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World Premiere of Jörg Widmann's ARCHE at the Elbphilharmonie

Jan. 04, 2017

World Premiere of Jörg Widmann's <em>ARCHE</em> at the Elbphilharmonie

After great anticipation, the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg has finally opened its doors and is already gaining a reputation for its exceptional acoustics and architectural ingenuity. To celebrate the occasion, Jörg Widmann's new large-scale oratorio ARCHE has its world premiere on January 13 as part of the hall’s grand opening concerts. Widmann’s new work, involving close to 300 musicians including soprano and baritone soloists, large orchestra, two adult choirs and children’s choir, is given its premiere performance by the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, the Hamburg State Opera Choir, AUDI Academy Youth Choir, and soloists Marlis Petersen and Thomas E. Bauer, conducted by Kent Nagano.

ARCHE reflects on the relationship between mankind and God. To illustrate this broad vision, Widmann compiled texts from a variety of eras, ranging from writers such as Matthias Claudius (as a reminiscence of the city of Hamburg), Friedrich Schiller and Klabund, from philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche and from sacred texts (from the Bible and by Francis of Assisi). The libretto is complemented by a rich abundance of musical forms ranging from tonal passages to complex choral textures, from intimate moments of voice and piano accompaniment up to large-scale sections utilizing extensive orchestral and choral forces. ARCHE is a song of the world, a cosmos in which mankind is represented as vulnerable with his wishes, hopes, fears and his utopia of a better world.

For more information on Jörg Widmann, visit schott-music.com.

Jörg Widmann
ARCHE (2016)
an oratorio for solo voices, choirs, organ and orchestra
text (Ger, Lat) by Claudius, Klabund, Heine, Sloterdijk, Andersen, Brentano, Schiller, Francis of Assisi, Nietzsche, Schimmelpfennig, Thomas von Celano, Michelangelo, and from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, the Bible and the sacred Mass.
4(4pic, 3.afl, 4.bfl).4(2.Obd’am, 3.ca, 4.heckelphone).4(2.Ebcl, 3.bcl, 4.cbcl).4(3/4.cbsn)-6(2Naturhn).4(1Bb tpt).4.1-timp.4perc-2hp.acc.glassharm.2pno(2.cel).org-str
Full evening length

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