Concert information
Info
As part of our seasonal theme Controversy!, musical worlds collide – in this case, those of Arnold Schoenberg and Dmitri Shostakovich. Shostakovich, who dismissed Schoenberg’s twelve-tone technique as “a meaningless game with sounds,” is represented here by two wittily ironic orchestral works. One is the Suite for Variety Orchestra, which gained fame under the title “Jazz Suite No. 2”. The other is his Symphony No. 15, a colourful journey through music history, with echoes of Rossini and Wagner. Schoenberg’s string trio, op. 45, by contrast, is a strikingly complex composition – and yet full of expressiveness.
Artists
Cornelia Gartemann violin
Allan Nilles viola
Ludwig Quandt cello
Hendrik Heilmann piano
Simon Rössler drums
Franz Schindlbeck drums
Jan Schlichte drums
Programme
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 15 in A major, op. 141 (arr. for piano trio and percussion by Victor Derevianko and Mark Petarsk)
Interval
Arnold Schoenberg
String Trio, op. 45
Dmitri Shostakovich
Suite for variety orchestra (arr. for piano trio and percussion by Oriol Cruixent)
Additional information
Duration ca. 2 hours (incl. 20 minutes interval)
Chamber Music Hall
12 to 31 €
Introduction
19:30
Series Q: Ensembles of the Berliner Philharmoniker
In matters large and small
The Chamber Music tradition of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Chamber music means engaging in a dialogue between equals and creating a shared artistic identity as a group. Naturally, the musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker are passionate about this art form. Violist Julia Gartemann and cellist Knut Weber talk about their experiences.
Biography
Cornelia Gartemann
Cornelia Gartemann received her first violin lessons at the age of six. By the time she was 15, she was already studying with Eckhard Fischer at the Detmold University of Music, where she continued her training with Thomas Christian after completing the artistic diploma. She also took part in masterclasses with Saschko Gawriloff, Rainer Kussmaul, Herman Krebbers and Yfrah Neaman.
Cornelia Gartemann has won awards at various national and international competitions and held scholarships from the Jürgen Ponto Foundation, the German Foundation for Musical Life, and the German Music Council. She has appeared both as a soloist and as a chamber musician at concerts and festivals in Germany, throughout Europe and in Asia. The violinist has been a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2003 and is also active in the Philharmonic String Sextet Berlin.
Allan Nilles
Allan Nilles, born in Wheaton, Illinois, began viola lessons at the age of three. He studied the viola at the Juilliard School in New York with Heidi Castleman and Misha Amory, completing his Bachelor of Music in 2011. While still a student, he appeared several times in chamber music concerts as a member of the Perlman Music Program with Itzhak Perlman.
He gained his first orchestral experience at Tanglewood and with the New World Symphony Orchestra before joining the viola section of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in 2012. Seeking further artistic development, Allan Nilles took part in the Lucerne Festival Academy in 2013, and became a member of the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker in January 2015. Only a month later, he won the audition for a viola position with the orchestra, which he took up in May 2015.
Ludwig Quandt
Ludwig Quandt studied at the Lübeck University of Music with Arthur Troester, who had been principal cellist of the Berliner Philharmoniker from 1935 to 1945 and whose position Quandt, as Troester’s last student, would later be privileged to take over. In 1985 he completed his diploma in Lübeck, followed two years later by the concert examination, which he passed with distinction. Masterclasses with Boris Pergamenschikow, Zara Nelsova, Maurice Gendron, Wolfgang Boettcher and Siegfried Palm rounded off his training.
A prizewinner at the ARD International Music Competition, Ludwig Quandt had already played with the Berliner Philharmoniker for two years before becoming the orchestra’s principal cellist in 1993. In addition to his work with the orchestra, he performs worldwide as a soloist and chamber musician, including with the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Simon Rössler
Simon Rössler, who has played percussion since the age of seven, studied from 2000 to 2005 at the Stuttgart University of Music with Klaus Treßelt. In 2005 he became a student of Rainer Seegers and Franz Schindlbeck at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin. He held a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation and was a prizewinner at numerous national and international competitions.
He gained orchestral experience as a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Lübeck, among others. In 2004, Rössler gave his first major solo concert with the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt (Oder). When he applied for a scholarship at the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, his playing made such a strong impression that he was accepted directly into the orchestra’s percussion section in 2008. In addition to his work as a percussionist, he is also active as a conductor and serves as managing director of the Karajan Academy.
Franz Schindlbeck
Franz Schindlbeck received his first percussion lessons at the age of twelve and studied from 1983 to 1988 at the Trossingen University of Music with Hermann Gschwendtner. Before joining the Berliner Philharmoniker, he gained his first orchestral experience from 1988 to 1992 as principal percussionist of the orchestra of the Nationaltheater Mannheim. Alongside his classical career, his love of the drum set led him to perform in numerous bands whose styles ranged from Dixieland to jazz rock.
In smaller ensembles, the percussionist has appeared at numerous jazz festivals. In 1999, together with colleagues from the orchestra, Franz Schindlbeck founded The Berlin Philharmonic Jazz Group, with which he performed until 2008. Since 1994 he has taught as a lecturer at the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and in 2003 he also took on a guest professorship for timpani/percussion at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin.
Jan Schlichte
Jan Schlichte found his way to percussion through playing the piano. From 1991 onwards he studied in his hometown of Frankfurt am Main, and later at the Trossingen University of Music. There he was taught by Franz Lang and Rainer Seegers, then principal timpanist of the Berliner Philharmoniker, who — alongside Franz Schindlbeck — was also his teacher at the Karajan Academy.
Jan Schlichte gained orchestral experience with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the Southwest German Radio Orchestra, among others, before joining the Berliner Philharmoniker in September 1998. He is particularly committed to contemporary chamber music for piano and percussion. In addition, he is a founding member of the ensemble Nukleus and performs with the Kammerensemble für Neue Musik Berlin as well as with the Scharoun Ensemble.
Hendrik Heilmann
Hendrik Heilmann, who won an award at the Steinway Competition at the age of 16, studied piano and song accompaniment at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin. Masterclasses with Christa Ludwig, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Irwin Gage and Thomas Quasthoff completed his training. Guest appearances have taken him to the Salzburg Festival, the Musikverein in Vienna and London’s Wigmore Hall, among others.
The pianist has made a particular name for himself as a song accompanist, collaborating with many renowned singers, including Magdalena Kožená, Hanno Müller-Brachmann and Brenden Gunnell. From 2005 to 2020, Hendrik Heilmann taught song interpretation at the Berlin University of the Arts as well as solo répétition at the Hanns Eisler School of Music. Since 2020, he has been a keyboard player with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.
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