2. Internationales Musikfest Hamburg
Liberty, equality, fraternity: the ideals of the French revolution were Beethoven’s as well. Even when his hopes for a political implementation of these ideals were diminished by Napoleon‘s self-coronation as emperor, his vision stayed strong. It is clearly expressed in his String Quartet in F minor, here in the arrangement for string ensemble.
100 years later, Schönberg directly refers to Beethoven and the Marseillaise in his »Ode to Napoleon«. A poem of praise for Napoleon here becomes an acerbic commentary on world politics during the Second World War, a fiery speech to end all barbarism.
Finally, Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, faced with the upheavals of the 20th century, composed a highly virtuos violin concert that lets the hope for a better world shine as a »light in the distance«.
Ensemble Resonanz
Stefan Litwin piano
David Moss narrator
Alina Ibragimova violin and musical direction
Hanns Eisler / Tobias Schwencke
Zwei deutsche Hymnen für Streichquartett, Sprecher und Klavier
Arnold Schönberg
Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte op. 41 für Streichquartett, Klavier und Sprecher
Ludwig van Beethoven
Streichquartett f-Moll op. 95 / Bearbeitung für Streichorchester von Gustav Mahler
Pēteris Vasks
Konzert für Violine und Orchester »Distant Light«
2nd Hamburg International Music Festival
Promoter: Ensemble Resonanz