Violinist

Around 1920, the composer Emánuel Moór had the vision of building the piano of the future. His duplex piano with two manuals was born out of the spirit of the late Romantic period and offers even more tonal colours and a greater richness of sound. On an ordinary piano, one touch of the keys causes a hammer to strike the string. With the duplex piano, two hammers can be coupled: one keystroke then produces two tones simultaneously. This doubling of the tones leads to an unimagined fullness of sound in the forte, and to a magical brilliance of sound in the piano. The two manuals allow for differentiated layers of sound.

EPSG:4326

Duplex Piano – The Piano with Two Manuals

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

To mark Roger Willemsen's 70th birthday in 2025, his friends Joachim Król and Franziska Hölscher are joining forces with Martin Klett for the new stage program "Momentum." The Harbour Front Literature Festival thus commemorates one of the great intellectuals and brilliant stylists of our time. In "Momentum," Willemsen's highly personal book about life's decisive moments, his voice is once again palpable: poetic, precise, humorous, and deeply moving. An evening about eruptions, longings, and contradictions—with musical accompaniment to works by Beethoven, Shostakovich, Webern, Adams, and others.

Momentum – a Roger Willemsen Evening

Stories of animals and humans, bursting with humor and imagination—for this evening, the art of recitation enters into a pact with chamber music. Actress Katja Riemann and her piano and violin colleagues present two texts by the much too young deceased Roger Willemsen. Willemsen's story "Carnival of the Animals" will be performed alongside Camille Saint-Saëns' musical classic of the same name. The artists will also combine "Das müde Glück," another idiosyncratic text by the clever author, with music by Stravinsky , Saint-Saëns , and others .

Carnival of Happiness

Schloss und Gut Ulrichshusen

"Carnival of Happiness" - texts by Roger Willemsen with music by Saint-Saëns, Mozart, Elgar and others.

Carnival of happiness

Kuhhaus

Stadttheater Heide

Everything for eternity! In order to come across as a fossil as possible, the Roman snail strikes a pose: "My house is only a fetish for me, the main thing is that I look aesthetically pleasing!" This is what the most famous work by composer Camille Saint-Saëns sounds like, after Roger Willemsen took it on and added very human (and quite contemporary) rhymes to the animal music - right down to the aquarium in which the fishermen's choirs live. Together with violinist Franziska Hölscher and pianist Marianna Shirinyan, actress Katja Riemann sees the Carnival of Animals as a bow to the audience - and as a carnival of happiness, a celebration of life. The test follows immediately: with Willemsen's version of the biblical story of Job ( The Tired Happiness ), which is also set in an animal setting, namely in a circus tent. "It's about everything," says Katja Riemann, "because we're asking how we want to live." The solution to all problems can be found here in working together. Musically too: with music by Mozart, Schnittke, Elgar, Prokofiev and Stravinsky.

Karneval des Glücks

Schwetzingen Palace

As one of the most versatile musicians of the younger generation, Franziska Hölscher sets special concert accents with her virtuoso violin playing and her thoughtful programs – in Blaibach with Karl Amadeus Hartmann's moving "Concerto funebre." Her partners from the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra let Mozart's magnificent C major Quintet shine in full string splendor.

Violinist

Franziska Hölscher

Events

Upcoming events

May 23, 2026

Franziska Hölscher & Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra · Konzerthaus Blaibach

Past events

Nov 24, 2025

Duplex Piano – The Piano with Two Manuals · Elbphilharmonie

Sep 24, 2025

Momentum – a Roger Willemsen Evening · Elbphilharmonie

Future and recently performed repertoire

Violin in Five Pieces in Folk Style by Schumann

Konzerthaus Blaibach

Violin in Concerto funebre by Hartmann

Konzerthaus Blaibach

Violin in String Quintet in C major K. 515 by Mozart

Konzerthaus Blaibach

About

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