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Strange Scenes – The Music of Wolfgang Rihm III

19th March 2020 @ 6:00 pm

We cordially invite you to the final concert of the “Strange Scenes” Music Festival on March 19, 2020.

The German Consulate General Co-Presents:

In the fall of 2019, a collective of various New York City-based performing arts groups joined forces to present the Strange Scenes Festival, a celebration designed to provide a multifaceted immersion into the musical world of German composer Wolfgang Rihm. The festival takes its title from Rihm’s piano trio Fremde Szenen, performed during the festival, and alludes to the composer’s frequent inspiration by literary fragments from the Romantic period. This final concert will showcase his particular penchant for the ideas in the works of Robert and Clara Schumann, and will include a selection of vocal and instrumental chamber works.

Perhaps the most influential German composer of our time, Wolfgang Rihm (b. 1952) has been championed by luminaries of the classical music world. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has commissioned works from him, and so have both the New York and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, amongst others. Rihm is equally revered by cutting-edge New Music ensembles, leading to a prolific output that lists over 400 works. More than any other composer of our time, he has bridged the gap between the avant-garde and general audiences, and has been embraced by both.

Rihm may be one of the most knowledgeable musicians around – not only on music, but on literature, history, art, philosophy – and he has put the human experience at the center of his work. In a time when Romanticism seems dated and out of place, he insists that even the newest sounds ought to express human feelings, and can do so in ways more relevant to today’s audiences’ needs. His music is bold, all-embracing, irreverent, and encyclopedic.

New York City has heard sporadic samples of Rihm’s work over the years, including the New York Philharmonic’s premiere of Two Other Movements in 2004, and a composer portrait at the Miller Theater in 2007. But by and large, Rihm is underrepresented in the Big Apple’s musical life. In a city,obsessed with time and with being on the cutting edge, his musical insistence on the possibility of a different kind of modern life centered on the human experience could resonate profoundly.

Instrumental and vocal chamber music to be performed by Rihm and Schumann.

  • Hannah Harnest – piano
  • Sophie Delphis – mezzo soprano
  • Abigel Kralik – violin
  • Julian Schwarz – cello

Location and time:
German Consulate General
Otto-Carl-Kiep Auditorium
871 United Nations Plaza
Thursday, March 19, 2020 at 6:00 PM

Please register here: strangescenes3

Organizer

German Consulate General New York

Venue

Consulate of Germany in New York
871 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017 United States
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