Podcast
Festival radio program | Concert introduction podcast
The first episodes are now available. More will be added continuously.
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Baroque Concert 1 (20 July)
A musical Giro D'Italia! The opening concert of the Baroque Weeks 2025 takes us through the musical world of Italy in the early 18th century and provides an insight into the diverse professional realities of the six composers. Baroque Concert 1 (20 July)
Baroque Concert 2 (23 July)
Dorothee Mields has chosen a French programme for her debut in Ernen. This introduction focuses on the cantata «Le retour de la paix» (The return of peace) by Michel Pignolet de Montéclair, which is characterised by strong musical images and is framed by the equally characteristic music from Jean-Philippe Rameau's ballet-opera «Pygmalion». Baroque Concert 2 (23 July)
Baroque Concert 3 (25 July)
Dorothee Mields' second performance in the Musikdorf Ernen is dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach's wedding cantatas. This introduction accompanies you through the famous and wonderful cantata «Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten» BWV 202 and recalls the special role of the city of Leipzig in this programme. Baroque Concert 3 (25 July)
Baroque Concert 4 (29 July)
In this concert, Polish tenor Krystian Adam makes his debut in the Musikdorf Ernen. In addition to Claudio Monteverdi's epochal dramatic madrigal Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, he has also chosen three arias from Antonio Vivaldi's opera La verità in cimento. In this introduction, we present this opera to you. Baroque Concert 4 (29 July)
Baroque Concert 5 (31 July)
In this introduction, we explore how George Frideric Handel and his patrons worked around the ban on opera in Rome and why we know so little Polish Baroque music. For his second performance in Ernen, tenor Krystian Adam has selected wonderful gems from Poland and some of Handel's most impressive tenor arias. Baroque Concert 5 (31 July)
Chamber Concert 1 (3 August) «Four Weddings and a Funeral»
Wedding fever has spread! As in the British romantic comedy of the same name, one wedding follows the next in this programme, but there is also at least one death to mourn. In this programme, Jonathan Inniger guides us through the five works of the opening concert of «Chamber Music Plus».
Chamber Concert 1 (3 August)
Chamber Concert 2 (5 August) | «Dances and Games»
Dance is everywhere! In this programme, we immerse ourselves in the sonorous piano quintet The Whole Earth Dances by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, the Composer in Residence 2024/25. The piece, inspired by nature poetry, is framed by playful works by Mozart and Beethoven.
Chamber Concert 2 (5 August)
Orchestra Concert 1 (8 August) | «Worship»
Very different forms of worship are at the centre of the first orchestral concert. In this introduction, we get to know Max Bruch's Kol Nidrei and John Adams' Shaker Loops in more detail. Orchestra Concert 1 (8 August)
Chamber Concert 4 (10 August) | «Pilgrim»
Being on the road, wandering or making a pilgrimage epitomises the Romantic attitude to life. The «Pilgrim» programme is characterised by two very different works by Franz Liszt, one of the great travellers among 19th century composers. The evening chamber concert in the church (6 pm) rounds off a concert day that takes the pilgrimage literally with two pilgrimage concerts (11.30 am and 2 pm).
Chamber Concert 4 (10 August)
Chamber Concert 5 (11 August) | «Majesty»
All human beings are [...] equal in dignity and rights, as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. This was different in the past. Aristocrats had to be accorded special honour because they were the «dignitaries» of society. The programme «Majesty», with music by Haydn, Beethoven, Pärt and Cheryl Frances-Hoad (Composer in Residence 2024/25), explores the different ideas of human dignity.
Chamber Concert 5 (11 August in Brig)
Chamber Concert 6 (13 August) | «Hidden Magic»
Two French compositions from around 1900 are at the centre of this introduction. Both have their own unique magic. Paul Dukas' L'apprenti sorcier (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) is not only known worldwide, but also captivates with its power and the enormous maelstrom that the music develops. Lili Boulanger's mystical and sad evening sounds (D'un soir triste), on the other hand, enchant with their subtlety.. Chamber Concert 6 (13 August)
Orchestra Concert 2 (15 August) | «Celebration»
At the centre of this introduction are two concertos that are 200 years apart in music history. Despite the historical distance between J. S. Bach's Piano Concerto in A major and K. A. Hartmann's Chamber Concerto for clarinet, string quartet and string orchestra, the two works have striking similarities: The thoughtfulness of the slow movements and the virtuosity and dance of the fast movements. Orchestra Concert 2 (15 August)
Talk with Alain Claude Sulzer
Joseba Zbinden spoke to author Alain Claude Sulzer about his novel «Fast wie ein Bruder». Queerlesen, 19 and 20 July
Talk with Kristin Höller
Joseba Zbinden spoke to author Kristin Höller about her novel «Leute von früher». Queerlesen, 19 and 20 July
Talk with Volker Kitz
Volker Kitz brings his latest essay to Queerlesen. The title is "Old parents. About caring and the time we have left" ("Alte Eltern. Über das Kümmern und die Zeit, die uns noch bleibt"). In Joseba Zbinden's episode, the author talks about his personal relationship with his ageing father, who had developed dementia. Queerlesen, 19 and 20 July.