Konzerthaus is the best

Going through my old post for tagging purposes I once again realized that the Berlin Konzerthaus is the most fabulous music institution in the German Capital. Best programming. Period. Someone should really give them a medal. Here are my Konzerthaus-related articles.

Word Creations #3

On Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic in New York:
“The Adagio of the Ninth was a classic Berliner tour-de-force: the extreme polish of the playing in every section created a fabulous mirage of music as three-dimensional space.”
– Alex Ross, New Yorker, December 3, 2007, p. 107

Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Metha and the Staatskapelle Berlin

Barenboim and Mehta

I am an American artist living part-time in Berlin. I have never written anything about a classical music concert, I do not have a sophisticated ear for music, and, in fact, I do not literally hear very well. But, I do know what I like and do not like, and what I [...]

Do you live in Berlin?

To be honest, I moved to Boston again, and as you may agree, it’s quite hard to write about music in Berlin from here. I haven’t decided yet what’s gonna happen to this blog. Will it become a blog about music in Boston? Maybe not… Will it become a blog about about music in general? [...]

Discussion with Helmut Lachenmann

The department of music at the Humboldt University hosts a panel discussion with noted composer Helmut Lachenmann on Monday, June 18 at 6pm. Members of the panel include Lachenmann, Cornelius Lejeune and Pietro Cavallotti.
Where? - Room 501, Am Kupfergraben 5, 10099 Berlin. Right across from the Pergamon Museum, next door from the chancellor’s flat [...]

Jazz Concert @ Oxident Bar

Don’t miss your chance to hear the LAST (for now) Berlin performance of Billy the Kid and the Outlaws at the Oxident Bar this Saturday, June 2nd, at 10 pm. The show will be a memorable one featuring several special guests.
The Oxident Bar is here: http://www.oxident.de
The Outlaws are: William Bares, aka Billy the Kid, [...]

Oper für alle?

Eine Unverfrorenheit sondergleichen ist es, daß Klaus Wowereit, der Mann also, welcher das Amt des Kultursenators mirnichtsdirnichts im letzten Jahr abschaffte und damit der Kulturlandschaft Berlins nachhaltigen Schaden zufügte, daß dieser Mann sich also gestern Abend auf den Bebelplatz stellte, um ca 20 000 Menschen zu einer Liveübertragung von Massenets Manon aus der Staatsoper [...]

Walter Kempowski in the Academy of Arts

The Academy of Arts in Berlin will open its exhibition on the life and works of Walter Kempowski tonight. No other book in recent years has fascinated me as much as Kempowski’s Echolot. A collective diary, as Kempowski call his opus magnus in the subtitle, the book brings together thousands of autobiographical reports, letters, diaries, [...]

What’s cookin’ in Berlin this week?

The Deutsche Oper is continuing its 19th-century opera marathon with performances of Rossini’s Semiramide (today), Verdi’s La Traviata (Thursday), Léo Delibes’ ballet Sylvia (Friday), the Verismo-potpourri Cavalleria rusticana | Pagliacci by Mascagni and Leoncavallo (Saturday), and on Sunday Weber’s Freischütz.
The Staatsoper is still worshipping Anna N. with performances of Manon on Thursday and Sunday [...]

Ridiculous Dress Code at La Scala

This has probably been roaming around for quite a few days but nevertheless I don’t want to deprive you, dear readers, of this fabulously ridiculous story about a new dress code at the Scala in Milan.

The dress code
Our correspondent Opera Chic in Milan on the matter
Tagesschau covering

God, I’m glad I live in Berlin. The [...]

Ultraschall

The Ultraschall Festival für Neue Musik begins today. I am listening to the live broadcast of the opening concert right now. I’m going to post comments as we go along, refresh your browser from time to time. Tonight’s program features pieces by Hans Otte, Olga Neuwirth, Sebastian Claren, and Pierre Boulez. The festival program is [...]

A Flowering Tree in Berlin

For those of you who live in Berlin: rush over to the Berliner Philharmoniker website and buy a ticket for today’s (December 22) performance of John Adams’ newest opera “A flowering tree”. For those of you who cannot make it in time: read on …

Munich Opera House

Last night, Seda and I went to the Munich Opera House where we saw the Bayerisches Staatsballett with a very interesting program featuring Century Rolls (Davide Bombana, John Adams), In the Country of Last Things (Michael Simon, Heiner Goebbels), and Elemental (Jacopo Godani, 48nord).
A couple of weeks ago I read an illuminating article in the [...]

Vengerov just wants to have fun

- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Adagio in E major K 261 (arranged for violin and piano by Max Rostal
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 7 in c minor Op. 30 No. 2
- Sergey Prokofiev: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in f minor Op. 80
- Dmitri Shostakovich: Selection from the 24 [...]

Delicate miniatures and melancholic sonatas

This season, the Konzerthaus Berlin has put up some intriguing programs celebrating the 100th birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich. Among these concerts were performances by the Jerusalem Quartet (all string quartets), the Konzerthausorchester (Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and String Orchestra), as well as the Berlin Sinfonietta (Chamber Symphony). In an engaging performance on Thursday night, Alexei [...]