PICTURES

PROGRAMME

G. P. TELEMANN

(1681-1767)
Tafelmusik in D Min.
I. Andante – II.Vivace

III. Largo – IV. Allegro
 
J.S. BACH

(1685 - 1750)
Triosonate

 in E Flat Maj.
I. Senza segno – II. Adagio

III. Allegro
 
W. A. MOZART

(1756 - 1791)
Quartet in F Maj.

KV 370
I. Allegro – II. Adagio

III. Rondo (Allegro)
 
J.S. BACH

(1685 – 1750)
Symphony from the Easter Oratorio,

BWV 249

A. VIVALDI

(1678-1741)

Concerto in A Min.

F VIII n.2
I. Allegro ma moderato

II. Larghetto – III. Allegro

 
A. PASCULLI

(1842-1924)
Fantasia for English Horn and Strings

INFORMATION

DATE:
10 AUGUST 2005
 

TIME: 21,15

PLACE:
Courtyard of Honour, Torrechiara Castle

ENSEMBLE BERLIN
Music by W.A. Mozart, J.S. Bach, A. Vivaldi...

FESTIVAL DI TORRECHIARA 2005 - 2006

Christoph Hartmann, oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic as well as founder and leader of the outstanding Ensemble Berlin, already feels at home in our land. Three years ago he actually bought a small house in Piacenza Province to which he escapes with his wife and new baby as often as his musical commitments allow him to.
Christoph loves cycling and in the last few years he’s visited, obviously by bicycle, all the most artistically interesting places in the provinces of Parma and Piacenza. Two years ago he passed by Torrechiara and was enchanted by the beauty of the castle. “Frankly” – Christoph Hartmann told us – “it’s difficult not to be enchanted when confronted by a place of such extreme beauty. When my agent suggested we perform a concert with my ensemble at your castle, I accepted without hesitation, sight unseen”.
You are an excellent soloist and, simultaneously, an oboist in one of the world’s best orchestras, for some, the absolute best: the Berlin Philharmonic. How do you reconcile two such demanding roles?
“For a musician it’s very important to play both as a soloist and in chamber groups and orchestras. Playing with the “Berliner” means having the possibility to cultivate a very special sound and expressiveness. And these “secrets” are also useful when playing chamber music, a genre which, among other things, allows you to have fun together with colleagues or particular pieces for oboe which allow the musician’s personality to emerge, tackling the part and facing the public alone. These are avenues which make the life of a professional musician complete”.
Recently the Berlin Philharmonic has enjoyed unequalled success under the baton of Simon Rattle in Berlin, inducing a very special feeling in listeners.
“We get on extremely well with Maestro Rattle and this is the reason why we’ve been having such great success in recent months. In my opinion the greatest value Sir Simon has is that he loves conducting us “Berliners” and this is reciprocated absolutely. This mutual love creates a magic which grows from concert to concert. Personally, I’m really pleased to have Rattle as conductor. We’re very lucky to have the best conductors in the world come to Berlin to conduct us. It’s not elegant to make comparisons but I can say that I loved Claudio Abbado’s style, for the many incomparable sounds”.
And what do you think of Riccardo Muti?
“Muti is the only great conductor not to have come to Berlin in the last 10 years, and I miss that. The last time he conducted us he came down among the musicians and played with us. I really hope that in the future he’ll be able to return to conduct us. We have extremely fond memories of him”.
 

Ensemble Berlin

The Ensemble Berlin originates from 1999 as the initiative of a group of soloists from the great German orchestra. The debut takes place at the Landsberger Sommermusiken, a summer music festival created and run even today by the same musicians of the ensemble and which regularly hosts some of the best German and European chamber groups.
The Ensemble Berlin is an open and flexible group which can include strings, wind and sometimes piano, so that it’s possible to make numerous configurations, reflecting the vast chamber repertory from the classical period on.
Once the Landsberger Sommermusiken had found great success with the public and critics alike the musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic decided to perform as Ensemble Berlin outside the framework of the festival. Thus, from 1999 to the present the ensemble has performed numerous concerts, appearing at the most important European festivals and concert halls.

The group’s repertory, given the flexibility and excellent technical skills of the musicians, is as broad as it is possible to imagine or predict and, in addition to the classical and baroque chamber repertory it includes arrangements, instrumental pot-pourris, romantic parlour music, 19th century divertissements on operatic themes, reuniting themselves with the abundant and rich tradition of salon opera so prevalent in the XIX century.
Last spring the Ensemble Berlin recorded its first CD with very effective transcriptions of two great classics in the history of music: a nonet version of Franz Schubert’s “Wanderphantasie” and a quintet wind version of Giuseppe Verdi’s string quartet.

Andrej Bielow, Veronika Passin: violin
Micha Afkham: viola - Clemens Weigel: cello
Ullrich Wolff: double bass - Christoph Hartmann: oboe, english horn
Marion Reinhard: bassoon

Translation by Sarah J Hyde - www.thelanguage.biz
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