Early modernist Paris must have been a fascinating place. Where else in the world did such artistic diversity exist? Musical life oscillated between Impressionism and Neoclassicism, jazz and operetta; there were the "old" artists around Camille Saint-Saëns and Gabriel Fauré, the young artists around the Groupe des Six; there were Russians, Spaniards, and Czechs, and of course mavericks like the legendary Erik Satie. The city was thus a true melting pot and, at the same time, a laboratory of sounds.

3rd Symphony Concert

Theater Nordhausen

House of Art

For the New Year, we extend a heartfelt belated congratulations to the birthday boy of 2025: This October marks the 250th anniversary of Johann Strauss's birth. What could be more fitting than a classical Viennese New Year's Concert featuring Austrian musical delicacies? A few contemporaries such as Franz Lehár and Franz von Suppé, and of course other members of the Strauss family, will also be joining the congratulatory crowd. And as a special "icing on the cake," several vocal works will be performed, such as the Csárdás "Klänge der Heimat" (Sounds of Home) from Johann Strauss's "Die Fledermaus" (The Bat) and the Vilja-Lied (Vilja Song) from Franz Lehár's "Die lustige Witwe" (The Merry Widow).

New Year's Concert

Adventure Mine

Cultural and Congress Center

Octagonal House

"Not Bach, he should be called the sea!" Ludwig van Beethoven once said with reference to Johann Sebastian Bach. And the influence this had on later generations is truly enormous. In 1911, Arnold Schoenberg peppered his "Harmonielehre" with examples from the Thomaskantor's work. Schoenberg's student Anton Webern, in turn, arranged the "Ricercar" from Bach's "Musical Offering" for orchestra in 1935. His plan: to make not only all six parts audible, but also the components of the fugue subject through sophisticated instrumentation. Alban Berg, Schoenberg's second student, went a step further. His Violin Concerto, also composed in 1935, is contemporary music par excellence. But the melody to which the entire work leads is the Bach chorale "Es ist genug". It forms the moving conclusion of a concerto dedicated to Manon Gropius, Alma Mahler's daughter, who died young.

2nd Symphony Concert

Üdvözöljük! A real eye-catcher, this accumulation of umlauts, and also the perfect opening for our season's opening concert. In German, this Hungarian word means "Welcome!", and not only our new, interim General Music Director Gábor Hontvári comes from Hungary, but also the horn soloist László Gál. Not to mention Béla Bartók, the figurehead of Hungarian music par excellence, who died in exile in the USA 80 years ago. One of his last compositions was the Concerto for Orchestra: a foray through musical history, with sprinkles of Renaissance and jazz, folklore and dance, as well as a feast of timbres in which virtually every orchestral instrument is put in the spotlight. It's hard to believe that the 62-year-old was already terminally ill when he wrote this brilliant piece...

1st Symphony Concert

It's a cherished tradition: giving the best participants of the Sondershausen International Masterclass a stage together with the Loh Orchestra. The course is now being offered for the 33rd time, in cooperation with the Thuringian State Music Academy. After three different wind instruments, this year's focus is on the viola. The course's instructor will be none other than Prof. Hartmut Rohde, a founding member of the Kandinsky String Trio and a lecturer at the Berlin University of the Arts. Treasures of the viola concert literature from the Baroque period to the 20th century will be heard.

2nd Loh Concert

They convey a "sense of happiness" that "has a doubly soothing effect in these pessimistic times" : this is how the critic-pope Eduard Hanslick once characterized Antonín Dvo ř ák's "Legends," a cycle of poetic miniatures. They were intended as an intimate counterpart to the down-to-earth "Slavonic Dances" and were also a great success. Dvo ř ák's ability to sketch out a story, scene, or atmosphere with just a few strokes seems to have been passed on from him to his compatriots. The younger Bohuslav Martin and the highly talented composer and conductor Vítězslava Kaprálová, who, despite her much too early death, left behind around 50 works and was the first female conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, also mastered the small form.

3rd Loh Concert

Russian music by two composers who could hardly be more different: on the one hand, the reserved, self-doubt-plagued Peter Tchaikovsky; on the other, the cosmopolitan star pianist Sergei Prokofiev, once a public nuisance, later a figurehead of the Soviet Union. And yet, the two musicians are united by more than their nationality – this evening, featuring two of their orchestral works and Gewandhaus cellist Valentino Worlitzsch as soloist, demonstrates this.

5th Symphony Concert

Fancy a few artistic extravaganzas? Then the third palace concert of the season is just the right place for you. We've got a musical brawl by Biber on offer, a monkey dance à la Purcell, and wild dance numbers by Rameau. Bach's son, Wilhelm Friedemann, also goes against the grain of the laws of harmony. Astor Piazzolla's work isn't quite as bizarre, but then again, the tango was long considered extravagant. And Piazzolla, in particular, repeatedly built stylistic bridges to Baroque music, for example in his version of the "Four Seasons." Where Vivaldi celebrates country life, here we wander through the dance halls of Buenos Aires—including a fugue in "Spring."

Gabor Hontvari

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 25, 2026

2nd Loh Concert · Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Apr 1, 2026

3rd Loh Concert · Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

18 - 19 Apr, 2026

5th Symphony Concert · Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

24 - 31 May, 2026

3rd Castle Concert · Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Past events

17 - 18 Jan, 2026

3rd Symphony Concert · Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

1 - 10 Jan, 2026

New Year's Concert · Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Future and recently performed repertoire

Conductor in Sinfonietta by Poulenc

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Violin Concerto by Berg

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Concerto for Orchestra by Bartók

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Slavonic Dances by Dvořák

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Symphony No. 2 by Brahms

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Horn Concerto No. 1 by Strauss

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in La valse by Ravel

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Shéhérazade by Ravel

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in The Musical Offering by Bach

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Battalia à 10 by Biber

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Libertango by Piazzolla

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Gymnopédie No. 1 by Satie

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in King Arthur by Purcell

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks by Strauss

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in The Fairy-Queen by Purcell

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Oboe Concerto by Martinů

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Symphony No. 5 by Tchaikovsky

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Sinfonia concertante by Prokofiev

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Legends by Dvořák

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Otoño Porteño by Piazzolla

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Primavera Porteña by Piazzolla

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Suite en Miniature by Kaprálová

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

Conductor in Les indes galantes by Rameau

Loh-Orchester Sondershausen

About

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