Name: Bartók Contrasts
Start: 2026-05-10T18:00:00
Location: Hessischer Rundfunk

Günther Albers

Dashiel Nesbitt

Ulrich Horn

Tomaz Močilnik

Laurent Weibel

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra

As a conductor, he has the chance to "paint with a huge brush," says Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider. As a violinist, the brush is considerably smaller. Szeps-Znaider knows and can do both: He is one of the few who are equally successful as a violin soloist and conductor, often performing both roles in one evening – as in this concert with the hr Symphony Orchestra. "I was simply curious and only knew the diverse orchestral and operatic repertoire as a listener," explains the Copenhagen-born musician with Polish roots, justifying his dual career. "Ultimately, the repertoire for solo violinists was too narrow for me." And narrowness simply doesn't suit this artist's understanding of music, who is incredibly reflective and undogmatic, even when dealing with such well-known violin concertos as the popular one in G minor by Max Bruch. Questioning every note in relation to the whole is Szeps-Znaider's credo – "that's why playing it feels to me as if I'm discovering the piece for the very first time. It's never boring." Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider can be experienced as both violinist and conductor, performing two absolute classics – Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 and Dvořák's Symphony No. 7 – as well as a surprising orchestral work by the featured artist Unsuk Chin.

Dvořák 7

Alte Oper

The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt) is a regular guest at the Wettenberg Winter Concerts, presenting its chamber music program. This time, musicians from the orchestra will perform a captivating string quartet program. Mozart's Viennese "Hoffmeister Quartet," with its unique blend of cheerfulness and melancholy, meets the colorful French quartet masterpiece of the young Ravel. Interspersed throughout this chamber concert, featuring members of the hr-Sinfonieorchester, are dazzling dance pieces by the German-Bohemian composer Erwin Schulhoff, ranging from waltzes and tangos to marches. Pure joy awaits all quartet enthusiasts on this enthralling evening!

Quartet delights

Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Wißmar

To mark the significant anniversary of the Reformation in Hesse, which the Protestant Church will celebrate in 2026, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt) will perform a celebratory concert in Homberg (Efze) under the direction of Austrian conductor Katharina Wincor. The program at St. Mary's Church will feature a virtuosic horn concerto by the young Richard Strauss, performed by hr-Sinfonieorchester's solo horn player Kristian Katzenberger, as well as two captivating orchestral overtures by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The orchestra will also present the Fifth Symphony by Franz Schubert as the main symphonic work of the concert.

500 Years of the Homberg Synod

Stadtkirche St. Marien

Franz Schubert's Fifth Symphony is a surprise: light, elegant, and almost chamber-music-like in its transparency, it stands out clearly from his other symphonies – delicate rather than weighty, thoughtful rather than dramatic. No wonder it is often called "the lovely one." In this moderated concert for school classes in grades 8 to 10, solo bassoonist Theo Plath, together with the hr Symphony Orchestra, takes a close look at the work. How does a symphony with such a lean instrumentation work? Where does Schubert's refinement shine through? A focused look at a masterpiece straddling the Classical and Romantic periods – compact, sonorous, and to the point.

Schubert's Chamber Symphony

Hessischer Rundfunk

A virtuosic horn concerto by the young Strauss, framed by a lighthearted Schubert symphony and Mendelssohn's overture about the beautiful mermaid who leaves her mermaid realm to live happily with her knight. What could be better – for the horn as well as for this "Quick & Classy" concert? Audiences can also look forward to the principal horn player of the hr-Sinfonieorchester, Kristian Katzenberger, and an early work by the Viennese Romantic composer. While modest in its means and brevity, and reminiscent of Mozart, its rich harmonies and ethereal melodies make it a true Schubert.

Horn in luck

The adventurous tale of Peter and the Wolf is world-famous. Sergei Prokofiev composed enchanting music for this beloved fairy tale about the Russian boy who embarks on a carefree morning stroll, unaware of the great adventures that await him. The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra offers listeners of all ages the chance to experience Peter's adventures live and to follow the famous sounds of the oboe quacking like a duck, the clarinet creeping in like a cat on "velvet paws," and the bassoon sounding like a concerned grandfather offering Peter his often-overlooked advice. This and much more awaits you at this family concert by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Peter and the Wolf

This season, members of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt) will present two masterpieces of chamber music at the Theater Altes Hallenbad in Friedberg. Who doesn't know and love Schubert's only piano quintet, with its famous variation movement on the "capricious trout"? The song's cheerful tone imbues the entire quintet with an aura of unbridled musical joy, to which its bright, luminous sound also contributes. In stark contrast, the program begins with Brahms's long-matured, final piano quartet, which reflects profound biographical conflicts. It is among the most impressive chamber music of the Romantic era.

