Over the course of her career, the Swiss violinist Ursula Bagdasarjanz (*1934 in Winterthur) has performed the complete violin works of Othmar Schoeck in numerous concerts and on radio stations in Switzerland and abroad. The three sonatas that Ursula Bagdasarjanz has always performed with Gisela Schoeck, the composer's daughter, at the piano are a particular rarity. On the CD recordings below and in the following video with the Allegretto from Schoeck's Violin Concerto in B flat major op. 21, the outstanding interpretations are still vivid and tangible today. 

In 2013, Ursula Bagdasarjanz was honored with a "Special Tribute Treasury Show" from Stanford University in California for her renditions of her own and others' works, including her interpretation of Othmar Schoeck's Violin Concerto.

www.ursula-bagdasarjanz.com
 

Othmar Schoeck: Variations Sonata for Violin & Piano
in D Major WoO 22 - Sonata No. 1 for Violin & Piano
in D Major op. 16 - Sonata No. 2 for Violin & Piano
in E Major op. 46.
Ursula Bagdasarjanz, violin - Gisela Schoeck, piano.
VDE-Gallo 1249

At the suggestion of Christian Busslinger (see comment below), we are pleased to publish here a photo showing the two performers Gisela Schoeck (left) and Ursula Bagdasarjanz in Berlin. The picture was taken in 1961 on the occasion of radio recordings. It comes from the archive of Ursula Bagdasarjanz. The SMZ editorial team would like to thank her for her permission to publish this photo.

Photo: Provided by Ursula Bagdasarjanz

Gisela Schoeck (left) and Ursula Bagdasarjanz in Berlin in 1961

Othmar Schoeck: Violin Concerto "Quasi Una Fantasia"
for Violin & Orchestra in B-Flat Major op. 21
Francesco d'Avalos, dir.

Alexander Glasunov: Violin Concerto in A Minor op. 82
Ursula Bagdasarjanz, Violin - Lugano Radio Orchestra,
Leopoldo Casella, dir.
 

Three groups of artists from Germany, Hungary and Switzerland each worked on an opera work representative of their country - if there is one. In the absence of such a work, the Swiss chose the Swiss Psalmthe Swiss Federal Charter and being Swiss in a rather rough and physical theatrical way. But first things first.

Distanced with "Freischütz"

The Berlin opera company Novoflot dedicated the first part to the "first German national opera", the Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826). The romantic and dark story about the hereditary forester Kuno, the forester's daughter Agathe and the huntsman Max is staged according to the question: Which of them will win the race? Three little girls make notes on betting slips. A trombone choir plays noisy music using the mutes. A narrator comments on the sporting events while the singers run off, sing their arias, stumble and fall down dead.

Later, they take on the role of judges who assess the sporting performance. Meanwhile, an elegant young man with a pigtail, perhaps a young Karl Lagerfeld, sets up the typical German stage set. A stuffed eagle. A dartboard with a Nordic ship motif. A clothes horse, an empty fridge, a telephone box from Telekom.

In a reduced form, alternating between opera singing and actors' voices, the popular hits of the Freischütz is offered here, which is particularly captivating during a moment with the unusual combination of bass clarinet and melodica. The performance of the children's choir is a great moment, when the entire stage is suddenly filled with this multitude of girls' bodies and their delicate voices. And yet this Freischütz a little too long, too static and often too imprecise in timing and articulation. While Ännchen and Agathe rush busily from one side of the stage to the other, rummaging in cooler bags and singing incomprehensible things, you feel too much reminded of the usual opera productions and no longer realize that you are supposed to be in a special musical theatre experiment. And what was that about nationality? The question remains with this Freischütz strangely untouched.

Perplexed with Heidi

And now the Swiss Psalm of the Zurich theater group herb_production. Beer benches on the stage with green and red voting cards on them. Flower pots with hedge plants obscure the view. Raffle prizes are set up somewhere, the performers sit at another table and drink. The Swiss speak poor English at company meetings, you learn, and they are ashamed that they are doing so well, so they try not to attract attention. The screen shows commercials for Switzerland and for parties or people you could vote for.

