Ironie & Illusion | Kronberg Festival 2026 „Courage!“

“Irony & Illusion” brings together two aspects of courage: the power of imagination and the courage to speak between the lines.

Debussy’s famous *Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune* opens the evening with dazzling timbres and an impressionistic dream world, before Edgar Moreau performs Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto —a work full of wit, sharpness, and subtle irony. Under conditions of political repression, Shostakovich developed a musical language that did not express criticism openly, but rather encoded it subtly.

The program concludes with Prokofiev’s “Classical Symphony”— a masterpiece that is as witty as it is surprisingly accessible. With charm, lightness, and playful elegance, it combines classical forms with an unmistakably modern style.

Together with François Leleux and the hr Symphony Orchestra, the result is a concert that demonstrates how humor, imagination, and musical sophistication can become a form of artistic courage.

More information about the Kronberg Festivaland the concert.