"Who of us doesn't know it: longing - this painful desire for something that is unattainable or not yet there; for a state, a thing, a loved one? Longing is a very German word for which there are no precise equivalents in other languages, but there are numerous pieces of music and styles that capture this feeling in sound. In their program, which they conceived together for the Schwetzinger SWR Festival 2025, the ensemble SPARK and the countertenor Valer Sabadus devote themselves entirely to this multifaceted emotion. You can hear seductive, yearning instrumental and vocal music, created between the early 18th and the early 21st century. Handel lets the birds sing, Schubert longs and suffers, Vivaldi contributes numerous secondary frictions, Bach enjoys grazing sheep and lets Zion sing joyfully, fireflies glow, Michael Nyman even makes a melodica sound seductive, people dance tango, and at the end we can ask ourselves with Barry Manilow: Could it be magic ?

Valer Sabadus & SPARK

Rococo Theater

When SPARK invites you to a concert, there is a lot to see and hear. First of all, there are lots of instruments: piano, violin, viola, cello, melodica, plus around 20 recorders in different sizes and types of wood. There are also pieces from different eras, from the Baroque to the present day. Even sounds that are several centuries old still get your feet moving today. But the musicians also play a catchy Hungarian folk tune or a pop song by ABBA, one of their absolute favorite bands. And they demonstrate new playing techniques of modern avant-garde music on their instruments, without you having to develop any new music escape reflexes. Important questions are also answered: for example, how exactly a note is created on a string instrument or how to play a "flutter tongue" on the recorder. And of course the musicians also talk about their everyday working life on stages around the world - from London, Amsterdam and Berlin to Shanghai.

SPARK for Teens

Hunting Hall

In the family concert, SPARK brings together three completely different B's: Johann Sebastian Bach as the forefather of classical art music, Luciano Berio as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century and the Beatles as titans of pop music. On the journey through these three different sound worlds there is something new to discover - such as the crazy playing techniques that Luciano Berio came up with for the instruments. And familiar and well-known things can be experienced in a new way with SPARK when they whirl across the stage in their version of Bach's famous Badinerie or add their own motifs and melodies to a prelude by Bach's contemporary Christoph Graupner. The five musicians move between eras and genres with great virtuosity and a lot of joy in playing. In doing so, they constantly open up new sounds and scenery for themselves and their audience, expand, explain, contrast and create a lively dialogue between baroque and modern. SPARK unashamedly and naturally draws on all genres, breaks unnecessary boundaries and celebrates one thing above all with passionate devotion: good music, namely Bach – Berio – Beatles .

Bach - Berio - Beatles

The resident ensemble SPARK will be enriching Asparagus Saturday with a few hits from its wide repertoire. These include baroque masterpieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and Isabella Leonarda, as well as a racy tango by the American composer Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin and film music by the British minimal music maestro Michael Nyman. The ensemble surprises with a crazy instrumental line-up that combines the classical piano trio with around 30 different recorders and a melodica. The five group members pitch their tent of ideas in an open field between classical, minimal music and avant-garde and have been letting sparks fly with this exciting mix of styles for 18 years now. In 2011, it won the ECHO Klassik. Since then, SPARK has not only delighted a steadily growing audience in German-speaking countries, but has also performed as a solo group in front of the London Symphony Orchestra at sold-out Barbican Centres, in the National Concert Hall Taipei and in the Vienna Musikverein.

Stefan Balazsovics

Events

Past events

May 30, 2025

Valer Sabadus & SPARK · SWR Symphonieorchester

May 5, 2025

SPARK for Teens · SWR Symphonieorchester

About

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