Trout Quintet

Theater Altes Hallenbad

French chamber music for flute, oboe, and English horn. A concert full of distinctive works from the circle of the extraordinary composer Lili Boulanger, who at the age of 19 became the first woman ever to win the prestigious Prix de Rome and died far too young just a few years later. Lili Boulanger was a child prodigy without equal. At the age of five, she began her studies at the Paris Conservatoire, learning piano, violin, cello, harp, and organ. Her life was shaped by two themes: her exceptional talent and an early lung condition. When she won the Prix de Rome, she also received a scholarship for a three-year residency at the Villa Medici in Rome. Her doctors tried to dissuade her from the trip. But for her, there was no doubt: she had to have this experience. In the end, she left behind over 50 works, including chamber music, hymns, and choral works such as a cantata.

Chant du soir

"Mahler's soul sings its farewell!" – there are countless famous words like this about the Ninth Symphony. And often, they speak of farewell, of the end, of the abyss. This profoundly moving work is a sonic endpoint – and at the same time a high point of the entire genre, of the era. "The orchestra is famous for its Mahler interpretations, and I will continue that," promised Alain Altinoglu in 2021 when he took up the post as chief conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. The Frenchman's approach to Mahler is detailed, attentive to structure, crystallizing colors. And in the Ninth, the colors are not exactly the brightest, naturally, because: This is not about the failure in the pursuit of personal happiness, but about the failure of the world as a whole. It is not only Mahler the man who sees himself on the brink of the abyss, but rather humanity itself – the Ninth as a universal requiem. One of the famous sayings about this work was coined by Arnold Schoenberg: "It seems the Ninth is a boundary. Whoever wants to go beyond it must leave." For: "Those who have written a Ninth Symphony were too close to the afterlife."

Mahler 9

Four guest concerts this season will take the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and chief conductor Alain Altinoglu to Spain in March, performing at the Auditori de Girona, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, ​​the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia. On the program is Mahler's Ninth Symphony, the symphonic finale of the great late-Romantic composer, for whose work the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra has enjoyed a special affinity and expertise for decades.

Spain tour

Auditori Palau de Congressos de Girona

Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias

National Music Auditorium, Madrid

Palau de la Música Catalana

Anyone who has ever heard this music will never forget it. "Le Sacre"—many still pronounce the title with a mixture of awe, horror, and fascination. Stravinsky's ballet music is and remains the system-breaker of the standard classical repertoire. If one wanted to describe the music that, just over 100 years ago, triggered what was probably the greatest scandal in music history—it was in Paris in 1913—terms like "orgy," "Black Mass," "High Mass for Rhythm" might come to mind. It is dance music, but for a completely different, dark kind of dance: earthbound, throbbing, sharp-edged, brutal. Where ballet had previously been expected to be as light as a feather, here everything literally bores into the subterranean depths. It is music that continues to overwhelm. And intoxicate. And that one simply never forgets. Back then, at the premiere, there were only a few who understood what event they were witnessing. One of these contemporary witnesses was able to describe it, this "new kind of wildness in both unartistic and artistic forms: all forms devastated, new ones suddenly emerging from the chaos." Alain Altinoglu and the hr-Sinfonieorchester will awaken the primal musical forces of "The Rite of Spring" in this Young People's Concert and unleash them with powerful sound in the Alte Oper.

Rite of Spring

Almost a family reunion: hr's chief conductor Alain Altinoglu, born in Paris, has Armenian roots. And Sergey Khachatryan, originally from Yerevan, grew up in Frankfurt as one of the greatest violin talents of recent decades. It's only natural that Armenia's most famous composer is also involved, and a bonus that this even results in a small program focus for the hr Symphony Orchestra under the title "Armenian Soul." Aram Khachaturian's Violin Concerto, composed in 1940, has everything a violinist could wish for: fire, brilliance, the grand cantilena as well as the subtle, yet always perceptible, folkloric touch. And it demands a true virtuoso like Sergey Khachatryan, who says: If he weren't playing the violin, he would have become a race car driver. He always seeks the adrenaline rush, on the podium as well as in life, and he plays every concert with an artistic commitment as if it were his last. Excess: That's also the key word for one of the most famous orchestral works of the 20th century, Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring." It's ballet music, but not of the lighthearted kind—on the contrary, it's an adoration of the earth, rhythmically pounding, with tremendous sonic power. The premiere in 1913 was dominated by astonishment and tumult—the work still takes your breath away today.

Two clarinet works by Bartók, imbued with the richness of Hungarian and Romanian folk music, encounter the exuberant early piano quartet by his Hungarian friend Brahms. Construction, contrast, and surprising hints of jazz meet youthful energy, romantic ambition, and the spirit of the "Hungarian Dances." Bartók's "Contrasts" was the first work with which the Hungarian exile presented himself to the American public in 1940. Commissioned by the legendary Benny Goodman, it was Goodman's jazz background that inspired Bartók to compose the piece. When Brahms once sent his Hungarian friend Joseph Joachim the score of his piano quartet with the "Rondo alla Zingarese," Joachim readily admitted that the Hanseatic composer had surpassed him on his own turf.