Bezaubernd melancholischer Strawinsky in der Elbphilharmonie

By Michael Klier, 11 April 2021

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“Gerstein spielte... unsentimental und gleichzeitig träumerisch mit lyrischer Ausdruckskraft”

Reviewed at Elbphilharmonie: Grand Hall, Hamburg on 10 April 2021

Stravinsky, Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments

Stravinsky, Apollo (Apollon musagète)

Stravinsky, The Firebird: Suite

Kirill Gerstein, Piano

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester

Thomas Adès, Conductor

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

More reviews...

Michael Klier

Michael Klier macht schon seit mehr als einem halben Jahrhundert Musik. Als gebürtiger Berliner kam er 1993 nach Amsterdam. Er war Mitglied unterschiedlichster internationaler Ensembles und Orchester. Heute betreibt er eine florierende Unterrichts- und Coachingpraxis. Als Teamcoach bietet er dort Schulungen an, in denen die Kursteilnehmer miteinander komponieren, um so ihre ungenutzten kreativen Potentiale zu entdecken und besser miteinander zu kommunizieren. Denn: Musiker sind die Architekten des Himmels.

Bezaubernd melancholischer Strawinsky mit Kirill Gerstein in der Elbphilharmonie