Status: 02.10.2023, 09:11 a.m.
By: Alma Bucher
CommentsShare
The new program has been decided and it can be seen - and above all heard: Andreas Dessauer, 1st chairman of the Friends of the Tutzing Brahms Days, artistic director Manuela Schotter and Elisabeth Carr from the Kunsträume am See. © Alma Bucher
Tutzing – The renowned Tutzing Brahms Festival is considered a pearl among German classical music festivals and will be held from 8 to 26 October this festival year. Because, exactly 150 years ago, Johannes Brahms spent the summer in Tutzing. In cooperation with the KunstRäume am See, five concerts are on the multifaceted programme: a chamber music evening, a song recital, a crossover concert, organ improvisations in the church and, for the first time, a family concert.
The main venue of the top-class concert cycle is traditionally the Tutzing Castle, seat of the renowned Protestant Academy, with its unique ambience and romantic park directly on Lake Starnberg. Johannes Brahms spent a summer in Tutzing exactly 150 years ago. In 1873 he was inspired to compose by the beautiful landscape of Lake Starnberg. Among other things, he wrote the famous Haydn Variations op. 56. On the occasion of this anniversary of his stay, the Tutzing Brahms Festival invites you to take a music-historical-literary walk to Brahms' favourite places on 15 October. It will be led by Thomas H. Zagel, the event is free of charge. Registration at kontakt@kunstraeume-am-see.de
The music festival will open on 8 October with the internationally acclaimed Mandelring Quartet. For Brahms' string quartets, the four chamber musicians are considered specialists. Sebastian Schmidt (violin), Nanette Schmidt (violin), Andreas Wilwohl (viola) and Bernhardt Schmidt (violoncello) play works by Joseph Haydn, Leoš Janáek and Johannes Brahms in the ballroom of the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing. "Luxurious poetry of sound". This is what the leading Spanish cultural magazine Scherzo wrote in 2021 after a concert by the Mandelring Quartet in Madrid.
Family Concert & "Brahms meets Jazz"
A novelty is the family concert for children and accompanying adults on October 15 under the direction of violist Pamela Kremer in the Roncalli House of the Catholic Church of St. Joseph. Pamela Kremer and her ensemble will present selected works by Brahms in a playfully varied way with cheerful and exciting explanations and explore questions such as "Who was this famous composer?" or "What do the most famous works by Brahms sound like?" Seat cushions should be brought to the hands-on concert!
On October 20, church musician Werner Zuber will perform organ improvisations "as a sound performance" in the Catholic Church of St. Joseph. The speaker is the actor and prominent BR speaker Peter Weiß. The Tutzing organ from Sandtner is ideally suited for this new Klangrausch project. Its swell was specially designed for romantic sound design.
Tatort actor Udo Wachtveitl is coming
Classical music fans can look forward to a recital with internationally renowned baritone Christoph Pohl and the multi-award-winning Tobias Krampen at the piano on 22 October. "Die schöne Magelone" op. 33. This famous song cycle by Brahms consists of 15 romances and deals with an old Provençal love story from the 15th century. The narrator is Tatort actor Udo Wachtveitl.
Jazz improvisations and classical music merge
At the end of the festival on 26 October, the motto will once again be "Brahms meets Jazz". The best of both musical worlds is to be combined to create a congenial, new sound experience. In the auditorium of the Tutzing Gymnasium, the renowned Diogenes String Quartet with their long-time chamber music partner Andreas Kirpal on the piano and the quartet of the internationally renowned jazz violinist Max Grosch will play. Jazz and classical music fans alike can look forward to breathtaking jazz improvisations combined with classical music.
In memory of Brahms' Tutzing years, the world-famous pianist Elly Ney, also from Tutzing, founded the "Tutzing Music Days" in 1958. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the composer's death, the first Tutzing Brahms Days took place in October 1997. Opera stars such as Jonas Kaufmann, Hermann Prey, Christian Gerhaher, Michael Volle and Franz Hawlata as well as outstanding musicians have performed here and interpreted works by Brahms and other composers.
"Tutzing is far more beautiful than we could have imagined," wrote Johannes Brahms when he spent the summer of 1873 from May to early September on Lake Starnberg. "We have just had a magnificent thunderstorm; the lake was almost black, wonderfully green on the shores, usually it is blue, but more beautiful, deep blue than the sky, plus the chain of snow-capped mountains - you can't get enough of it."
Secure your cards and enjoy music
The organizer of the Tutzing Brahms Festival is the Circle of Friends of the same name based in Tutzing in cooperation with the KunstRäume am See of cultural designer Elisabeth Carr. The concert cycle on Lake Starnberg in Upper Bavaria attracts fans from near and far every autumn. The Friends of the Tutzing Brahms Festival currently has around 160 members.
For more information, program and ticket prices, please www.tutzinger-brahmstage.de
