Today conductor Kent Nagano celebrates his 70th birthday – duly celebrated by previous companions, musicians, colleagues and many others. We wish him a very happy birthday!
Here you can find a video of Deutsche Welle about Kent Nagano and his birthday:
On Thursday, 18 November 2021, Kent Nagano, together with the musicians of Concerto Köln and singers, will present Wagner’s Das Rheingold in concert at the Kölner Philharmonie. This concert was created as part of the scientific-artistic project Wagner Readings, which has been working on Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in historically informed performance practice since fall 2017.
More information about the concert on 18 November can be found here.
Further information about the project Wagner Readings, the scientific work as well as the different topics can be listened to in six podcast episodes here: https://wagner-lesarten.de/podcast.html
On 29 October, Kent Nagano will conduct Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis at the Cologne Cathedral. The concert will take place as part of the Beethovenfest and will also present Stockhausen’s “Gesang der Jünglinge” together with the musicians of Concerto Köln, the Vokalensemble Kölner Dom and renowned soloists.
The concert can be seen live on ARTE and WDR.
Program
Ludwig van Beethoven: Mass for four solo voices, choir, orchestra and organ in D major op. 123 (“Missa solemnis”) (1819-23)
Karlheinz Stockhausen: “Gesang der Jünglinge”. Electronic music (1955/56)
Artists
Valentina Farcas soprano
Rachel Frenkel alto
Werner Güra tenor
Andreas Wolf bass
Cologne Cathedral Vocal Ensemble
Eberhard Metternich rehearsal
Concerto Cologne
Kent Nagano Conductor
Juan Verdaguer Sound direction
Kent Nagano, pianist Mari Kodama and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin will premiere Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier’s piano concerto Terra Nostra at the Philharmonie Berlin on 17 October 2021.The program also includes works by Hector Berlioz as well as Richard Strauss.
17 October 2021, 8 p.m., Philharmonie Berlin
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Kent Nagano
Berlioz: Overture to the opera “Béatrice et Bénédict
Bruneau-Boulmier: Piano concerto “Terra Nostra” world premiere
Strauss: Suite from “Der Bürger als Edelmann”
Mari Kodama – piano
The concert will be broadcasted on Deutschlandfunk Kultur. Please find more information here.
A 3-CD box set of works by French composer Olivier Messiaen and featuring Kent Nagano and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir is released today on the BR Klassik label.
The recording is a live recording of the works Poèmes pour Mi, Chronochromie and La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ from concerts with Kent Nagano and the Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, which shows Nagano’s close familiarity with Messiaen’s musical language in a special way.
More information can be found here.
La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, Live recording from Munich, Philharmonie im Gasteig, 19./23.06.2017
Poèmes pour Mi, Live recording from Munich, Herkulessaal der Residenz, 14./15.02.2019
Chronochromie, Live recording from Munich, Herkulessaal der Residenz, 02./06.07.2018
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
Jenny Daviet, soprano
Chor & Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Kent Nagano, conductor
The new book by conductor Kent Nagano was published today, September 30, by Berlin Verlag.
In “10 Lessons of my Life” Kent Nagano recalls ten very personal encounters of his life, from which he learned decisive lessons not only for his career. Among them are the Icelandic pop artist Björk, Frank Zappa, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez and the Nobel Prize winner in physics Donald Glaser.
More information can be found here.
The program of the 1st Philharmonic Concert includes the Violin Concerto No. 3 by Alfred Schnittke and Schubert’s “Der Tod und das Mädchen” in the string orchestra version by Gustav Mahler. This will be accompanied by Martina Gedeck reciting texts by Matthias Claudius and Franz Schubert, among others.
Sunday, 19 September 2021 and Monday, 20 September 2021 in the Elbphilharmonie
1st Philharmonic Concert
Schnittke: Concerto No. 3 for violin and chamber orchestra
Texts by Matthias Claudius, Franz Schubert and others
Schubert: String Quartet in D minor D 810 “Death and the Maiden” Version for string orchestra by Gustav Mahler
Conductor: Kent Nagano
Violin: Gidon Kremer
Recitation: Martina Gedeck
Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra
More information can be found here.
On 4 September, Kent Nagano will lead the Staatsorchester Hamburg, the Choir of the Staatsoper Hamburg and soloists in the premiere of Jacques Offenbach’s opera Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Staatsoper Hamburg. This Opéra Fantastique in five acts is staged by Daniele Finzi Pasca.
4 September, Hamburg, Staatsoper, 6 p.m.
Staatsorchester Hamburg
Offenbach: Les Contes d’Hoffmann Premiere
Daniele Finzi Pasca – director
Opéra Fantastique in five acts
Libretto by Jules Barbier
Based on the play by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré
Edited by Michael Kaye and Jean-Christophe Keck
Further performances: 7, 10, 16, 19, 22 and 25 September
For more information click here.
Mari Kodama will give two concerts in Hamburg in honor of Alfred Brendel, whose master student she was. The entire concert cycle will kick off on 3 September at Hamburg’s Curio-Haus with a concert featuring the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra under Kent Nagano, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 7 for three pianos and orchestra with the three soloists Mari Kodama, Paul Lewis and Till Fellner, all three of whom were Brendel’s master students. This will be followed on 4 September by a chamber music program with Mari Kodama at the newly opened JazzHall of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.READ MORE
The Philharmonic State Orchestra and Kent Nagano will open the new concert season with the Rathausmarkt Open-Air on 14/15 August 2021. For the first time the concerts will be on to two days with two performances each. after the symphonic prelude on Saturday, a tribute to Jacques Offenbach will follow on Sunday with ensemble members of the Hamburg State Opera. At the same time, the event marks the festive conclusion of the Hamburger Kultursommer. Hamburg’s First Mayor Dr. Peter Tschentscher will give a welcoming speech at the last performance on 15 August at 8:30 pm.
Please find more information here.