Singer

Performances of Beethoven's Ninth at the Laeiszhalle around the turn of the year have long since become a popular tradition. With the work, which was premiered around 200 years ago, the composer made music history with the fourth movement, as he introduced the use of vocal soloists and choir into an unusually comprehensive symphony, which was to change the genre forever. Schiller's "Ode to Joy", set to music in it, conveys a vision of universal brotherhood and unity of all people that extends beyond national and cultural boundaries. Beethoven set the words to emotionally powerful music that Berlioz praised as "unsurpassably great", Mendelssohn Bartholdy praised as "the highest that a human being can achieve", Wagner paid homage to as "the human gospel of the art of the future" and elicited the moving verdict from Tchaikovsky: "Beethoven's Ninth is not only the greatest, but also the most human of all symphonies."

A Hamburg tradition at the turn of the year

Laeiszhalle Hamburg

Claude Debussy's "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" is a masterpiece of Impressionism. Inspired by a poem by the Symbolist Stéphane Mallarmé, the music paints the picture of a dreaming faun on a warm afternoon. With floating flute sounds and gentle harmonies, Debussy transports us into a world between dream and reality – a sensory delight in sound. Not many works of the 20th century are as naturally included in concert programs today as the music of Maurice Duruflé, who passed away in 1986. Particularly his sacred vocal music continues to enjoy enduring popularity, surely also due to its accessible musical language. Duruflé had little interest in breaking with tradition; in his 1947 Requiem, he engaged with the model of the two generations older Gabriel Fauré and let his enthusiasm for Gregorian chant run free. However, the work is not backward-looking: Contrary to the operatic settings of the Requiem in the 19th century, Duruflé focused less on the pains of the Last Judgment and more on the otherworldly redemption. Chief conductor Sir Donald Runnicles and the MDR Radio Choir infuse this work with a special intensity through their sensitivity and beauty of sound.

EPSG:4326

Sir Donald with Debussy

Palace of Culture

Ralph Vaughan Williams’ monumental »Sea Symphony« merges solos, choir and orchestra into an ode to the sea and the longing for distant shores. This symphony is full of indulgent romantic exuberance and yet is far more than just a musical description of nature. It deals with the fundamental questions of human existence, which the American poet Walt Whitman expresses with enormous linguistic power. For him, the sea itself is a symbol – of the innermost self that man can and must discover and explore, just as he explores the sea.

Bass

Markus Eiche

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 28, 2026

Sir Donald with Debussy · Dresdner Philharmonie

Jun 24, 2026

Choir St. Michaelis / Ensemble Reflektor / Jörg Endebrock · Elbphilharmonie

Past events

Dec 31, 2024 - Jan 1, 2025

A Hamburg tradition at the turn of the year · Symphoniker Hamburg

Future and recently performed repertoire

Singer in Requiem by Duruflé

Dresdner Philharmonie

About

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