The 4th chamber concert of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra focuses not only on music, but also on one of the most influential poets of the 19th century: Heinrich Heine. His poetry, full of irony, melancholy, and subtle nuances, inspired numerous composers to create a wide variety of works, which will be highlighted in this program from different perspectives and with an unusual combination of instruments (string quartet and tenor). The result is a concert evening that reflects Heine’s poetic world from different angles and at the same time shows how his words take on new forms in music throughout the ages.
The evening begins with Clara Schumann’s settings of Heine’s poems in an arrangement by Aribert Reimann for tenor and string quartet. These combine romantic intimacy with a chamber music sound. Reimann also arranged a selection of Felix Mendelssohn’s Heine songs in this way. Under the title »... oder soll es Tod bedeuten?« (... or should it mean death?), a cycle of eight songs and one fragment unfolds, presenting Mendelssohn’s romantic musical language in a new, transparent guise. The purely instrumental finale is Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E-flat major – a work that builds a luminous, elegant bridge between the Heine vocal works and pure chamber music.
PERFORMERS
Georg Poplutz tenor
Barbara Hwefele violin
Yiju Seo violin
Sebastian Marock viola
Theresia Rosendorfer violoncello
PROGRAM
Clara Schumann / Aribert Reimann
Drei Lieder nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine für Tenor und Streichquartett
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy / Aribert Reimann
... oder soll es Tod bedeuten?
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 44/3
