After the New Year's Concert with Beethoven's 9th Symphony, including the jubilant "Ode to Joy," Stefan Blunier , a regular and welcome guest in Duisburg, returns to the podium of the Philharmonic a few months later for a no less overwhelming symphony: Anton Bruckner's 7th Symphony, a tremendous cathedral of sound and a moving reaction to the death of Richard Wagner, whom he admired and for him the "blessed, ardently beloved immortal master." Before this mighty work with its overwhelming aesthetic, the program features a piece that Carl-Sönje Montag describes with the words "virtuosity, elegance, and joy." He is actually the deputy principal bassoonist of the Duisburg Philharmonic, but for this concert he switches sides and stands as soloist in front of the orchestra. The first movement is "inviting and downright life-affirming," says Montag, "with its virtuoso passages and large interval leaps; the final rondo is folksy and humorous," while in the slow middle movement, "the cantable bassoonist's soul is allowed to sing out in melodic arches reminiscent of Hummel's teacher, Mozart." In short: for Carl-Sönje Montag, the piece is one of the three most important bassoon concertos in the Classical-Romantic repertoire, alongside those of Carl Maria von Weber and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—not bad company.

Overwhelming

CityPalais

Baroque music meets modernity, yesterday meets today: one of Johann Sebastian Bach's famous "Brandenburg Concertos," for example, meets Isang Yun's "Inventions for Two Oboes." Unlike Bach's inventions, however, the Korean composer's primary concern is with special playing techniques, such as trills and glissandi. And while Handel uses the Baroque concerto form, Klaus Huber wrote his "Noctes intelligibilis lucis" only in 1961, but scored it for the harpsichord, an instrument typical of the Baroque period. Thus, the program plays with sounds, forms, and ensembles, creating connections across eras.

Carl-Sönje Montag

Events

Upcoming events

29 - 30 Apr, 2026

Overwhelming · Duisburger Philharmoniker

Jun 21, 2026

Baroque shapes, modern colors · Duisburger Philharmoniker

Future and recently performed repertoire

Bassoon in Bassoon Concerto by Hummel

Duisburger Philharmoniker

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