Lobgesang in der Elbphilharmonie

By Isabel Schubert, 17 January 2017

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Reviewed at Elbphilharmonie: Grand Hall, Hamburg on 15 January 2017

Britten, Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, Op.49: Pan

Dutilleux, Mystère de l'Instant, for cymbalum, string orchestra and percussion

Cavalieri, Dalle più alte sfere

Caccini, Le nuove musiche: Amarilli, mia bella

Praetorius, Quam pulchra es - Motette für 5 Stimmen und Basso continuo

Zimmermann, Photoptosis

Liebermann, Furioso, for orchestra

Messiaen, Turangalîla-Symphonie

Mendelssohn, Symphony no. 2 in B flat major, "Lobgesang" (Hymn of Praise), Op.52

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester

Thomas Hengelbrock, Conductor

North German Radio Choir

Bavarian Radio Choir

Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, Soprano

Maria Bengtsson, Soprano

Pavol Breslik, Tenor

Alex Potter, Countertenor

Agnes Kovacs, Soprano

Alice Borciani, Mezzo-soprano

Mirko Ludwig, Tenor

Jakob Pilgram, Tenor

Thilo Dahlmann, Bass-baritone

Michele Pasotti, Theorbo

Bychkov's uneven Mahler 8 at the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 11th April

Doing justice to the vast scale of Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand" is itself the mightiest of tasks. Semyon Bychkov and his NDR forces only partially succeed.

***11

A searingly powerful Duke Bluebeard's Castle at the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 9th February

Alan Gilbert and his NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester partner first Igor Levit, and then Michelle DeYoung and Gerald Finley, in a night of outstanding music-making devoted to the music of Bartók.

*****

Two Sergeis with Vinnitskaya and Valčuha at the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 14th September

Rachmaninov and Prokofiev not only shared a first name. In their individual ways they helped define Russianness too. Anna Vinnitskaya, Juraj Valčuha and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester are here the exponents.

***11

Music that makes the flesh creep: Kochanovsky's powerful Prokofiev 6

Alexander Hall, 20th April

Three diverse works written within 15 years of each other, by Kodály, Poulenc and Prokofiev, given with panache by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the amazing Jussen brothers and Stanislav Kochanovsky.

****1

Operatic Wagner and symphonic Shostakovich in the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 15th September

Conducting the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the Latvian Andris Poga reveals a surer hand in Shostakovich's final symphonic statement than in the partnering of Nina Stemme in Wagner, where her big voice often missed the essential intimacy.

***11

Death and what comes after: Alan Gilbert's Mahler 2 in Hamburg

Alexander Hall, 2nd September

Opening the new season, Alan Gilbert and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester send out a clear message in Mahler's Second Symphony, both lyrically shaped and dramatically inflected.

****1

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Isabel Schubert

Isabel studierte an der Universität Hamburg Finnougristik und Historische Musikwissenschaft. Heute ist sie als Programmheftredakteurin für die Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern tätig. Von Kindesbeinen an besuchte Isabel Konzerte in ihrer Heimatstadt Hamburg und erlernte das Klavierspiel und das Singen im Chor. Die große Symphonik des 19. Jahrhunderts, Chormusik sowie die historisch informierte Aufführungspraxis liegen ihr besonders am Herzen.

Mendelssohns festlicher Lobgesang erklingt in Hamburger Elbphilharmonie