The participatory theater begins, with a raffle and a ladies' choice. The two women, Wändy and Sändy, play silly sketches. The sound system, which is set far too loud, blares in your ears and the energy of this semi-improvised action theater doesn't really want to transfer. At some point, all the performers piss in a zinc gutter on stage. One of the performers insistently whines that she is Heidi and is now returning from Frankfurt to her grandfather. She allows herself to be milked with a milking machine and the breast milk is turned into butter, which the actors smear on each other's faces. Somehow it is also about the responsibility of the individual for the community, perhaps also for this theatrical situation. In all these Swiss clichés between Heidi, piss and milk, there is not much sign of a sense of community; it rather has the air of anger and self-loathing. The Berlin audience is left somewhat perplexed.

The production by the Hungarian group Krétakör. On stage is a border fence that falls right at the beginning, torn down by the actors together.
The many young people of Krétakör, who describe themselves as "activists" and not theater artists, deal with the opera in their play. Bánk bán* by composer Ferenc Erkel (1810-1893), which tells the story of the murder of Queen Gertrude by Hungarian noblemen in three acts. The performers don't need much to approach (and distance themselves from) each other. There is a pianist on stage with an electric piano who plays the music from the opera in a reduced version. The performers act out the scenes from the opera by adopting simple constellations and poses and reciting the texts in abridged form. For the German audience, the most important parts are summarized in English. In the background is a video screen on which historical photos, pictures with current references and film clips can be seen.

Based on the opera's plot, the activists draw parallels to current events in Hungary, from covered-up rapes at university and the unequal treatment of women to the exclusion of foreigners, mistrust of Europe as a foreign power and the stirring up of hatred by strengthening traditional national sentiment. Krétakör creates a much more beautiful version of a national opera by setting a piano version of Bánk bán A film showing the faces of very different people of different ages from today's Hungary. A simple means, but one that does not fail to have a touching and unifying effect.

Finally, the activists ask the audience questions, and although it is hot in the room and the evening is already well advanced, the audience gradually begins to open up to these young people and answer the questions. What you would do if you were the mayor of this city. Whether artists are actually important for society. If there is a secret ingredient for communities, what it is. The Krétakör activists ask their questions respectfully, vulnerably and seriously, creating an atmosphere in which something of the sought-after community can be felt - and of the responsibility of the individual. As a delicate little plant, as a possible utopia, far removed from any sense of nationalism.

* The German title of the opera is: Banus Bánk. Banus is the name for a rich gentleman. The deputy of the Hungarian king is called Bánk in the opera.

The objectives and measures of the future city-wide cultural strategy were discussed with 180 participants from Bern's cultural scene at the 2nd Bern Cultural Forum. Based on the results of the forum, the formulated strategy will be submitted to the municipal council for approval in the fall.

According to the participants, the topics of temporary use and spaces, approvals and funding structures are of concern to them. Communication from the city the most. The discussion also revealed that the prominent place given to children's and youth culture in the catalog of measures was generally welcomed. Gaps were identified in the areas of amateur culture, building culture as well as dialog, cooperation and coordination. The participants also debated the self-image of Bern as a city of culture.

The revision of the legal basis essentially involves adapting the wording to current practice and a definitive regulation of the department's financial powers. The amended provisions will come into force on August 1, 2016. The department is also moving at the beginning of July - to the administrative building at Effingerstrasse 21.

Max Reger's music is not easy to understand. It moves between times and aesthetic directions. Even a hundred years after his death, its status remains controversial. It is therefore all the more gratifying when an intimate connoisseur - also of the technical difficulties of playing the works - sets out to open up the special significance of the Reger phenomenon. The organist and theologian Hans-Peter Retzmann has A study of Reger's musical thinking in which he explores the essential characteristics of Reger's composing and his musical "attitude". In doing so, he draws on statements made by the composer himself, which have survived in a large number of letters, but above all on the (organ) works themselves. Based on Reger's own concept of "harmonic melody", Retzmann coins further vocabulary with which Reger's compositional processes and aesthetic objectives can be summarized: emancipated line, expressive fields, miniaturization, emotional inner connection, musical ciphering, mosaic cell technique, work delimitation. Further research will have to show whether these terms will hold their own in future discourse. The remarks on Reger's reception of Bach, on his alternative position in the debate between program and absolute music at the time, as well as on the fundamental openness of Reger's expressive, but not content-bound musical language are particularly illuminating.

