Internationales Musikfest Hamburg

With its choice of motto, the Music Festival is responding once more to current social and political developments. After all, hope, the  unwavering belief in a better future, is probably one of the strongest human traits. And in a time of such global challenges as the climate change or the Corona pandemic, hope seems more necessary than ever.

By the same token, music history is full of examples of unbroken, determined optimism: Beethoven for instance, in whose Fifth Symphony we can hear clearly how he wanted to »grab Fate by the throat« as a response to his encroaching deafness. Or Handel, who clothed the liberation of Israel from Egyptian captivity, including the parting of the Red Sea, in opulent tones.
And the character of medieval legend Genoveva, whom Schumann made the eponymous heroine of his only opera, defends herself staunchly against insults to her honour, and hopes for a happy end. But one shouldn't always expect things to turn out well.

As Porgy and Bess, the tragic heroes of Gershwin's jazz opera of the same name, know only too well. The semi-scenic performance under the baton of NDR chief conductor Alan Gilbert follows in the footsteps of spectacular Music Festival productions like »Le Grand Macabre«. On the other hand, Hamburg people are well aware from the history of building the Elbphilharmonie that hope springs eternal…