A Mozart evening with Riccardo Minasi

Riccardo Minasi (photo: Nancy Horowitz)

German radio station Deutschlandfunk called Riccardo Minasi’s recording of the composer’s later symphonies “one of the most exciting Mozart contributions of our still young millennium”. And it is rare to hear this music with as much power and drama as with this conductor, who is now making his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker with a Mozart programme. The programme includes the ceremonial and elegant “Haffner” Symphony and the passionate Symphony No. 40, as well as the Concertone for two Violins and Orchestra, a wonderful rarity whose solo parts are played by two of the orchestra’s principals.

Berliner Philharmoniker

Riccardo Minasi conductor

Noah Bendix-Balgley violin

Thomas Timm violin

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Così fan tutte, K. 588: Overture

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385 “Haffnerˮ

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Concertone in C major for 2 Violins and Orchestra, K. 190

Noah Bendix-Balgley violin, Thomas Timm violin

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550 (2nd version)

Dates and Tickets

Biographies

Noah Bendix-Balgley

Noah Bendix-Balgley was born in Asheville, North Carolina, and had his first violin lessons at the age of four. He played for Yehudi Menuhin as a nine-year-old and later studied at Indiana University and at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich with Mauricio Fuks, Christoph Poppen and Ana Chumachenco. His goal is to find a sound that “is not only beautiful, but also meaningful and speaks to the audience”. Noah Bendix-Balgley has won awards at numerous competitions, including the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels. He was concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 2011 to 2014 and joined the Berliner Philharmoniker as first concertmaster in September of 2014. He has also performed as a soloist with such renowned orchestras as the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Belgian National Orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 as well as works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Camille Saint-Saëns. The avid chamber musician performs with partners including Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Emanuel Ax, Lars Vogt and Colin Currie at festivals in Europe and North America. He gave the premiere of his own composition Fidl-Fantazye: A Klezmer Concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Manfred Honeck in June of 2016.

Riccardo Minasi

Riccardo Minasi followed an unusual path to the podium: he began as a violinist and focused on early music, performed as a soloist as well as with ensembles such as Le Concert des Nations and Il Giardino Armonico, developed from concertmaster to conductor and today works with orchestras such as the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Accordingly, his repertoire ranges from the Baroque to the present. Musicianship, precision and a pronounced joy in contrast characterise his style, which is equally inspired by historical performance practice and interpretations on modern instruments. With his recording of late Mozart symphonies a few years ago, he delivered one of the "most exciting Mozart contributions of our time," according to Deutschlandfunk. The Rome-born Minasi is not only principal conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, but also artist-in-residence of the Ensemble Resonanz at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, artistic director of the orchestra La Scintilla at the Zurich Opera House, and co-founder of the baroque ensemble Il pomo d'oro, which he led for many years. In these concerts Riccardo Minasi makes his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Thomas Timm

It was impressive "with what effortless ease and without posturing" he mastered "all kinds of violin wizardry": even the first notes "made one sit up and take notice of where Thomas Timm's strength lies: a beautifully singing, lyrical tone and a sensitive, differentiated shaping," wrote the Südwest Presse. Timm, who studied together with Vadim Repin and Maxim Vengerov in the violin class of the world-famous Zakhar Bron in Lübeck, began a solo career at a young age before becoming first principal of the second violin group with the Berliner Philharmoniker in the fall of 2000. At the age of 23, he was already concertmaster at the Dresden Semperoper and made guest appearances as soloist with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the MDR Symphony Orchestra in the world's great concert halls. Thomas Timm has won numerous prizes and scholarships from renowned competitions and foundations, and has performed as a chamber musician with Nelson Freire, James Tocco and Lars Vogt. He was also primarius of the Timm Quartet, founded in 2001, as well as a member of various chamber ensembles of the Berliner Philharmoniker, such as the Philharmonic Violins, the Philharmonic String Quintet and the Philharmonic Stradivari Soloists Berlin. He has taught at the Karajan Academy since 2003.

Noah Bendix-Balgley (photo: Sebastian Hänel)

Thomas Timm (photo: Sebastian Hänel)

In the jungle of myths

The secret of Mozart’s last three symphonies

Special exhibition

Before the concert visit the special exhibition