35th Musikfest Bremen: Experiences full of Magical Sounds!

The festival opens on 17 August around the illuminated market square

The curtain rises on the 35th Musikfest Bremen! Exceptional performances from a wide variety of genres present masterpieces as well as rarities from across the centuries in a new light. From 17 August to 7 September, the conciliatory and inspiring power of music will bring incomparable live concert experiences that energise, stir, empower, comfort and quench desires. In 46 concerts, famous stars as well as exceptional up-and-coming talents will whisk you away to captivating musical worlds that will make you both listen up and dream – in Bremen, Bremerhaven and a selection of venues in the North-West.

The opening night "Eine große Nachtmusik" around the market square exemplifies this diversity on the very first evening. 18 45-minute concerts in nine venues offer tantalising forays through a variety of eras, genres and continents. Among the invited guests are Le Cercle de l'Harmonie, Yulianna Avdeeva and Jérémie Rhorer, the Bach Collegium Japan, Il Pomo d'Oro, the Ensemble Irini, the Compagnia di Punto, Ulrich Matthes & Olena Kushpler, Sarah Willis & Sarahbanda and the Lehmanns Brothers.

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra celebrates its 25th anniversary in a special advance concert on 7 August, under the baton of Daniel Barenboim and with Anne-Sophie Mutter as soloist. The programme for the three regular festival weeks is just as top-class and wide-ranging. In terms of orchestral concerts, the period instrument ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro and Maxim Emelyanychev present "Mozart Pur!" (19.8., Glocke), Jan Lisiecki and Tarmo Peltokoski combine Beethoven with Sibelius with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (21.8., Oldenburgisches Staatstheater), while the Bremer Philharmoniker welcome the acclaimed Chilean-American tenor Jonathan Tetelman for a Puccini gala (28.8., Glocke). Representatives of the new generation can be experienced with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin with cellist Anastasia Kobekina and conductor Nicolò Foron, winner of the 2023 Deutschlandfunk Förderpreis (30.8., Glocke) as well as with the Bundesjugendorchester and the World Youth Choir, who will shine a new light on Beethoven’s Ninth for future generations (1.9., Glocke). Le Concert de la Loge and Julien Chauvin in turn add a new dimension to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" with dancers in a choreography by Mourad Merzouki (2.9., Glocke).

The Arp-Schnitger-Festival offers more than just solo organ recitals, (21.8./Bockhorn, 22.8./Wiefelstede und 23.8./Dedesdorf), it also presents Bach’s Goldberg-Variation in a version for quartet (20.8./Golzwarden), a vocal-instrumental programme around Bach (24.8., Grasberg) as well as examples of great German church music by Schütz, Weckmann and Bach (25.8., Ganderkesee).

Lea Desandre promises first-class vocal art with English lute songs (19.8., Lilienthal), as does Julia Lezhneva with baroque opera gems (20.8. Bremerhaven). The vocal ensemble Tenebrae brings together iconic choral works from the 19^th century to the present day (21.8. Kulturkirche St. Stefani), Georg Nigl will host his Musical Salons around Bach and Mozart (22.8. Rathaus) and the Concerto Romano revives 17^th century music from the Eternal City (22.8. Rede). While Philippe Jaroussky follows in the footsteps of Farinelli (23.8., Glocke), Le Concert Spirituel recall the splendour and glory of the British Empire with Handel (29.8., Barßel), whereas Vox Luminis celebrate the Spanish vocal brilliance of the 16^th century (1.9. Osterholz-Scharmbeck). The St. Florian Boys’ Choir will demonstrate their world-famous virtuosityin a programme mixing the sacred and the secular around their jubilarian Anton Bruckner (3.9. Unser Lieben Frauen Church, 4.9. Essen/Olbg.). With Haydn’s “Creation” and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, the Concert de la Loge (3.9., Garrel) and the B’Rock Orchestra (5.9., Verden) perform two of the most important sacred works of the First Viennese School. Les Musiciens du Louvre will in turn celebrate the 150^th anniversary of arguably the most famous Viennese operetta, “Dei Fledermaus) (6.9., Glocke).

The Quatuor Ebène (18.8., Worpswede) and the Spunicunifait Quintet (4.9., Edewecht) present chamber music at its finest, while harpsichordist Jean Rondeau (21.8. Sögel/Emsland), organist Olivier Latry (1.9., Papenburg) and pianists Mao Fujita (1.9., Sande) and Igor Levit (4.9., Glocke) will captivate you with their solo keyboard magic.

There will also be plenty of room for sounds beyond the classical! Sheléa presents her programme "Diva" with the hr-Bigband (24.8., Glocke), Endea Owens & The Cookout combine jazz with gospel, swing and neo-soul (26.8., Glocke), Avi Avital, Omer Klein and Ismail Lumanovski promise magical Mediterranean sounds (27.8., Rathaus) and trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary celebrates her German premiere with her jazz ensemble (29.8., Glocke). The Naghash Ensemble Armenia combine the spirituality of traditional Armenian music with classical music and jazz (30.8., Papenburg), while the David Ehnco Quartet and Quatuor Voce rearrange jazz and pop standards with works by Monteverdi and Poulenc (31.8., Glocke) and China Moses and her band bring their latest album with them (31.8., Cuxhaven). For the grand Musikfest finale, the Metropole Orkest and Cory Henry will be performing open air with music by soul legend Stevie Wonder taking centre stage (7.9., Market square).

In addition to this, two Musikfest Ateliers take place in the form of one-week workshops for young musicians led by famous tutors. Alfredo Bernardini and Alessandro Quarta concentrate on Handel’s Cantata “Clori, Tirsi and Fileno”, a representative example of the numerous worldly cantata’s written by the composer during his stay in Italy (18.8. Jever). In “Wege zu Bach III”, Lionel Meunier sheds light on the formative influences of the Thomaskantor, with a focus on the legendary “Abendmusiken” by Franz Tunder and Dieterich Buxtehude in Lübeck (6.9., Ganderkesee).

FIGURES IN BRIEF: 26,733 tickets are available for the 46 concerts. The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen contributes € 550,000 to the total budget of € 3.8 million and the Minister of State for Culture and Media € 600,000.

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: 15% on all tickets until 14 April (except special concert on 7 August)

TICKETS & INFO: Ticket-Service in the Glocke (Tel. (+49) 421 / 33 66 99, Mo-Fr 12-18 h, Sa 11-14 h) as well as www.musikfest-bremen.de and www.nordwest-ticket.de

Further information for editors:
Musikfest Bremen gGmbh, Carsten Preisler,
Tel. (+49) 421/33 66-660, E-Mail: preisler@musikfest-bremen.de