Guest in Hamburg

We are once again travelling from the river Regnitz to the river Elbe for a short residency in Hamburg, bringing with us a diverse selection of works for the audience. Naturally, no selection would be complete without works by this year's honouree Beethoven, without whom the history of music might well have taken a quite different course – and who once remarked: »The boundaries have not yet been set that would challenge talent and diligence: ‘This far and no further’.« Beethoven confidently pursued his visions, and even his symphonic debut from 1800 feels like a bold artistic challenge to the conventions of the time. Twelve years later, he worked on his playful Eighth Symphony, of which a critic remarked after the premiere: »Here, too, that peculiar spirit breathes, through which his originality always asserts itself.« We are also presenting some exciting works by Beethoven's successors at the Elbphilharmonie. Ernest Bloch’s Rhapsody, completed in 1916, is based on the biblical writings of King Solomon: in this popular piece, the cello and orchestra engage in a powerful musical dialogue. Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto dates from 1917 and oscillates between fairy-tale lyricism, ironic allusions and rapidly pulsating episodes. Bohuslav Martinů composed his symphonies during his exile in America, which lasted until 1953 – and within the rich diversity of these passionate and inventive musical creations, moving sounds can be heard time and again as an expression of his homesickness for Bohemia.