Elbphilharmonie Summer from 14 to 30 August

Hamburg, 28 March 2023: In August, »Elbphilharmonie Summer« is once again serving up a refreshing and genre-transcending programme. Great symphony orchestras will be appearing, among them two of Europe’s leading youth ensembles: the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the European Union Youth Orchestra. The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra is performing in the Elbphilharmonie at the end of August – the unique orchestra consists of members of European and Ukrainian ensembles, among them numerous refugees from the concert and opera orchestras of Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and Odessa. Jazz icon Abdullah Ibrahim will be playing a solo-piano-concert in the Grand Hall. The legendary vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke and his band present style-defining »Ethio-jazz«. There is a screening of the silent film »The Merry Widow«, an adaptation of Franz Lehár’s operetta »Die lustige Witwe«, to which Ensemble Resonanz performs a new soundtrack live. The Flemish a-cappella vocal ensemble Graindelavoix sings a spectacularly interwoven twelve-voice Renaissance mass. Tickets are available now at www.elbphilharmonie.de

Even after the countless Beethoven concerts the master pianist Rudolf Buchbinder has given around the world, the 76-year-old is far from finished with the composer. »I always read even the works I’ve performed hundreds of times as if they were new,« says Buchbinder. That includes the Piano Concerto No. 3, which he now explores anew with the Estonian Festival Orchestra under its founder Paavo Järvi. On the programme on 16 August: the debut of the great Romantic symphonist Tchaikovsky – his Symphony No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 13. The European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) has been embodying the musical spirit of Europe ever since it was founded by Claudio Abbado in 1976. The best young music talents from all EU countries are chosen in a rigorous selection process once a year. Under the conductor Manfred Honeck, the EUYO presents a challenging programme on 17 August, in which the acclaimed British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor shines with Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
The Czech maestro Jakub Hrůša is one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation. It was recently announced that he will be the new music director of the Royal Opera House in London. On 24 August, he joins the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, which was formed by Claudio Abbado, to perform Mahler’s final completed work: his Symphony No. 9 in D Major. On 25 August, Maxim Emelyanychev conducts the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The programme features three absolute classics of the repertoire: Mendelssohn’s »Hebrides« Overture, Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 in D Minor and Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4. The soloist is Alina Ibragimova, who enters into a very direct exchange with her audience both on historic and modern instruments. The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra consists of refugee musicians, Ukrainian members of European orchestras and some of the best artists from Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odessa and other Ukrainian cities. One of the orchestra’s founders is the Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, who also leads the orchestra. The Ukrainian violin virtuoso Valeriy Sokolov, one of the leading artists of his generation, is also performing. In the programme on 30 August, Verdi’s overture to his opera »La forza del destino« is followed by the Second Violin Concerto of the Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovych. The symphonic highlight of the guest performance is Beethoven’s timeless »Eroica«.

On 23 August, the »Godfather of Ethio-jazz« is coming to the Grand Hall, in cooperation with the Kampnagel International Summer Festival. In the vibrant music scene of Addis Ababa in the late 1960s, Mulatu Astatke fused various Afro and Latin American styles with elements of traditional Ethiopian music. »Ethio-jazz« has influenced generations of musicians, and appears on music soundtracks in films (Jim Jarmusch’s »Broken Flowers«) and as samples in songs by Nas & Damian Marley and Common. Abdullah Ibrahim is performing in the Elbphilharmonie on 26 August. Ibrahim has played with icons such as Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, and is also a globally acclaimed instrumentalist and composer in his own right. Nelson Mandela, at whose inauguration in 1994 he played, described him as »our Mozart«. His work »Mannenberg« became an anthem of the anti-apartheid movement.

On 20 August, talented young jazz musicians present a joint programme in the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall. They will have spent the previous week in the »Elbphilharmonie Jazz Academy« under the guidance of Anat Cohen, honing their musical signatures and working on compositions in group and individual sessions. Jazz greats such as Clarice Assad, Donny McCaslin and Sullivan Fortner provide support. A special film concert with live music: after the success of the joint project »Mercy Seat – Winterreise«, in which Schubert met the rock-bard Nick Cave, Ensemble Resonanz and the composer, arranger and pianist Tobias Schwencke turn their attention to another classic silent film on 14 August: »The Merry Widow« (1925), a free adaptation of Franz Léhar’s operetta »Die lustige Witwe«, directed by Erich von Stroheim.

The sensational vocal ensemble Graindelavoix is coming to the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall on 27 August. The Antwerp ensemble members blend various Mediterranean cultures and singing and improvisation techniques to create a visionary sound cosmos. Their expansive productions are causing quite a stir internationally. Graindelavoix now bring their latest project »Rolling Stone« to the Elbphilharmonie. In it they explore the question of what art and music can mean in times of catastrophe and crisis. Central to the project is Antoine Brumel’s famous twelve-voice mass »Et ecce terrae motus« from the early 16th century, a musical setting of the Biblical earthquake when Jesus’s tombstone was rolled away.

»Elbphilharmonie Summer« is supported by Porsche

Mo, 14 Aug, 20:00, Grand Hall
Ensemble Resonanz / Christoph Altstaedt
Silent film with live music: »The Merry Widow«

Wed, 16 Aug, 20:00, Grand Hall
Estonian Festival Orchestra / Rudolf Buchbinder / Paavo Järvi
Beethoven / Tschaikowsky

Thu, 17 Aug, 20:00, Grand Hall
European Union Youth Orchestra / Benjamin Grosvenor / Manfred Honeck
MacMillan / Prokofjew / Schostakowitsch

Sat, 20 Aug, 20:00, Grand Hall
Anat Cohen presents »Elbphilharmonie Jazz Academy«

Wed, 23 Aug, 20:00, Grand Hall
Mulatu Astatke & Band

Thu, 24 Aug, 20:00, Grand Hall
Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester / Jakub Hrůša
Mahler: Symphony No. 9

Fri, 25 Aug, 20:00, Grand Hall
Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Alina Ibragimova / Maxim Emelyanychev
Mendelssohn Bartholdy / Mozart / Schumann

Sat, 26 Aug, 20:00, Grand Hall
Abdullah Ibrahim

Sun, 27 Aug, 20:00, Grand Hall
Graindelavoix
»Rolling Stone«

Wed, 30 Aug, 20:00, Grand Hall
Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra / Valeriy Sokolov / Keri-Lynn Wilson
Verdi / Skoryk / Beethoven