CANCELLED: Radio Filharmonisch Orkest / Zimmermann / Nigl / Metzmacher

»Don’t be afraid of new sounds« - thus the title of a new book by Ingo Metzmacher, the former music director of the Hamburg State Opera. That fits the new festival »Elbphilharmonie Visions« perfectly. In a guest appearance with the Dutch Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Metzmacher again dispels phobias that really have no justification.

The past, the present, the future – we experience all of them in music at the same time. Does that sound a bit weird? But this is exactly however German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann imagined it: when the listener immerses himself in a piece of music, physical time is suspended and bent together to form a sphere. The resulting sound can be heard in a profound modern classic: Zimmermann’s »Ekklesiastische Aktion« of 1970 is based on a 19th century text by Fiodor Dostoiewski that relocates the condemnation of Christ to the 17th century, and the moving score is accordingly complex and rich in quotations.

It is preceeded in tonight’s concert by a tribute to Zimmermann’s art: in memory of the great teacher, York Höller wrote his Viola Concerto for performance by iconic viola player Tabea Zimmermann, who played the solo part in the 2018 premiere.