We press the start button and open crescendo 2023 with a concert that brings together seemingly opposites: the Symphony Orchestra of the UdK Berlin conducted by Steven Sloane gives a foretaste of the rest of the festival's program by bringing together romantic and modern sounds.

Powerfully solemn sounds by Wagner are juxtaposed with ramifications by Jubilar György Ligeti: The string orchestra, divided into two groups, plays in quarter-tone tunings that differ from each other, creating a complex musical web.

On this carpet of sound, both groups try to draw the other into their respective moods.

Stravinsky's Firebird then rises musically from the ashes, flying through the composition with playful, light flute sounds until Stravinsky concludes the suite with intense final sounds. At the end of this program, full of musical highlights, music of another jubilarian is heard: Sergei Rachmaninoff, whose piano concertos are part of the standard repertoire of piano literature and enjoy great popularity. In addition to the high demands of the 3rd piano concerto on the soloist, it captivates with catchy themes and a resolution of the melancholy in the sound rush of a radiant dur. The opening concert of crescendo2023 opens the doors for a music-laden, varied festival.

Richard Wagner: Der Fliegende Holländer – Ouvertüre
György Ligeti: Ramifications
Igor Strawinsky: Der Feuervogel (1919)
Sergej Rachmaninow: 3. Klavierkonzert d-Moll op. 30

Symphonieorchester der UdK Berlin
Irina Chistiakova, Klavier
Steven Sloane, Leitung

On this day you can experience the installations of the Sound Studies program in the foyer.