Concert

Konzerthausorchester Berlin

Joana Mallwitz, Leitung
Britten / Dennehy / Beethoven

A wide sky full of clouds, below a ship sails on the sea.

Brig on the Water © Gustave Le Gray / public domain

As the new Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Joana Mallwitz celebrates her debut at the Musikfest Berlin. The programme includes Benjamin Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes”, the German premiere of Donnacha Dennehy’s Violin Concerto with the violinist Augustin Hadelich plus Ludwig van Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

While General Music Director at Staatstheater Nürnberg, Joana Mallwitz was acclaimed as an “exceptional conductor” able to turn musical concepts into experiences by deploying the techniques of a “stage designer in sound” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) from the pit. Since her debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2020 with “Così fan tutte” she has been regarded as one of the outstanding figures in her field – and it is no coincidence that she has been appointed as the new Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin for five seasons from 2023/2024. Joana Mallwitz will give her debut at Musikfest Berlin with a compelling programme beginning with Benjamin Britten’s atmospheric “Sea Interludes” from the English national opera of the 20th century, “Peter Grimes”. After this, the violinist Augustin Hadelich will take to the podium – an artist whose outstanding technique and poetic, lyrical tone has attracted worldwide attention. He will perform the Violin Concerto dedicated to him by the Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy, whose pulsating rhythm and magical sound, veering between minimalism and post-impressionism, has already achieved a triumphant world premiere. The evening is rounded off with the Seventh Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Concert Programme

Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976)
Four Sea Interludes op. 33a (1945)
from the opera Peter Grimes

Donnacha Dennehy (*1970)
Violin Concerto (2020)
German premiere

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)
Symphony No. 7 in A major op. 92 (1811/12)

19:10, South Foyer
Work introduction

 

A Konzerthaus Berlin event in cooperation with Berliner Festspiele / Musikfest Berlin
The concerts with contemporary works are part of the contemporary music month of the field notes initiative.