Postponed: Reflektor Max Richter

Max Richter is the second »Reflektor« artist this season to be given the keys to the concert hall for a few days. The composer, pianist and music producer is fêted by a huge community of fans all over the world for his minimalistic soundscapes and his deliberately reduced, trance-like piano pieces. Moreover, Richter is an exceptionally creative musician who works together with artists from practically every sphere, from film directors to ballet. He has invited a whole number of musicians he is friends with to appear at his Elbphilharmonie weekend.

Max Richter's aim is to merge colours, sounds and feelings into a synaesthetic experience. He is one of the hippest and most productive figures on today's music scene, and his artistic cosmos lies somewhere between amazing simplicity and absolutely perfection.

Max Richter is a traveller between worlds: his music works as well on the synthesizer as it does with a symphony orchestra; it evolves its magnetic attraction in clubs and concert halls alike, and electrifies both classical-music lovers and pop fans. In his works Richter superimposes celestial ambient string sounds,  minimal and progressive rock over revolving patterns. »His music sounds as if it is striving to reach a place beyond the confines of the mortal world«, writes the New Yorker.

The exchange with artists from all genres is essential to the art of the British composer, who was born in the German town of Hameln. He has recorded minimal music by Arvo Pärt and Brian Eno, and has worked together with the electronica collective Future Sound of London and the drum-&-bass crew Reprazent. Leading dance companies such as the Mariinski and the New York City Ballet develop choreographies to his soundscapes. Countless film and television productions bear his signature, among them the award-winning cartoon film »Waltz with Bashir« and the American TV series »The Leftovers«.

On Richter's album »The Blue Notebooks«, voted one of the Best Classical Works of the 21st Century by the Guardian, actress Tilda Swinton reads from the diaries of Franz Kafka. And his eight-hour-long programme »Sleep« rocked listeners all over the world gently to sleep, from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw to the Sydney Opera. In the Elbphilharmonie Max Richter is now given carte blanche to present his art in all its different facets. During his »Reflektor« festival, the Elbphilharmonie complex will be transformed into a playground for him and his famous guests and friends,from the Grand Hall to the Kaistudios.