Concert information
Info
The String Quintet in F major is the only major chamber music work by Anton Bruckner, whose 200th birthday will be celebrated in 2024. The Philharmonic String Quartet and Amihai Grosz, principal violist of the Berliner Philharmoniker, present the piece in this concert. The evening will open with Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Second String Quartet, which has a distinctive Viennese lilt. A constant in this season’s Philharmonic Chamber Music concerts is the music of our composer in residence Wolfgang Rihm. Here you can hear his dark, finely-spun Grave, written in memory of violist Thomas Kakuska.
Artists
Philharmonisches Streichquartett:
Dorian Xhoxhi violin
Helena Madoka Berg violin
Tobias Reifland viola
Christoph Heesch cello
Amihai Grosz viola
Programme
Wolfgang Rihm
Grave for string quartet
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
String Quartet No. 2 in E flat major, op. 26
Interval
Anton Bruckner
String Quintet in F major
Amihai Grosz viola
Chamber Music Hall
11 to 29 €
Introduction
19:30
Series Q: Philharmonic Chamber Music
“Music is always human”
Composer in Residence Wolfgang Rihm in conversation
The high-flyer
Erich Wolfgang Korngold and the Berliner Philharmoniker
When the Berliner Philharmoniker performed a work by Erich Wolfgang Korngold for the first time, the Jewish composer was still a teenager. He enjoyed a triumphant career in Europe, especially as an opera composer. This came to an abrupt end when the Nazi regime came to power. But Korngold’s career was not over ...
Biographies
The Philharmonic String Quartet
As representatives of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s young generation, the Philharmonic String Quartet sees itself as cosmopolitan, versatile and artistically passionate. Founded in 2018, the ensemble aims to continue the orchestra's tradition of presenting chamber music at the highest level. This means reflecting the sound and performance culture of the Berliner Philharmoniker in chamber music formations with dedication and a commitment to virtuosity.
The violinists are Helena Madoka Berg from Berlin and Dorian Xhoxhi from Tirana. The violist is Naoko Shimizu from Japan, who will be replaced in today’s concert by Tobias Reifland. The only non-Philharmoniker is Christoph Heesch, who has been acclaimed as one of the most promising cellists of his generation, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. The ensemble made its public debut in 2019 at a lunch concert at the Philharmonie Berlin. In March 2022, the quartet released its first recording with works by Josef Suk and Antonín Dvořák. It also regularly performs at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden. The string quartet’s repertoire, which ranges from classical to contemporary music, has won praise for its versatility. Accordingly, the ensemble has chosen a statement by Mozart as its motto: “... because we love to entertain ourselves with all kinds of masters - old and modern.”
Amihai Grosz
“Music is important to me because it makes me forget the real world,” says the long-established first principal viola of the Berliner Philharmoniker. “I experience a moment in which I am somewhere else, and generate an energy that I can share with others.” Grosz, who switched from the violin to the viola at the age of eleven, studied with David Chen at the Jerusalem Academy of Music, with Tabea Zimmermann at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin and with Haim Taub at the Keshet Eilon Music Centre. He received various scholarships and prizes, was a member of the Jerusalem Music Centre’s Young Musicians Group and played in the famous Jerusalem Quartet for many years.
Grosz joined the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2010, which he describes as jumping in at the deep end: “I didn’t know it, because I had never played in an orchestra before. And now to bring this wonderful music to life, with this strong sense of community - it’s magical. I am proud to be part of this orchestra. Because it’s an incredible force of nature.” Amihai Grosz is also a passionate chamber musician and soloist who has worked with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Tugan Sokhiev, Klaus Mäkelä, Daniel Barenboim and Sir Simon Rattle.
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