Nachtmusik der Moderne

In the organizer's words:

In the unique atmosphere when the Pinakothek der Moderne closes in the evening, the Munich Chamber Orchestra fills the heart of the museum - the rotunda - with its 'Nachtmusik der Moderne'. The orchestra presents music from the 20th and 21st centuries to match the works of art in the museum. The special feature: the music is played by just one composer per concert evening. So you can immerse yourself completely in this one world of sound with the MKO. On three to four Saturday evenings during the season, the Munich Chamber Orchestra will introduce you to the most important composers of our time.

Saturday, December 7, 2024, 10 pm: Portrait of the composer Enno Poppe

His pieces are called 'Strom', 'Rad', 'Herz' or 'Wald', and Enno Poppe's music is as vivid and immediate as these titles. Poppe is one of the most original composers of our time and a real bird of paradise. The finest frictions, extreme polyphony, experiments with unusual timbres and combinations - all this serves one purpose: to create music that is pure expression, that is essential, that grabs you and never lets go. At this 'Nachtmusik der Moderne', you will not only get to know the music of Enno Poppe, but he himself will talk about his music at the artist talk before the concert and stand at the conductor's podium during the concert: in the densely woven viola concerto 'Filz', which he wrote for soloist Tabea Zimmermann; and in 'Wald', in which four string quartets create a complex sonic habitat; you will also hear 'Schlaf' for two double bass clarinets, whose sound has always stood for dream drunkenness and the worlds between this world and the hereafter.

Saturday, March 15, 2025, 10 p.m.: Portrait of the composer PETERIS VASKS (*1946)

Symphony No. 1 'Voices' (1991)
Cello Concerto No. 2 'Presence' (2011/12)

ANASTASIA KOBEKINA Violoncello
YUKI KASAI Conductor and concertmaster
MUNICH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

"Most people today have no faith, no love and no ideals. The spiritual dimension is lost. I want to feed the soul." With this confession, Peˉ teris Vasks sums up his creative being and will. He succeeds by deliberately keeping expression and means sparse and struggling for euphony even in the most desolate moments: virtuosic and sensuous in sound. At the same time, Vasks is a central figure of identification in the Baltic region. The Symphony No. 1 'Voices' stands for this. It was composed during the critical phase of the Baltic states' separation from the Soviet Union. The three parts are dedicated to the voice of silence, life and conscience. In the Cello Concerto No. 2 - with the wonderful soloist Anastasia Kobekina - the epithet 'Presence' again refers to the pure being of a music that is emotionally and spiritually present without artificial distance. The solo cello becomes the carrier of a human voice. In the last movement, the soloist sings a lullaby inspired by folk music while playing. This song without words builds a bridge to the voices from the 1st symphony.

Saturday, May 17, 2025, 10 p.m.: Portrait of the composer WOLFGANG RIHM (*1952)

Ländler for 13 strings (1979)
'Male über Male 2' for clarinet and 9 players (2000/2008) 'Nachtordnung' for 15 strings (1976)

JÖRG WIDMANN Clarinet
BAS WIEGERS Conductor
MUNICH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Two associated conductors portray a composer with whom one of them studied and with whom the orchestra has a long association: this Wolfgang Rihm retrospective is a very personal Nachtmusik. At the same time, a Rihm portrait was one of the first concerts in this MKO series at the Pinakothek der Moderne in 2004. The current program is united by compositions that listen inwardly with bold reductions and at the same time breathe an expressive intimacy. There is 'Male über Male 2', premiered by Jörg Widmann: this is the "overpainting" of the four-movement clarinet solo '4 Male', which Rihm wrote in 2000 for his former composition student Widmann. In the quietly creeping saraband rhythm of 'Ländler', on the other hand, harmonic-metric structures shift until an unreal light of sound shimmers: broken into past and present. Nachtordnung', probably one of Rihm's most impressive string works, is inspired by a poem by Paul Celan. Dream worlds are explored in seven contrasting "fragments".

ARTIST TALKS BEFORE THE CONCERTS AT 9 PM

Before the concert begins at 10 p.m., the artists themselves or experts on their music will be guests and talk from 9 p.m. about their inspiration, sound language and creative process.

NIGHT TOURS BEFORE THE CONCERTS AT 8 PM

Before the introductory talks, the Pinakothek der Moderne offers a night tour of works by contemporary artists, designers or architects. The number of participants is limited and only possible with a pre-purchased concert ticket; register for the guided tour up to two days before the concert at programm@pinakothek.de

ABOUT THE "NACHTMUSIK DER MODERNE" SERIES

Every season, the Munich Chamber Orchestra dedicates a portrait concert to important composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, in which works by the respective composer from different creative periods and in different instrumentations are presented. These concerts in the special ambience of the Rotunda of the Pinakothek der Moderne can be booked as a subscription and save over 17% compared to the price of individual tickets: With the Nachtmusik subscription with 3 concerts for €75.

The 'Nachtmusik der Moderne' series is sponsored by European Computer Telecoms and the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Price information:

Seating normal price 35,00 EUR Seating U28 ticket 15,00 EUR Standing room normal price 18,00 EUR Standing room U28 ticket 15,00 EUR