Name: German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Anja Bihlmaier, Vision String Quartet
Start: 2027-03-20T20:00:00
End: 2027-03-20T20:00:00

Symphony Concert: Bihlmaier & Vision String Quartet

Grazyna Bacewicz was a multi-talented artist: She not only composed, but also performed as a pianist and violinist, worked as a professor, and wrote several novels and a radio opera. Although her 1948 Concerto for String Orchestra still bears the gravity of World War II, its sound has long since embraced the dawn of a more peaceful future.

In this work, one hears the energy of a hidden “invisible motor,” as the composer once described it. Thanks to this, “I do in ten minutes what others take an hour to do […], even my pulse beats significantly faster than others’, and I was born in the seventh month of pregnancy.”

Beethoven’s work and character are also regarded as brimming with energy—his “ecstatic energy” fascinated the composer John Adams throughout his life.

“Absolute Jest,” the turbulent, dense orchestral piece featuring a solo string quartet, celebrates this drive that seems to lie behind every one of Beethoven’s notes and pays homage to his ability to “transform a minimal amount of information into fantastic, expressive, and energetic structures” (Adams). “Absolute Jest” incorporates fragments of Beethoven’s string quartets and symphonies such as the “Eroica”—snippets, ideas, and echoes of his works permeate the entire piece. Adams writes that one can almost “picture the composer smiling at the result.”

The final word in this program indeed belongs to Beethoven himself: His Seventh Symphony crowned his career during his lifetime. The composer conducted the spectacular work before an audience of 5,000, who enthusiastically called for an encore—the second movement, the Allegretto, particularly captivated the audience.