Elbphilharmonie Hamburg presents programme in opening season

Lieben-Seutter said: “We will have 15 international, top orchestras alone, some of the world’s most famous singers and nearly two dozen extremely famous pianists as guests.” Contemporary music will also be part of the programme, he added. The concert hall will be open not only to classical music, but also to jazz and world music evidenced by many concerts.

Speaking at the presentation, Scholz said: “The nice, rough-looking Elbphilharmonie stands in the heart of the city. The location alone challenges us to turn it into a building for everyone. The programme in the opening season will bring this promise to life at long last. The artistic agenda is ambitious and demanding.”

This is also the spirit emerging from a new street-art campaign commissioned by Hamburg Marketing GmbH and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. An artist’s collective from St. Pauli has gone to great, creative efforts with particular highlights of the concert hall’s upcoming programme. And now the large-scale results are on show across the city.

A graffito in Flora-Neumann-Strasse in Hamburg’s district Mitte alludes to the ¡Viva Beethoven! project which will see the Orquesta Sínfonica Simón Bolívar from Venezuela perform all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies on five evenings. The graffito suggests the wealth of colours in Beethoven’s music.

A total of seven concert highlights interpreted by the Typeholics street artists, have been set up throughout Hamburg. The works include a stunning installation on the “Alter Schwede” glacial erratic on the banks of the Elbe. Wrapped in gold foil, the installation embodies the treasure in Richard Wagner’s opera Das Rheingold. Another graffito with a HVV bus alludes to the “New York Stories” festival, which the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg will host in spring. Lieben-Seutter pointed out: “The Elbphilharmonie is not supposed to be an unapproachable temple of culture,” adding, “Our aspiration is to redefine music and make it accessible to everyone.”
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