11.00 Uhr
Familienführung
That was “Aus den Fugen”
Nov. 25, 2024Share
Shiva Feshareki © Felix Löchner
Festival-Höhepunkte im Rückblick
For two weeks, the “Aus den Fugen” festival at the Konzerthaus brings together visionary works that have unjustly not yet found a permanent place on concert stages, artists responding to a world out of kilter, and formats that upset the normal concert hall routine.
The audience danced exuberantly to Jazzrausch and the Unterbiberger Hofmusik, there were ovations for Patricia Kopatchinskaja's plea for peace, an enthusiastic community at the voguing evening ‘Our People’, dignified commemoration of 70 years of Yad Vashem with Lera Auerbach's 6th symphony ‘Vessels of Light’, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Joana Mallwitz and guests as well as many other concerts.
Eröffnungskonzert
Photos: Sebastian Runge
Our former Artist in Residence, violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, and an ensemble of renowned musicians opened the second ‘Aus den Fugen’ festival with a semi-staged concert.
‘In the name of peace’, they took a sensual approach to works from Purcell to Nono which bear witness to war as a humanitarian catastrophe, but also a moving plea for peace and a means of strengthening hope and the belief that peaceful coexistence is possible.
Our People
Photos: Pablo Castagnola
Marginalised by society, queer black and Latino New Yorkers developed the dance style ‘voguing’ in the 1970s and 80s as a means of artistic expression and self-discovery. In the so-called ‘ballrooms’, the stage also became an emotional catwalk for conquering respect, recognition and belonging.
With ‘Our People’, tenor Frederick Ballentine and pianist Kunal Lahiry have created an inspirational evening in honour of black and queer voices with voguing and songs by Aaron Copland, Franz Schubert, Margaret Bonds, John Musto, Nina Simone and others as well as a space for the Berlin voguing community in the Konzerthaus.
Chineke! Orchestra
Fotos: Sebastian Runge
Under the direction of Kevin John Edusei, Chineke! Orchestra, Europe's first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra, played its first concert in Berlin. In the sold-out hall, the audience celebrated Derrick Syke's ‘Prisms’, which combines influences from the Balkans, Ghana and Hindu classical music, the nature-loving spirituality of Brian Raphael Nabors' “Concerto for Orchestra” and the young soloist of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3: Isata Kanneh-Mason, sister of our current Artist in Residence cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
Orgel Impro Battle
Photos: Pablo Castagnola
Whether the ‘Bibi and Tina Intro’, Britney Spears‘ “Toxic” or Billie Eilish's “Bad Guy”, John Williams’ theme to Harry Potter's owl Hedwig or Wagner's ‘Tannhäuser’ overture, Bach's ‘Toccata’ or Grieg's ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ - our combatants, organists Thomas Cornelius and Thomas Ospital, literally pulled out all the stops of their tremendous skills. Bottom line: There is a lot of humour in the organ. And evidently, also in some of those often serious-looking organists!
Next Stop: BLN
Photos: Sebastian Runge
What is home, where is home, what connects people in Berlin across all differences, what is this city for us and what does it sound like? This was the subject of NEXT STOP: BLN, a project by young workshop participants from Marzahn, project designer Kian Jazdi and pianist Hanni Liang to music from Sally Beamish, Ethel Smyth and Emmanuel Séjourné.
Vessels of Light
Photos: Simon Pauly
To mark the 70th anniversary of the International Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem, Lera Auerbach composed her 6th symphony entitled ‘Vessels of Light’ and dedicated it to the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, who was stationed in Lithuania and saved thousands of Jewish people during the Second World War by issuing visas, including the father-in-law of cello soloist Kristina Reiko Cooper. Joana Mallwitz conducted the Konzerthausorchester, the Kaunas State Choir and a vocal soloist ensemble.
The Kabbalistic tale of the ‘breaking of the vessels’ at the creation of the world, the cherished art of Japanese Kintsugi, which uses lacquer and gold powder to save broken porcelain or ceramics, and the quiet words of the biblical Psalm 121 were woven by the composer, who was present in the hall, into a tapestry of words and music that left a deep impression on the audience.
Bach & Beyond
Photos: Pablo Castagnola
Our Artist in Residence, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, and jazz pianist Harry Baker took our festival audience on a journey of discovery from Bach to Lianne La Havas and Pat Metheny.
Still Point
Photos: Felix Löchner
Spherical soundscapes with overtone singing by the Vocalconsort Berlin and then Daphne Oram's ‘Still Point’ from 1948, in which the sound of an orchestra was electronically processed live for the first time, awaited the audience on Friday evening.
Inspired by the poet T.S. Eliot, the composer set out in search of the ‘still point’ where past and future come together. Thanks to the young British-Persian composer and turntable artist Shiva Feshareki, her visionary work could be heard in Germany with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin for the first time in 75 years. The work is based on Oram's experiences as a radio technician under the glass dome of London's Royal Albert Hall during the bombing raids of the Second World War, when she was 23 years old.
Im Jazzrausch
Photos: Felix Löchner
Enjoy & dance on Saturday: The Jazzrausch Bigband satisfied the longing ‘of clubbers for more real, handmade, fresh and original music’ and the desire ‘of jazz and classical music listeners for more oomph, entertainment, a big sound and a fat groove’ in a single swoop. When the Unterbiberger Hofmusik got going, there was no stopping anyway: typically Bavarian with influences of folk, jazz, Latin, Balkan, brass - or simply really good music, our audience thought and celebrated the artists frenetically.
Wandelkonzert
Photos: Sebastian Runge
A Sunday walk is soothing, clears the mind and calms the heartbeat. That can't hurt, esoecially at a time like this. After 13 festival days, percussionist Alexei Gerassimez and the members of the Manchester Collective ensured a pleasant flow as the audience walked collectively through our halls.
