Beatrix Conrad

In the second part of this magnificent concert celebrating music from across Europe, Lukas Sternath, Martha Argerich, Bruce Liu and Hayato Sumino perform the finest piano concertos by Beethoven, Schumann, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff.

To mark Music Day, ten European orchestras will perform some of the finest piano concertos alongside prestigious soloists and under the baton of renowned conductors from various cities across the continent. The programme for this exceptional concert features works by Brahms, Grieg, Chopin, Beethoven, Ravel and Mozart.

A concert where German and French Romanticism engage in a dialogue, revealing as many differences as they do similarities. Wagner invites the listener into a contemplative state bordering on ecstasy, while the sensuality of Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto and Debussy’s Impressionist evocation of nature unfold.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s *St. John Passion* recounts the trial and death of Jesus through striking musical scenes. The Evangelist guides the narrative, which unfolds through arias, chorales, choral sections, and solo passages. Sequences of great dramatic intensity alternate with calm, meditative passages, highlighting the full complexity of these events.

Whenever Chamayou and Andsnes perform together, the magic happens. They will reunite in 2024 at the Ruhr Piano Festival. This time, the two collaborators will perform miniatures from the Játékok (Games) cycle by Hungarian composer György Kurtág. These will be paired with, as if in a mirror, deeply moving pieces composed by Schubert shortly before his death, where beauty rubs shoulders with suffering.

Europiano continues in Hamburg's Laeiszhalle. Superstar pianist Martha Argerich performs Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sylvain Cambreling.

Emmanuel Pahud celebrates the 300th anniversary of the birth of Frederick the Great with a concert recorded live 16 October 2011 in the Royal Theatre of Potsdam's Neues Palais at Sanssouci. The program features concerti, sonatas, and unaccompanied works by Frederick the Great, Quantz, Benda, and C.P.E. Bach. Trevor Pinnock conducts the Kammerakademie Potsdam.

Three Venetian composers, one name: Antonio. The works of Vivaldi, Lotti and Caldara radiate their baroque brilliance at the Elbe Philharmonic. Conducted by Klaas Stok, the NDR Vocal Ensemble and the Berlin Academy of Early Music perform them with stylistic finesse and striking expressivity.

The I Solisti Veneti ensemble and trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary perform works by three masters of the Venetian Baroque, Antonio Vivaldi, Tomaso Albinoni and Alessandro Marcello, in the Hamburg St Michael's Church. At the end of the concert, Lucienne Renaudin Vary demonstrates the versatility of her instrument with two pieces by Astor Piazzolla. Chapters: - Tomaso Albinoni – Concerto for strings and basso continuo in F major - Antonio Vivaldi – Concerto in D major op. 3 no. 9, version for trumpet, strings and basso continuo - Baldassare Galuppi – Concerto for harpsichord and strings in C major - Antonio Vivaldi – Concerto for four violins, strings and basso continuo in B minor - Alessandro Marcello – Concerto for trumpet in C minor - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari – Serenade for strings - Astor Piazzolla - Tanti Anni Prima, transcription for trumpet and strings - Astor Piazzolla – Oblivion for trumpet and strings - Astor Piazzolla - Chau Paris (Zugabe)

"I didn't look for the mandolin: it found me." By chance, as a child, Avi Avital discovered a passion for this modest stringed instrument, traditionally associated with popular music and amateur performances. His first teacher, a violinist by profession, inspired him to defy the limits of genre and learn to play classical music. The Israeli musician has now become the mandolin's greatest ambassador, performing sensitive arrangements of baroque pieces the world over.

Fazıl Say concludes the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival at the Elbphilharmonie with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Carlo Tenan. The programme for this eclectic evening includes works by Gershwin, Ravel and Tüzün, as well as Turkish pianist Fazıl Say's Sixth Symphony, composed in 2022 under the title A Hundred-Year-Old Child.