In view of the complexity of the subject matter, there is a danger of not completely securing conceptual settings and of confusing the vocabulary once it has been acquired rather than stringently relating it to one another. Retzmann has not escaped this danger either, as important terms for him such as "disparate" (from p. 51), "parametric cell" (from p. 112), "transgressive behavior" and "valences" (from p. 294) as well as "integral transformation" (from p. 311) are not sufficiently substantiated or are not chosen with complete accuracy. Perhaps the author also wanted too much: his additional remarks on the reception of Reger's music, on Albert Schweitzer's reflections on organ stylistic questions and, finally, on the interpretation of the organ works go beyond the scope of his intention and obscure his central findings and postulates. What the book lacks is a critical proofreading that would have advised the author both in the arrangement of his thoughts and in the correction of linguistic deficiencies. Numerous printing, formatting and formulation errors give the impression that the impressive and thoroughly stimulating study ultimately remained a draft.

Hans-Peter Retzmann, Max Reger's Music. Eine Studie zu Regers Musikdenken, (=Quellen und Studien zur Musikgeschichte von der Antike bis in die Gegenwart, ed. by Michael von Albrecht and Eliott Antokoletz, vol. 44), 364 p., Fr. 76.00, Peter Lang, Bern et al. 2015

I spent 14 days with this heavy book and read it with great excitement. With its 2066 notes and a very useful index of 2400 names, it beats all previous history books on the violin. David Schoenbaum (born 1935 in Milwaukee, USA) has made a name for himself as a historian with the continuation of his Oxford dissertation The Brown Revolution: a social history of the Third ReichHe was a professor of history at the University of Iowa until 2008. The amateur violinist wrote this book for 20 years.

The chapters on the Violin making, read like a novel. One hears astonishing news about the origins of the violin (although China and India are not mentioned), the connection over the Alpine passes and the political influences. Truths and legends about the Amati, Stradivari and Guarneri families are unraveled. The rise and trade union background of Mirecourt, the long success story of Vuillaume, who was the first to flood the market with inexpensive "Stradivari" from his own workshop due to exploding demand, the history of German violin making from Stainer to the manufactories of Markneukirchen are described in detail, as are those of Japan and China. The development of the bow and its most famous maker are dealt with only briefly.

A 100-page section revolves around the Violin trade: interesting European historical backgrounds, the close connection between violin makers and dealers, the rise of the great trading empires Hill, Herrmann and the auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's with experts traveling around the world, the rapid price increases (formerly craftsmen's wages, later mansions served as a comparison), monographs on Bildupp, Fushi & Bein, Machold, also on the two dealers Felicity Foresight and Claire Givens, the incredible number of "Strads" and their unimaginable aberrations, crimes, inheritance squabbles, trials, including the "Stradi" Werro trial, which remained convoluted due to expert disputes, advances in the authentication of old instruments thanks to X-ray, pigment analysis and dendrochronology, which led to Wessel's question as to whether the auction houses would warm to something that "raises awareness of how many forgeries they had probably sold".

The 250 pages about the Violin playing begin with a list of many famous violinists - you'd be amazed! Originally, violin playing was passed down from father to son, just like other crafts. In the Italian ospedali, orphans learned to play music in order to earn a living at the many religious and secular festivals. Teaching developed from the secret teaching of virtuosos via the orphanages (= conservatories!) to the state and famous privately endowed institutes worldwide. The transition from outlawed minstrel to court employee to free, highly paid artist took a long time. We hear a lot of new things about Paganini, Viotti, Auer, Stern and many others. Competitions are also political! The confusing stories of the founding of orchestras are extremely exciting, including the astonishing successes of youth orchestras in underprivileged areas. Publishers and record companies craved great performers and vice versa!

