on Lake Lucerne in his newly built villa "Senar" (Sergei & Natalia Rachmaninoff) for four years when he composed his Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini in 1934. The theme comes from the last of the 24 Caprices for solo violin, which are so technically tricky that they contributed significantly to Paganini's reputation as a devil's violinist. The curious list of composers who have been inspired by Paganini's theme ranges from Brahms and Liszt to Szymanowski and Blacher to Lutosławski and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Rachmaninoff uses the theme as the starting material for a series of 24 variations with introduction and coda, ingeniously combining the structure of the work with that of a three-movement concerto. Adaptations of the opulent 18th Variation (in the rare key of D flat major) can be found in films as well as in pop songs and video games. In the seventh variation, Rachmaninoff also introduces the "Dies irae" - a cross-reference that appears like a signature in many of his works and also recurs at the end of the variations.

Harry Ogg – Elgar's Symphony No. 2

Laeiszhalle Hamburg

Sommets musicaux: Concert

Kirche Saanen

" My Father Explains Our Night Sky to Me Every Saturday " ... how poor the world would be without mnemonics ! This one , about the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus , and Neptune, also belongs in our educational luggage. The celestial body Pluto is no longer on our mnemonic list; a few years ago it was deemed too small and therefore rigorously banished from the planetary sky.

Conductor

Harry Ogg

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 7, 2026

Sommets musicaux: Concert · Eglise de Saanen

7 - 8 Mar, 2026

Galactic · Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne

Past events

Oct 16, 2025

Thursday Concert No. 2 · Jenaer Philharmonie

Sep 10 - Oct 24, 2025

Fidelio · Duisburger Philharmoniker

Future and recently performed repertoire

Conductor in Les pêcheurs de perles by Bizet

Eglise de Saanen

Conductor in L’invitation au voyage by Duparc

Eglise de Saanen

Conductor in Le manoir de Rosemonde by Duparc

Eglise de Saanen

Conductor in Chanson triste by Duparc

Eglise de Saanen

Conductor in Don Giovanni by Mozart

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Conductor in Ma mère l’oye by Ravel

Eglise de Saanen

Conductor in Fidelio by Beethoven

Duisburger Philharmoniker

Conductor in Concerto in E-flat major by Stravinsky

Eglise de Saanen

Conductor in Symphony No. 2 in E flat major by Elgar

Symphoniker Hamburg

Conductor in Symphony No. 1 in A flat major by Elgar

Jenaer Philharmonie

Conductor in Au pays où se fait la guerre by Duparc

Eglise de Saanen

Conductor in Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini by Rachmaninoff

Symphoniker Hamburg

Conductor in Carmen by Bizet

Eglise de Saanen

Conductor in Serenade in E minor for String Orchestra by Elgar

Jenaer Philharmonie

Conductor in "Ligament" for small orchestra and tape by Skweres

Jenaer Philharmonie

Conductor in Sérénade florentine by Duparc

Eglise de Saanen

Conductor in Je Crois Entendre Encore by Bizet

Eglise de Saanen

About

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