A portrait series of five concerts was dedicated to the adventurous violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja in the Elbphilharmonie’s 2020/21 season – and each of those concerts could not have been more different. Despite the difficult circumstances, she was able either to perform the concerts in front of a small audience or to present them now in parts at the end of the season as streams. The grand finale of her residency was the concert film »Phantasmagoria«, which she recorded with the clarinettist Reto Bieri.
In her Elbphilharmonie Talk with spokesman Tom R. Schulz, she discusses the story behind this production, her collaboration with Reto Bieri and what motivates her as an artist to keep thinking in new and different ways – even beyond life itself.
Patricia Kopatchinskaja
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About Patricia Kopatchinskaja
The Moldovan-born musician Patricia Kopatchinskaja is one of the world’s most brilliant violinists, »a player of rare expressive energy and disarming informality, of whimsy and theatrical ambition« (New York Times). With great versatility and appetite for discovery, she performs a repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to premieres of contemporary works. She has also taken on vocal roles such as Schönberg’s »Pierrot Lunaire« (performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, among other ensembles) and Kurt Schwitter’s Dadaistic Ursonate, a recording of which can be viewed as part of the digital Music Festival.
Kopatchinskaja performs with renowned orchestras and conductors around the world. She has given numerous concerts in Hamburg in recent years, including with Teodor Currentzis’ MusicAeterna Orchestra, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the SWR Symphonieorchester and Camerata Bern. Her goal, above all, is to make music come alive in new ways through innovative approaches and unfamiliar contexts. The 2016 project »Bye Bye Beethoven« with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra here in Hamburg was a response to what she saw as the ossified concert business, and the »Dies irae« project at the 2017 Lucerne Festival addressed the intensifying environmental crisis. Kopatchinskaja is the Artist in Residence with the SWR Symphonieorchester this season, and residencies with the Bamberg Symphony, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and at the Southbank Centre in London and the Alte Oper in Frankfurt will follow over the next few years.
Her »Death and the Maiden« project with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra from the USA toured the world and won a Grammy. With Camerata Bern, she has also realised the projects »War and Chips« and »Maria Mater Meretrix«, a musical journey through women’s lives with Anna Prohaska.
The interview was recorded on May 27th 2021.
