September 18, 2025 • 4:48 am Comments Off on Opening Night at Boulez Saal in Berlin
I reviewed opening night with Christian Tetzlaff and Leif Ove Andsnes at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal for The Strad:
In his famously mischievous binary, Ned Rorem asserted that ‘the entire solar system is torn between two aesthetics: French and German’ – with the kicker: ‘If you agree with all this, you’re French. If you disagree, you’re German’. …
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Filed under: Brahms, Maurice Ravel, Mozart, pianists, Pierre Boulez Saal, reviews, The Strad, violinists
April 27, 2025 • 9:14 am 2
My essay for the recital by Leonidas Kavakos and Enrico Pace at the Pierre Boulez Saal on 29 April is here.
Complete program:
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major Op. 47 “Kreutzer”
Richard Dubugnon: La minute exquise; Hypnos; Retour à Montfort-l’Amaury
Franz Schubert: Fantasy for Violin and Piano in C major D 934
The program that Leonidas Kavakos and Enrico Pace bring to the Pierre Boulez Saal offers three perspectives on the violin–piano duo, from the fire and drama of Ludwig van Beethoven to the rhapsodic lyricism of Franz Schubert—with a contemporary interlude of enigmatic, nocturnal miniatures by the Swiss-French composer Richard Dubugnon….
Filed under: Beethoven, chamber music, Pierre Boulez Saal, Schubert, violinists
March 18, 2025 • 12:21 am Comments Off on Pierre Boulez Tribute at Boulez-Saal
Here is my essay on the JACK Quartet’s 20 March program at the Boulez-Saal in Berlin in honor of the Pierre Boulez centenary.
When they initially met as participants in the Lucerne Festival Academy, the members of the JACK Quartet forged a connection with Pierre Boulez, the Academy’s founder, that left a lasting impression. Tonight’s program pays homage to their mentor by juxtaposing excerpts from his landmark Livre pour quatuor with works that resonate with the excitement and idealism that the young Boulez channeled into this radical reimagining of the string quartet.
Filed under: JACK Quartet, Pierre Boulez, Pierre Boulez Saal
September 23, 2024 • 2:59 pm Comments Off on “‘Scheherazade: A Tale” by Ensemble K
Simone Menezes and her adventurous Ensemble K have created a concert project using a new chamber arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade music, into which are woven excerpts from One Thousand and One Nights, ancient love poetry, and newly written dialogue to provide a contemporary look at the legendary character.
Boulez Saal in Berlin is presenting the live performance premiere on 26 September, in cooperation with Cartier.
I interviewed Simone Menezes and translator Yasmine Searle for the program book. The project has also been released as an album — more info here.
Filed under: Pierre Boulez Saal
September 13, 2024 • 12:02 am Comments Off on Happy 150th Birthday, Arnold Schoenberg!
In Vienna’s Leopoldstadt, 150 years ago today, was born one of the 20th century’s defining figures, Arnold Schoenberg. The Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin is paying homage with an all-Schoenberg program this evening by the Boulez Ensemble, with Zubin Mehta conducting the Chamber Symphony, Op. 9, and Pierre lunaire (with Mojca Erdmann as the “reciter”) — the latter having been first performed in 1912 just a few km from the Boulez Saal.
Here’s my program essay (you can find my colleague Wolfgang Stähr’s excellent contribution in German here):
It was exactly 150 years ago, on September 13, that Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg was born in Vienna. (His birthday fell on a Sunday in 1874, though the triskaidekaphobia-stricken composer did die on Friday 13th nearly 77 years later.) Yet even from this distance in time, Schoenberg’s name continues to strike its own superstitious fear among those conditioned to reject his music even without listening to it.
Filed under: music history, Pierre Boulez Saal, Schoenberg
March 6, 2024 • 5:17 pm Comments Off on Arditti Quartet at 50
Thursday marks the 50th anniversary to the day that Irvine Arditti and his colleagues gave their first concert. The Arditti Quartet would go on to become one of the leading advocates for new chamber music — from Ligeti, Xenakis, and Stockhausen (including the Helicopter Quartet) to their latest commissions from Toshio Hosokawa and Cathy Milliken.
My program text for the official 50th-anniversary concert at the Pierre Boulez Saal can be found here.
The program:
Jonathan Harvey (1939–2012)
String Quartet No. 1 (1977)
Cathy Milliken
In Speak for String Quartet (2023) world premiere
Toshio Hosokawa (*1955)
Oreksis for Piano Quintet (2023) world premiere
Intermission
Harrison Birtwistle (1934–2022)
The Tree of Strings for String Quartet (2007)
Filed under: Arditti Quartet, chamber music, Pierre Boulez Saal
December 26, 2023 • 8:37 pm Comments Off on Diving into the World of Bach with András Schiff
I had the pleasure of writing the program essay for Sir András Schiff’s series of recitals devoted to the keyboard works of J.S. Bach currently under way at the Boulez Saal in Berlin.
Boulez Saal is publishing lots of terrific content on its digital platform. The selection of exclusive video productions includes introductory talks (free access) as well as performances (with a membership) by the celebrated pianist.
Filed under: András Schiff, Bach, Pierre Boulez Saal
May 10, 2023 • 2:36 am Comments Off on Thibaudet and the Colburn Ensemble in Berlin
Jean-Yves Thibaudet and an ensemble from the Colburn School perform a chamber program this evening at Boulez-Saal in Berlin.
Frank Gehry, architect of Boulez-Saal and a friend of Daniel Barenboim, has also designed a 100,000 square-foot expansion of the Colburn School campus in downtown LA, including a 1,000-seat, in-the-round performance space, a studio theater, dance studios, and public gardens and green spaces. Reuniting with Gehry for that project is another name familiar to Berliners: Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics, who served as acoustician for Boulez-Saal (along with other Gehry buildings, including Disney Concert Hall). The new Colburn performance hall, expected to open to the public in 2025, will have parallels with Boulez-Saal.
I wrote about tonight’s program here.
Filed under: architecture, chamber music, music news, Pierre Boulez Saal
February 16, 2023 • 10:05 am Comments Off on Benefit Concert for Earthquake Victims
Students and alumni of the Barenboim-Said Akademie, among whom are a number of musicians from Türkiye and Syria, initiated a benefit concert to be held on Monday, February 20, 7.30pm in collaboration with the Pierre Boulez Saal. Focusing on the theme “2Home,” the concert will contribute to efforts aiding those affected by the massive earthquake in these two countries.
The program includes works of Western classical music as well as compositions from the Middle East, especially from Türkiye and Syria.perform at the Pierre Boulez Saal on February 20.
In addition to the concert at the Pierre Boulez Saal on Monday, February 20, there will be three smaller concerts in the foyer of the Barenboim-Said Akademie on February 16, 17, and 18, each at 4pm. Admission to the foyer concerts is free; donations are welcome. Proceeds from all four concerts will go to the Earthquake Relief Fund of the German Red Cross. Call +49 30 4799 7411 for tickets.
Filed under: music news, Pierre Boulez Saal
February 8, 2023 • 9:38 am Comments Off on West-Eastern Divan Ensemble Tonight in Berlin
On the agenda at the Boulez-Saal in Berlin tonight is this program by the West-Eastern Divan Ensemble. It’s an interesting mix of Jörg Widmann, Dvořák, Hindemith, and Enescu. My program notes here.
Filed under: chamber music, Pierre Boulez Saal
Arts & Culture Stories from NPR
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 