Special Concerts: Extraordinary

One was considered a child prodigy and did not even live to see her twenty-fifth birthday. The other lived almost a full century and dedicated her life to the work of her sister who died young. Lili and Nadia Boulanger are two exceptional figures in music history.

The 'Boulangerie' project brings their works and life stories into dialogue with each other, thereby initiating a dialogue between the arts. By bringing together biographical narratives and pieces by the two sisters, the project explores their impact in the present day, traces their significance for our contemporary view of female composers, and discovers in text and sound the discourses, horrors and upheavals of the 20th century.

Not only do the two sisters have their say musically, but so do those around them. In addition to works by Nadia and Lili Boulanger, another focus is on their teachers, such as Ernest Boulanger, but also Gabriel Fauré, Louis Vierne and Maurice Ravel.

The works were selected by Anouchka and Katharina Hack, while the literary passages were written by Tilman Strasser and recited during the concert. As an author and cultural concept developer with a musical education, he has already dealt with the intersections of music and literature in many of his works.

In collaboration with Literaturhaus Bonn e.V.
Supported by the Kunststiftung NRW (Art Foundation of North Rhine-Westphalia)

‘Playing with Friends’ is a group of musicians who, as young talents, were given the opportunity to join the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, founded in Weimar in 1999 by Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim. They come from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Israel and Germany. Just six weeks after the West-Eastern Divan was founded, the group gathered here came together from the ranks of the orchestra to make music in a changing chamber music ensemble under the name ‘Playing with Friends’.

The young musicians of that time have since become mature and professional orchestral musicians and soloists. They have made way for the next generation in the Divan Orchestra. Today, they enrich many renowned orchestras in the European cultural scene with their voices. Most of them have permanent engagements in Berlin, Basel, Düsseldorf, Vienna, Tel Aviv, Cairo and Doha.

The musicians of ‘Playing with Friends’ embody the spirit of their role models and teachers, Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim, namely that it is the task of a musician to express his or her soul with the help of an instrument and thus reach out to neighbours.

To mark the release of their third CD featuring works for oboe and piano, Philippe Tondre, winner of the Beethoven-Ring Prize, and Danae Dörken are once again performing a concert for the Citizens for Beethoven and the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.