Hamburger Camerata / Grofmeier / Weber

Hamburg composer Johannes Brahms adored the grand pianos of the French piano manufacturer Sébastien Érard, which in a series of concerts the Érard Society will be staging for the fifth time in an Érard Festival to make a larger audience familiar with Érard’s instruments.

Érard grand pianos with their unique sound qualities were built between 1784 and 1959. An Érard grand, which Brahms demanded for a concert given in Hamburg in 1859 that was then refused to him by the local concert agency, shall now be dedicated solely to the composer himself. In this concert Brahms’ music will be presented in three different shades: for once the audience will be presented the late piano pieces performed on an Érard grand from 1857, followed by the premiere of his clarinet sonata in the guise of a chamber symphony for solo clarinet and chamber orchestra and as a third highlight the piano quintet arranged for string orchestra and piano.

Hamburg pianist Mathias Weber, himself an Érard enthusiast and the artistic core of the Érard Festival, has been celebrated in his various performances both in this country and abroad. In the upcoming concert Mathias Weber will not only perform on the piano but also present his arrangements of a choice of Brahms’ works.

The Hamburg Camerata, inspiring musical events in Hamburg for over 30 years and particularly acknowledged for their versatility in terms of the soloist faculties of their musicians, will certainly enrich this special Brahms matinée in co-operation with Mathias Weber.