"La Storia di Orfeo" in Essen and Hamburg
Philippe Jaroussky presented the beautiful programme "La Storia di Orfeo" with the soprano Emőke Baráth and his ensemble Artaserse. The musicians could be heard on 03.07.2021 in the Philharmonie Essen and on 07.07.2021 in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.
Katia & Marielle Labèque as guests at Gewandhaus zu Leipzig
On 01 and 02 July 2021 Katia & Marielle Labèque performed with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Under the direction of Semyon Bychkov, they interpreted Bryce Dessner's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, overwhelming the audience and the press:
"The immediate impact of this concerto is also due to the dedicatees, for whom Dessner composed it with such sensitive and nimble fingers: Katia and Marielle Labèque, who also sit at the two Steinways in the Grand Concerts. Now and then, their powerfully sparkling playing is drowned out by the bubbling of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, which Bychkov could gladly put on a somewhat shorter leash. But that does nothing to diminish the effect of this skilfully virtuoso, cleverly arranged, absolutely sure of its effect and yet completely unused music: three movements, three ideas, one breath." (LVZ, 03.07.2021, Peter Korfmacher)
Javier Perianes plays with Dresdner Philharmonie under Juanjo Mena
Javier Perianes interpreted Edvard Grieg's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor op. 16 with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra under Juanjo Mena on 19 and 20 June 2021:
"The pianist Javier Perianes placed his interpretative approach between tonal and dynamic extremes, and took pleasure in exploring them in their entirety. [...] That he then brought in such an austere, dreamy Adagio, one would not have expected so readily. [...] Perianes' touch culture proved to be particularly flexible, oscillating between energetic feats of strength and lyrical traits." (DNN, 21.06.2021, Mareile Hanns)
Philippe Jaroussky makes his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker
On 17, 18 and 19 June 2021, Philippe Jaroussky made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Jean-Christophe Spinosi. This makes the singer the first countertenor to give a solo concert with the orchestra!
The arias "Vedro con mio diletto" from the opera "Giustino" and "Gemo in un punto, e fremo" from the opera "L'Olimpiade" by Antonio Vivaldi as well as "Di tanti palpiti" from the opera "Tancredi" by Gioacchino Rossini were performed.
The orchestra also played the Symphony in C major "L'Ours" by Joseph Haydn and the Jupiter Symphony by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Not only the audience was enthusiastic about these extraordinary concerts:
Tal & Groethuysen at Mozartfest Würzburg
On 10.06.2021 Tal & Groethuysen could be heard at the Mozartfest Würzburg.
The duo presented a varied programme with fantasies for piano four hands by Mozart, Czerny and Schubert, Giesking's "Spiel um ein Kinderlied" and Mozart's sonata for piano four hands in F major.
"When the piano duo Tal & Groethuysen, active in front of listeners again for the first time in seven months, present their familiar four-hand pieces, already performed a hundred times together, with such urgent energy that the caesuras in Franz Schubert's F minor Fantasy tear wide open like black holes to frighten, or all suppleness is driven out of the pieces of the festival patron and the hard core of strict thought work is peeled out." (FAZ, 14.06.2021, Gerald Felber)