There is not much to read about pedagogy, only about many successful university teachers. Group teaching began with Birkbeck in England in 1839. There are detailed reports on Shinichi Suzuki and Roberta Guaspari, but not a word about the equally great achievements of Paul Rolland and Sheila Nelson or about the influential ASTA and ESTA (American and European String Teachers Association). There are reports of many successful, difficult and tragic fates of artists; the completeness here justifies the term "Who's who". The late but now equal inclusion of women in orchestral and solo playing is an important chapter. The listings of the violin as an all-round instrument in all styles of music, in the visual arts, poetry, literature and film are extensive, but cannot be exhaustive (may I add: Jean Diwo, Les violons du roi; Jaume Cabré, The Silence of the Collector; Mechtild Borrmann, The Violinist). The book would be even more suitable as a reference work if there were more subtitles in the table of contents and in the individual sections.

David Schoenbaum The violin: a cultural history of the world's most versatile instrument, translated from the American by Angelika Legde, 730 p., Fr. 67.00, Bärenreiter Kassel & Metzler Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-476-02558-6

Gabriel Fauré, one of the most famous French composers of the fin de siècle, mainly wrote vocal, piano and chamber music. And he was a master of the "mélodie française".
The Critical Urtext Edition, which is currently being published by Peters-Verlag, has set itself the goal of organizing the composer's songs as reliably as possible, taking cycles, collections and groupings into account and making coherent stylistic developments within the songs clear - which is obviously proving to be an editorial challenge due to the abundance and quality of the available sources.

The result is an edition that is appealing in every respect: a volume of Vocalises (2013, EP11385) has been published to date, which Fauré composed during his time as director of the Paris Conservatoire for his students as sight-singing exercises, but also as "basic voice training exercises for a flexible voice". 45 Vocalises were composed between 1906 and 1916. Although their practical purpose is evident, one can often sense the composer's pen in their melody and harmony, although in my opinion most of the pieces fall short of Fauré's elegant, confident and captivating song compositions.

Volume 1 of the Complete Songs, published in 2014, contains 34 early songs by Fauré. The collection includes compositions from 1861 to 1882 and contains some of the best-known songs such as Au bord de l'eau and Après un rêve. Volume 3 was published in 2015 with 17 songs based on texts by Verlaine; and volume 2 is planned for fall 2016. With reservations, there is already talk of a 4th volume in 2017.

Common to all volumes is a detailed preface (trilingual fr/dt/en) with information on sources and editorial procedures as well as notes on the edition and performance and details on the genesis of the individual works. The song texts are prefixed to the mélodies in French, English and German translation. The sheet music itself invites you to read, play and sing: It is easy to read and user-friendly, and a Critical Commentary, this time in English only, can be found at the end of the booklet.

All volumes are available for high and medium/low voice. Accompaniment tracks are also available online - a contemporary and very useful addition. My tip: a worthwhile purchase!

Gabriel Fauré, Complete Songs 1: 1861-1882. 34 songs for voice and piano, edited by Roy Howat and Emily Kilpatrick; high voice, EP 11391a ; medium voice, EP 11391b ; Fr. 33.30 each, Edition Peters, Leipzig et al. 2014

id., Sämtliche Lieder 3: Verlaine-Vertonungen; high voice, EP 11393a; middle voice, EP 11393b; Fr. 25.90 each, 2015

In the mid-1920s, big bands gradually developed from the formations of New Orleans jazz, which were able to captivate audiences with their powerful sound and whose rich sound facets continue to inspire to this day. For many drummers, then as now, big band drumming represents the supreme discipline of drumset playing. Protagonists such as Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson - to name but a few - have had a lasting influence on this genre.

