Mahler and Richard Strauss – On Love and Death

EVENT DESCRIPTION

One of the most distinguished and versatile sopranos on the international stage, Juliane Banse’s rise to stardom came at the age of 20 when she took on the role of Pamina in The Magic Flute at the Komische Oper Berlin. She has since enjoyed close working relationships with such monumental conductors and prestigious companies as Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Vienna State Opera, Metropolitan Opera New York etc, and was twice-awarded the ECHO Klassik for her recorded albums. Her cross-genre project Winterreise, where she appears both as singer and dancer, has received wide critical acclaim.

She makes a phenomenal return to Hong Kong to join hands with Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Music Director Christoph Poppen in a concert centred around beloved lieder by Richard Strauss and Mahler’s song cycle Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen. The stunning programme also includes Strauss’ Tod und Verklärung, a transcendent tone poem contemplating and painting what lies beyond death – a depiction later approved by the composer himself on his deathbed when he remarked, “dying is exactly the way I composed it in Tod und Verklärung”.

Music Director/Conductor: Christoph Poppen
Soprano: Juliane Banse

Programme

Mozart
Idomeneo Overture, K366

Ferran Cruixent
Solaria (2015) (Asian première)

Richard Strauss
Die Georgine, Op 10 No 4
Das Rosenband, Op 36 No 1
Ruhe, Meine Seele, Op 27 No 1
Allerseelen, Op 10 No 8
Zueignung, Op 10 No 1
Cäcilie, Op 27 No 2

Mahler
Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen

Richard Strauss
Tod und Verklärung, Op 24

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

One of Hong Kong’s flagship orchestras, Hong Kong Sinfonietta has brought music closer to the community, and achieved significant local and international recognition for its passionate performances and innovative programming. The orchestra has collaborated with an illustrious array of international musicians and groups, including in recent years Ilya Gringolts, Martin Helmchen, Sergei Nakariakov, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Krzysztof Penderecki, The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet and Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.

Hong Kong Sinfonietta is a regular guest at international arts festivals and has toured 46 cities around the world. As an avid believer of keeping music alive and contemporary, the orchestra commissions and performs new works every year and ventures into new initiatives, recently receiving wide acclaim for its Back On Stage concert film series and becoming the first local orchestra to appear in cinemas. Following the success of the first edition in 2018, the orchestra organised the 2nd Hong Kong International Conducting Competition in 2023, attracting applications from 45 countries/regions around the world and providing an invaluable platform for young conductors to establish their careers.