In September 2019, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen present turbulent times with the second half of their series Weimar Berlin: Bittersweet Metropolis at Southbank Centre. This new series, which began in June, is an ambitious journey through the music, science and culture of a period of intense political turbulence and explosive creativity in Germany and beyond.
The second half of the programme kicks off with Salonen conducting a specially-created cabaret programme at Queen Elizabeth Hall (23 September) directed and curated by Gerard McBurney and starring vocalists Dagmar Manzel and Loré Lixenberg. The piece explores the origins of cabaret and features songs by leading composers from Kurt Weill to Friedrich Hollaender, accompanied by moving imagery. Following the concert the Raze Collective will present a free extravaganza of contemporary queer cabaret from across London in the Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer space. Hosted by cabaret legends Bourgeois & Maurice, there will be new work by Sadie Sinner & Rudy Jeevanjee, and Alicia Jane Turner & Rodent, created in collaboration with Philharmonia musicians.
At Royal Festival Hall, Salonen conducts two more programmes, including Berg’s Violin Concerto and Hindemith’s Symphony Mathis der Maler (26 September); and Weill’s Concerto for Violin and Wind Orchestra and Berg’s Lulu Suite, with soprano Rebecca Nelsen (29 September). Violin virtuoso Christian Tetzlaff is the soloist for both concertos, and also joins Series Advisor Gavin Plumley for a musically illustrated exploration of Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto in a free Insights event on 26 September (6pm).
The series closes on 29 September with an in-depth Insights Day (12pm – 4pm) at the Level 5 Function Room at Royal Festival Hall. Discussions led by Gavin Plumley will be interspersed with live music from Philharmonia players and young artists. Plumley also presents a series of films about Weimar Germany, shot on location in Berlin, Weimar and Dessau, which will be released via the Philharmonia’s popular YouTube channel throughout the series.
Under Esa-Pekka Salonen a series of flagship, visionary projects at Royal Festival Hall – distinctive for both their artistic scope and supporting live and digital content – have been critically acclaimed. Projects including City of Light: Paris 1900-1950 (2015), City of Dreams: Vienna 1900 -1935 (2009), Bill Viola’s Tristan und Isolde (2010) and Infernal Dance: Inside the World of Béla Bartók (2011) were followed in 2016 by the major, five-concert series Stravinsky: Myths & Rituals. The series won a South Bank Sky Arts Award, and prompted Fiona Maddocks to write in the Observer: “[Esa-Pekka Salonen] is one of the UK’s greatest musical assets – words not said lightly.”
