International Mendelssohn Festival 2024

Verdi / Liszt / Schumann / Mendelssohn

This concert has already taken place! 11 | 29 | 42 | 55
This concert has already taken place! 11 | 29 | 42 | 55
Cyprien Katsaris
Cyprien Katsaris © Carole Bellaieche
Fine Arts Quartet
Fine Arts Quartet © Emanuel Schmidt
  • Doors open 18:30

  • Start 19:30

  • Interval

  • End ca. 21:30

A gimmick. Clear the stage!

The great opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, who opens this concert evening, called his only string quartet »a gimmick«. Legend has it that he composed his quartet purely as a pastime, as rehearsals for performances of his »Aida« in Naples had come to a standstill. As so often, Verdi was understating the case. The French-Cypriot pianist Cyprien Katsaris continues the gimmick with a spontaneous improvisation on Verdi’s operatic themes. In the rest of the programme, Katsaris plays romances, songs and fantasies by Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Liszt. Cyprien Katsaris is a piano virtuoso with a very special affinity for Liszt and has contributed greatly to a new view of Liszt’s piano works throughout his life. In 2023, he received the Franz Liszt Prize of Honour, awarded by the Klassik Stiftung Weimar and the Neue Liszt Stiftung.

Performers

Fine Arts Quartet

Ralph Evans violin
Efim Boico violin
Gil Sharon viola
Niklas Schmidt violoncello

Cyprien Katsaris piano

Programme

Giuseppe Verdi
String Quartet in E minor

Cyprien Katsaris
Improvisation on operatic themes by Verdi

– Interval –

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Gondellied in A major

Ferdinand David / Franz Liszt
Gondellied / from: Bunte Reihe, 24 Pieces for Violin and Piano by Ferdinand David
Impromptu / from: Bunte Reihe, 24 Pieces for Violin and Piano by Ferdinand David

Robert Schumann
Fröhlicher Landmann, von der Arbeit zurückkehrend / from: Album for the Young, Op. 68
Soldatenmarsch / from: Album für die Jugend, Op. 68

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Six Kinderstücke, Op. 72/1

Ferdinand David / Franz Liszt
Kinderlied / from: Bunte Reihe, 24 Pieces for Violin and Piano by Ferdinand David
Scherzo / from: Bunte Reihe, 24 Pieces for Violin and Piano by Ferdinand David

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Scherzo in E minor / from: Trois Fantaisies ou Caprices, Op. 16

Ferdinand David / Franz Liszt
Romanze / from: Bunte Reihe, 24 Pieces for Violin and Piano by Ferdinand David

Robert Schumann
Romance in F-sharp minor / from: Three Romances, Op. 28

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Songs Without Words in A major, Op. 62/6 »Spring Song«

Fanny Hensel
Allegro moderato, Op. 8/1 / Four Songs Without Words

Ferdinand David / Franz Liszt
Ungarisch / from: Bunte Reihe, 24 Pieces for Violin and Piano by Ferdinand David

Franz Liszt
Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Melodies for Piano and Orchestra, S 123 / Adaptation for Solo Piano by Hans von Bülow / Cyprien Katsaris

as well as works by Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann

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International Mendelssohn Festival

Promoter: International Mendelssohn Festival c/o Niklas Schmidt

During your visit

Elbphilharmonie Plaza

A public viewing platform on the 8th floor of the Elbphilharmonie

More about the Plaza

Food and Drink

Before the concert and in the interval

Find out more

Coughing, clapping, chatting

Tips for your concert visit

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