NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / NDR Vokalensemble / Manfred Honeck
Mozart / Haydn
Mozart and death
»I never go to bed without thinking that I may not (however young I may be) rise to see another day«, wrote Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in a letter to his mortally ill father. For the composer, the ubiquity of death made life seem all the more fragile and precious. Perhaps it is this insight that shimmers through in Mozart’s Requiem, conjuring that transcendental beauty.
Conductor Manfred Honeck has been fascinated with Mozart’s final work for years. In his project »A Requiem – Mozart and Death in Words and Music«, the multi-award-winner and long-standing friend of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra conducts the unfinished work up to the point at which Mozart left it when he died. Honeck leaves out the completion that is normally performed, and instead supplements the music with text fragments from evocative Biblical passages, letters by the composer and poems – as well as with other musical works.
In Honeck’s home region of Vorarlberg in Austria, the performances on Good Friday have long achieved cult status. In Hamburg, the conductor is joined by a top-class cast of soloists, the Latvian Radio Choir and the NDR Vokalensemble, as well as the well-known actor Matthias Brandt as narrator. The programme for the evening also features two other works composed in 1791, the year of Mozart’s death: the Overture to Mozart’s opera »La clemenza di Tito« and one of Joseph Haydn’s »London Symphonies«, Symphony No. 93 in D Major.
Performers
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
NDR Vokalensemble
Chor des Lettischen Rundfunks
Katharina Konradi soprano
Catriona Morison mezzo-soprano
Martin Mitterrutzner tenor
Tareq Nazmi bass
Matthias Brandt narrator
conductor Manfred Honeck
Programme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ouvertüre zu »La clemenza di Tito« KV 621
Joseph Haydn
Sinfonie D-Dur Hob. I:93 »Glocken-Sinfonie«
– Interval –
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ein Requiem – Mozart und der Tod in Wort und Musik
Pre-Concert Talk (in German)
19:00 / Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal
Estimated end time
22:15
Promoter: NDR
Location
:
Elbphilharmonie
Großer Saal
Heart of the Elbphilharmonie: the Grand Hall seats 2,100 guests in the »vineyard« style. The stage for artists and orchestras is situated at the centre of the concert hall and is surrounded by terraced seating.
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Arrival time
The Elbphilharmonie is a special building situated in a special place. Allow for plenty of time for getting to the Elbphilharmonie and the way to the concert area. We suggest visitors arrive at the Elbphilharmonie Plaza not later than 30 minutes before the start of the concert or event. Late seating is not guaranteed and latecomers may not be admitted to the concert hall.
Concert tickets for the Grand and Recital Halls authorise a visit to the Plaza from two hours before the start of the concert or event. Visitors to the Kaistudios require a separate Plaza ticket to visit the Plaza.
Admission times:
Events without pre-concert talk:
Grand Hall Foyer: 60 minutes before the start of the event
Grand Hall: 30 minutes before the start of the eventEvents with pre-concert talk:
Grand Hall Foyer: 90 minutes before the start of the event
Grand Hall: 15 minutes before the start of the talkIf a pre-concert talk is offered for this event, it is noted above under PROGRAMME.
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Finding your seat
All visitors enter the building via the main entrance. Admission takes place in the entrance foyer and is by concert ticket only. The »Tube«, an 82-metre-long, curved escalator, leads visitors up to the Plaza following admission.
From the Plaza, access to the concert foyers is via stairs and lifts. The main cloakroom is situated on the 11th floor and the hall entrances are on floors 12, 13, 15 and 16. Please follow signs to the area in which your designated seat is located, as indicated on your ticket.
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Seat preview
Are you curious to find out what kind of view of the stage different seats have? To help select your favourite seat, use your mouse to activate the representative seat views.
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Cloakroom
Walking-stick umbrellas, handbags sized A3 (42 cm x 30 cm) or above, sport bags, backpacks, luggage and other bulky items must be checked in at the cloakroom. Wheeled walkers may be stored at the hall entrances. Prams can be left with the service personnel on the Plaza. There are additional lockers in the corridor leading to the ticket shop/box office on the ground floor/entrance area.
Jackets or coats and small handbags may be taken into the hall.
Cloakroom fee: €2
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Coughing, clapping, chatting – Recommendations for sensitive acoustics
A concert at the Elbphilharmonie is a unique experience for both audience and artists. Guests and musicians alike rave about the precise acoustics in the Grand Hall. You can hear every note, even from the highest balcony.
Unfortunately, the opposite is also true: even presumably quiet noises from the audience are clearly audible in the entire hall. We therefore ask our visitors to take the following recommendations into consideration, because »Everything Can Be Heard Here«.
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Getting here
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
Platz der Deutschen Einheit
20457 HamburgThe Elbphilharmonie can be easily reached by bus, underground, bicycle and ferry.
The nearest stops include:
Underground line U3: Baumwall
Underground line U4: Überseequartier
Bus 2, 111: Am Kaiserkai (Elbphilharmonie)
Bus 6: Auf dem Sande (Speicherstadt)
Ferry 72 (from Landungsbrücken pier): »Elbphilharmonie« pier
StadtRAD (bicycle sharing system) stations: U Baumwall (Elbphilharmonie) and Am Kaiserkai / Großer GrasbrookMultistorey car park in the Elbphilharmonie (open 24/7, 435 parking spaces):
Please note that visitors to the Elbphilharmonie should use the entrance marked »Elbphilharmonie«. The entrance »Elbphilharmonie Hotel« is reserved for »The Westin Hamburg« hotel guests.Please find more information about prices and advance booking of the discounted flat rate on this page: arrival by car
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Accessibility
All halls and spaces are accessible for visitors with disabilities. More information at www.elbphilharmonie.de/en/accessibility.
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Photography and video recordings
It is forbidden to take photographs or record videos during a concert or event. Video recordings and photography are permitted for private purposes only on the Plaza and in the foyers as well as before the start or following an event in the concert hall, provided that you respect the privacy of other visitors and do not interfere with regular business operations. Employees may not be photographed or filmed.
Photography, audio or video recordings of concerts and events are strictly prohibited.
Event-related video recordings or photographs for editorial or commercial purposes must be authorised by the Press Office of the Elbphilharmonie.

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