Rebels without a cause in Berlin

By Sam Johnstone, 15 March 2017

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“less like a ballerina, more like a whirling dervish”

Reviewed at Konzerthaus: Großer Saal, Berlin on 13 March 2017

Mozart, Symphony no. 25 in G minor, K183 (K173dB)

Mozart, Violin Concerto no. 4 in D major, K218

Beethoven, Symphony no. 3 in E flat major "Eroica", Op.55

Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Violin

Teodor Currentzis, Conductor

musicAeterna

A hole in the heart: Salzburg Festival’s new Don Giovanni

Hugo Shirley, 4th August

The pairing of controversial director and bad-boy conductor brings some thrills but the Salzburg Festival's new Don Giovanni proves disappointingly uninvolving.

***11

An online Beethovenathon: all nine symphonies across Europe in one day

Alexander Hall, 6th June

An all-day Beethoven experience European style with both highs and lows: much diversity revealed and exploited but of variable quality.

***11

An outstanding New York debut for Teodor Currentzis and musicAeterna

Edward Sava-Segal, 21st November

In Currentzis' vision, Verdi's Requiem was both a spectacle and a soul-searching exercise for the musicians, as well as for the listeners.

****1

An evangelical happening in Aix

Mark Valencia, 14th April

The musicians of MusicAeterna were impassioned, engaged and energised into a single force in this performance of Verdi's Requiem at the Aix Easter Festival.

****1

Cool brilliance: Currentzis conducts Mahler at the Philharmonie

Hugo Shirley, 5th December

Theodor Currentzis and his musicAeterna bring blistering detail and revelatory playing to Wunderhorn-period Mahler, but it ultimately proves short on warmth.

****1

Electrifying Beethoven from Currentzis and musicAeterna

Mark Pullinger, 28th July

The Greek conductor and his hand-picked Russian orchestra offer high-voltage Beethoven that crackles.

*****

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Sam Johnstone

Sam Johnstone is a musician and writer based in Berlin. He has written on classical, contemporary and world music for Sinfini Music, The Cusp and World Music Network, and about the influence of the avant-garde on contemporary music in Germany and Japan whilst studying at Oxford University and SOAS, University of London. Sam blogs at www.spljohnstone.com and tweets at @spljohnstone

Rebels without a cause: Teodor Currentzis in Berlin