Orchestra concert: A rollercoaster of emotions

With a refreshingly diverse program, the symphony orchestra and choir of the Bremen University of the Arts (HfK) invite you to a “rollercoaster of emotions” in the Great Hall of the Glocke on Tuesday, 11 June 2024, 7:30 pm.  

The evening will open with Prof. Martin Stadtfeld, who has chosen Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 (1881) for his inaugural concert with the orchestra. Stadtfeld: “I have loved this composition since my childhood. What a wealth of emotions it has in store for us! Exuberance, melancholy retrospection, joy. Everything is ingeniously arranged and linked together in a way that can only be found in the greatest works of art. It also demands a clear disposition from the interpreter - including the emotions - so that one can then entrust oneself to them unreservedly in the evening. I'm looking forward to it.” 

This is followed by Ludwig van Beethoven's cantata no. 112 “Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt” (1815). It describes the loneliness and helplessness at sea when there is no wind and the feeling of happiness when the wind blows again. “As a metaphor, everyone can identify with these two situations,” says the evening's conductor, Prof. Thomas Klug.

The finale will be Dmitri Shostakovich's Hamlet Suite op. 32a (1932). Prof. Thomas Klug: “The work is characterized by 13 short, seamless movements and for around 23 minutes our audience goes on a hunt, experiences a triumph, a funeral march, sings a lullaby with us and, and, and. The mood changes every three minutes!” 

Tickets for the concert are available from Nordwestticket, Eventim, Ticketmaster, at the Glocke and at the box office. 

As a taster for the concert in the Glocke, the symphony orchestra will play Dmitri Shostakovich's Hamlet Suite in the Open Space on the Domshof on June 9, 2024, probably from 17:30. 

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Concert with the symphony orchestra and university choir 
of the University of the Arts Bremen
Tuesday, June 11, 2024, 7:30 pm, Die Glocke

Soloist: Prof. Martin Stadtfeld, piano
Rehearsal choir: Rucsandra Popescu
Conductor: Prof. Thomas Klug

Program

•    Johannes Brahms: 2nd Piano Concerto in B flat major op. 83
•    Ludwig van Beethoven: Cantata No. 112 “Calm Sea and Happy Voyage”
•     Dmitri Shostakovich: Hamlet Suite op. 32a

Biographical information

Conductor Thomas Klug studied violin with Prof. Ramy Shevelov and Prof. Oscar Yatco at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover. He has been concertmaster of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen since 1985. From 1994 to 1996 he was conductor and artistic director of the Ensemble Resonanz. Thomas Klug gives solo concerts in Germany and abroad, including with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Westdeutsche Sinfonia and the Chamber Orchestra of Cambridge. He performs a wide range of chamber music concerts as a piano trio (Clara Haskil Trio) and with various soloists, for example with Steven Isserlis and Joshua Bell, most recently at the Salzburg Festival. 
As a conductor, Thomas Klug has worked with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the Chamber Orchestra of Cambridge, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and various ensembles for new music. He has taught at the HfK Bremen since 1995, has been professor of violin, chamber music and chamber orchestra since August 1997 and is currently also acting director of the HfK symphony orchestra.

Pianist Martin Stadtfeld began exploring the rules and secrets of counterpoint and harmony as a child; as a young student he joined Lev Natochenny's class in Frankfurt and won first prizes - including at the Busoni Competition in Bolzano. Winning the Leipzig Bach Competition in 2002 was the starting point of his career. Concert appearances take him to the most important music centers as well as to the great orchestras of Europe and Asia. Since 1990, Stadtfeld has released exclusively with Sony Music and now has 26 albums with recordings of Bach, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Handel, Schubert and Schumann. His courage for personal interpretation has also led to his own compositions and free arrangements, which are available on CDs and as streams, but also as music books (published by Schott Music).
Martin Stadtfeld has also been committed to music education for many years: Countless school visits, concerts for children and young people, CD radio plays designed to make it easier for children and adults to enter the world of classical music bear witness to this. He has been contributing his experience to the HfK Bremen as a professor of piano since the winter semester 2023/24.