Greatest Hits
Festival for Contemporary Music at Kampnagel
The title of this festival was originally intended as a provocation. After all, »Greatest Hits« are usually associated with chart-topping compilations by veteran rock bands, rather than with modern classical music. By now, however, the marathon weekend of contemporary music has itself proved to be a real hit! The three successful festivals to date have featured captivating artists, fascinating works, unusual approaches and the combined expertise of the Elbphilharmonie, Kampnagel and the »NDR das neue werk« series.
Fittingly, the focus this time is on the USA, where the term »hit« was originally coined. In the opening concert, Matthias Pintscher conducts »his« Ensemble intercontemporain, which was founded by Pierre Boulez; joining them are the Ensemble Resonanz, the NDR Choir and the pianist Cédric Pescia and the Calder Quartet with programmes celebrating the iconic American composer John Cage and Morton Feldman. A Composer Slam and other unconventional formats round off the festival.