The best of opera and classical music in Germany, courtesy of Ken Thomson.

The classical music and opera season is rapidly winding down and musicians across the land are looking forward to their summer breaks. They still have a few more gigs to play, though. You can find out which of these we would recommend by reading on here.

The Gershwin brothers’ Porgy and Bess has had an acclaimed run at the Deutsch Oper. Curiously, I first came to this music via Miles Davis’ rendition of its main themes. The Gil Evans arranged recording of this is a classic of late ‘50s jazz and made a big impression on me. It took a long time for me to be able to listen to the opera as it was originally intended to be heard. The effort I made in this direction was certainly worth it, though. It will also be worth your while to step out and hear this classic of American music in Berlin before the end of July.

Another piece certainly worthy of recommendation is Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto. The piece is based firmly on the traditions of German classical music. Hear it, hear Beethoven. However, though it was composed decades before the appearance of anything that could be remotely described as modernism, it contains a certain edginess which would come to be associated with that later tendency. Listen to it and you can imagine that an impressionable young Bartok studied it closely. It’s being put on by the NDR Symphony in Lübeck.

Shakespeare has been a source of inspiration to classical composers for as long as they’ve been around. You can experience some of the spectrum of music produced while under the influence of the Bard at a concert by the Nürnberger Symphony. Ever a cornerstone of Englishness, Shakespeare inspired composers from that corner of Europe as diverse as Edward Elgar and Frank Bridge. Of course, composers from other parts of Europe were also entranced by Shakespeare: Prokofiev was no exception. His Romeo and Juliet is being put on by the Dresdner Philharmonie. Carl Nielsen is a composer whose work receives far too few airings in Germany. Thanks to the hr Symphonie for putting on his Maskerade. The orchestra will also perform Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Violin Concerto and Antonín Dvorák’s New World Symphony. The latter is easy, tuneful and full of well-known themes, so you could even take your kids along to this one.

So that’s it. You’ll hear from me again when the days are turning milder and the evenings are drawing in. Until then, have a splendid summer – and enjoy your listening.

Porgy and Bess

An opera in three acts by George and Ira Gershwin

Deutsch Oper

Until 31 July

NDR Symphony Orchestra

Lübecker Music and Congress Hall

12 and 13 July

Conductor Christoph von Dohnányi

Johannes Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major

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July 2008

You can buy German concert tickets online using the following websites:
www.konzert-kasse.de
www.deutschlandticket.de
www.ticketcenter.de
www.koka36.de (mainly Berlin concerts)

Copyright Expatica 2008