The teaching aid Big Band Drumming by Stephan Genze aims to familiarize drummers with the theory and practice of working in a big band. In the theory section, the author explains the various components of a drum chart as well as the basic musical terms and common designations. The preparation and interpretation of a kick plays an important role in a drummer's routine. Genze explains how to approach this task in a special chapter using notated example fills. Incidentally, the author does not include a legend of drum notation. He rounds off the theory section with a short, illustrated big band history.

Six songs are available for the practical application of what has been learned: Medium Swing, Latin, Fast Swing, Swing Ballad, Shuffle Blues and Funk. Each drum chart is preceded by an introduction of no more than three pages. It contains the basic grooves and learning sequences for the individual song sections, which are also explained on the accompanying DVD. The drum charts only provide the essentials, leaving the player enough room for interpretation. The drum parts are no more than three pages long and are very easy to read. Only in the piece "Funkissimo" do numerous strung-together sixteenth notes with little flags between rests of the same name fall out of the otherwise neat framework.

The songs are originals by Stephan Genze, which he recorded in top quality with his jazz orchestra. They are available on the audio CD in a full version and as minus drums.

The practical course Big Band Drumming for beginners and intermediate level is suitable for self-study as well as for lessons. It was awarded the German Educational media prize "digita 2016" in the "Private study, over 16" category.

Stephan Genze, Bigband Drumming, A practical course with video tutorial for drummers, bandleaders and arrangers, booklet incl. DVD and audio CD, HI-S7151, Fr. 47.90, Helbling, Innsbruck/Esslingen/Bern 2015

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." This quote from Albert Einstein is Barbara Arens' motto for her book published in 2015 Piano Misterioso. In fact, her compositions give the player an inkling that another world is waiting for them behind the notes. Latin titles such as Gothicae ruin or Obscura luce take him to distant times and cultures and we look through the sounds, as it were, into our inner fantasy world, in which the past is still present and figures from legends and fairy tales exist in a very real way. - For all her poetry, however, the composer has managed to keep her feet firmly on the (pianistic) ground and not lose sight of her target audience. She deliberately tries to compose in a technically uncomplicated way, but still incorporates a wide variety of basic pianistic and musical figures into her pieces. The pieces are easy to grasp in terms of structure and are a welcome addition to the intermediate level literature.

Barbara Arens, Piano Misterioso, 28 magically easy pieces, EB 8883, € 15.90, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 2015

Parallel to the latest complete edition of Bach's organ works published by Breitkopf and Härtel (7 of 10 volumes published to date) and the updated editions of the New Bach Edition (NBA) by Bärenreiter, a further edition of the organ works of the Cantor of St. Thomas is being published in the USA. It is edited by George B. Stauffer, Professor of Musicology at Rutgers University and one of America's leading Bach scholars, as General Editor and Christoph Wolff as Consulting Editor. While the lack of a critical report (Peters) or its publication in separate volumes (NBA) was regrettable in the older editions, it is all the more pleasing that all these new editions now have comprehensive commentaries that provide players with valuable background information on the works and their context directly and make editorial decisions more transparent. Breitkopf also provides various Incerta on an enclosed CD-ROM.

The three present volumes from the USA - 15 are planned - are characterized by an extremely comprehensive and detailed preface (unfortunately only in English), which describes the history of the works' creation and their context according to the latest state of research; they also have numerous facsimile pages, some in colour, as well as a complete critical report in the epilogue, which precisely breaks down the current source situation and explains the most diverse readings.

Volume 1 includes the Eight Little Preludes and Fugues BWV 553-560, the Pedal Exercitium and the chorales of the Organ booklets Bach's "pedagogical" works. It is available in two different editions: 1A with a more historical-scholarly focus (e.g. with variants on some chorales), 1B as a practical edition with ornamentation tables, four-part chorale movements or "undecorated" presentation of the colored soprano melodies, which is probably becoming more and more necessary not only in America, but also in this country, as the chorales used are threatening to disappear from liturgical practice and the consciousness of players. In addition to the trio sonatas, volume 7 contains further trio movements (some of which are only available from Breitkopf on the accompanying CD-ROM) and a particularly detailed preface, while volume 8 contains the 3rd part of the Piano exercise.

The musical text itself is clear and concise, also with good turning points, although in the two slightly larger German editions it is somewhat "airier" and printed in larger print with a similar number of pages. A detailed comparison reveals various small differences to older editions, although these are largely the same in the three new editions (they are based on the same sources) or are at least explained in the commentaries if the editors have opted for different readings. The double cadence with mordent on the penultima of the E flat major fugue BWV 552, which is missing in older Bach editions and also notated for the left hand, and whose provenance Stauffer traces back directly to a handwritten corrected printed copy by Bach and which he was the first editor to take into account, can now also be found in the - later published - updated NBA version, for example, but is missing in Breitkopf. The difference in BWV 675 is interesting: Christoph Wolff notated it on three staves for the NBA (with 4' cantus firmus in the pedal), while Stauffer represents the manualiter reading. It will be interesting to see how the editors deal with works of unclear attribution in the subsequent volumes that have not yet been published, for example with regard to a number of individually transmitted chorale preludes, for which Stauffer seems to have planned no fewer than five volumes, which suggests that many of these Incerta are likely to be included in the print. Conclusion: The American Bach Complete Edition completes the panorama of the latest Bach editions with a convincing variant. And as new sources are constantly being discovered, the Bach chapter is probably far from closed!

Johann Sebastian Bach, The Complete Organ Works, ed. George B. Stauffer; Vol. 1 A/B: Pedagogical Works; Vol. 7: Six Trio Sonatas and Micellaneous; Vol. 8: Clavier-Übung III; Wayne Leupold Edition, USA, 48 $ (Vol. 1, 7), 58 $ (Vol. 8).

Comparative editions by Breitkopf & Härtel (Sämtliche Orgelwerke, EB 8801 ff.) and Bärenreiter (Neue Bach-Ausgabe, partly revised)

The Yves Theiler Trio's debut album was released four years ago and was immediately voted Trio Album of the Year by the SRF2 culture editors. The 28-year-old pianist from Zurich says that he had actually wanted to double up earlier, but a change of personnel or instrument resulted in a delay. Instead of Valentin Dietrich's fretless electric bass, we now hear the double bass of Luca Sisera, with whom Theiler also plays in the band Roofer.

The sound of this instrument together with Sisera's fluid, melodic style lend the trio's rhythmically explosive yet crystal-clear, precise sound an almost sunny, new warmth. This much is already made clear in the first track of the second album co-produced by Radio SRF2 Dance In A Triangle clear. It is called For Bass and begins with an almost two-minute introduction, where a finely spun bass melody is driven forward by an insistent, single piano note and percussion, before Theiler introduces a powerful groove and a labyrinthine melody somewhere between Africa and Erik Satie.

The pianist has been working with percussionist Lukas Mantel for ten years. The resulting telepathic understanding allows the trio to illuminate the extremely subtle complexity of Theiler's compositions - most of which begin with an improvisation on the piano alone - with a rhythmic dynamic that provides strong emotional support for the breathtaking virtuosity on offer. With youthful playfulness, Theiler juggles with techniques and styles from all over the world, from Eritrea and Ahmad Jamal to post-rock. Nevertheless, you never get the feeling that you are dealing with a magpie, because each musician has their own voice and is not afraid to use it loud and clear. An album full of wit, energy and bold curves.

Yves Theiler Trio: Dance In A Triangle. Musiques suisses MGB Jazz 18

For a long time, Johann Sebastian Bach was subject to what beer still is today: the German Purity Law. Stefan Müller (keyboard instruments) and Martin Pirktl (guitars) pay little attention to this. Neither do some composers who enriched Bach's works around 200 years ago. Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870) left the fugues untouched, but added many a passage of his own to selected preludes of the Well-Tempered Clavier. Müller and Pirktl extend the dialogs of history by transferring Moscheles' pieces "provided with a concertante solo part" into the present. Both are historically informed interpreters and have given a great deal of thought to older moods as well as tempo issues.

Ignaz Moscheles' Bach pieces seem more like an absurd musical-historical scurrility, despite the unusual instruments - a Biedermeier guitar and a fortepiano from the early 19th century. Much more memorable are the Canonical changes from the Goldberg Variations in the careful arrangement by Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901). It is basically an orchestration, as Rheinberger essentially transferred the original variations to two pianos and only inserted chromatic fills or octave doublings in some places. Max Reger appreciated what Rheinberger described as a "reverent arrangement" and published Rheinberger's collection almost unchanged.

Even if some of the works seem strange, the CD always has a special tonal charm. The wondrously subtle tone of the old instruments, the pronounced sense of sound and the sovereignty of the clever interpreters make Bach - ganz leise a serious competitor to no less high-gloss productions, which incidentally are probably not entirely in Bach's spirit either.

According to the Bachhaus, the first part of the exhibition deals with Luther's hostility towards Jews and its after-effects in Lutheranism. Bach's interest in Jewish history and (anti-)Judaism and the recurring question of whether Bach's Passions are anti-Jewish are addressed.

A second part is dedicated to the Itzig and Mendelssohn families, as well as personalities such as Joseph Joachim, and the cultivation of Bach among the Jewish bourgeoisie of the 19th century and its significance for the Bach Renaissance. The exhibition also provides a supplement to the 2013 theme year of the Reformation Decade "Reformation and Tolerance".

Info:
"Luther, Bach - and the Jews": special exhibition from 24.06. - 06.11.2016. Bachhaus Eisenach, Frauenplan 21, 99817 Eisenach.
 

Born in Radebeul near Dresden in 1992, Hermes Helfricht is a scholarship holder of the Conductors' Forum of the German Music Council. He sang in the Dresden Kreuzchor for nine years and assisted Kreuzkantor Roderich Kreile as choir prefect from 2008 to 2010. He studied orchestral conducting with Lutz Köhler and Steven Sloane at the Berlin University of the Arts.

Hermes Helfricht has performed with numerous European orchestras and has a repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary. In Switzerland, he appeared in a production of the Haldenstein Castle Opera (Bat) on the podium of the Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden. He made his debut at the Theater St. Gallen in February 2016 with "Eugen Onegin".

Hermes Helfricht has been assistant conductor of the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España since 2014. In 2015, he conducted the "Orchestra 1770" at the Rheinsberg Music Academy. In the 2015/2016 season, he was engaged as Kapellmeister at the Erfurt Theater.

Under the "Telemann 2017" brand, the cities want to raise public awareness of the musical cosmopolitan Georg Philipp Telemann with various event formats. The aim is also to build a bridge to the anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, as it was Telemann who reformed Protestant church music in the 18th century.

June 25, 2017 marks the 250th anniversary of Telemann's death. Telemann shaped the musical repertoire of the late Baroque and early Enlightenment. He knew how to adapt and blend the many different musical styles of his time and develop his own personal style from them. As a concert entrepreneur, he established a bourgeois musical life in Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg, the effects of which can still be felt today. He was also active as a publisher and ran his own publishing house.

More info: www.telemann2017.eu

Dominika Hens (*1986), resident in Basel-Stadt, is responsible for cultural projects in the areas of literature, music and education. She is a member of the BS/BL Literature Committee and the BS/BL Music Committee. Dominika Hens most recently worked as a research assistant at the National Center of Competence in Research Image Criticism at the University of Basel (eikones). She also taught regularly at the German Seminar. Prior to this, she worked at various three-part theaters, with a focus on educational work.

Christoph Gaiser (*1975), currently living in Bern and moving to Basel-Stadt in the autumn, is responsible for cultural projects in the areas of dance, theater and youth culture. He sits on the Dance and Theater BS/BL expert committee and is responsible for the youth culture lump sum. Christoph Gaiser most recently worked at the Konzert Theater Bern as dramaturge and production manager for dance. He previously worked as a dramaturge for opera, concert and ballet at the Saarländisches Staatstheater, Staatstheater Darmstadt and Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe.