Experience culture. Poetry Slam in Hamburg

Inspiring Japan

With its new presentation of the East Asia Collection, the MK&G is celebrating the unbroken inspirational power of Japanese design. Now on display for the first time are paintings from the Edo period (1615–1868), Buddhist calligraphy and colour woodblock prints from the private collection of Walter Gebhard, acquired by the museum in 2021. The exhibition unfolds over two storeys: In the first part, the pictures enter into a dialogue with ceramics, lacquerware, bamboo baskets, metalwork and sword ornaments from the existing collection.

International Mendelssohn Festival Hamburg 2026

This concert is both a tribute and a reflection: music as an expression of humanity, musical culture, and tradition. Mozart’s String Quintet, K. 516, opens up a space of intense emotion, while Bach’s Double Concerto places the idea of musical dialogue at its heart. In the second part, a multifaceted panorama unfolds: the Larghetto from Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, works by Volkmann and Piatti, and Baermann’s Adagio combine lyrical lines with sonic depth. Vivaldi’s Double Concerto leads this development back to Baroque virtuosity, before Pau Casals’ »Cant dels Ocells« concludes the evening as a quiet, haunting legacy.

PERFORMERS

Moses Mendelssohn Kammerorchester chamber orchestra

Fine Arts Quartet string quartet

Ralph Evans violin

Efim Boico violin

Gil Sharon viola

Niklas Schmidt violoncello

Mark Gothóni violin

Josefine Natalia Kardinar violin

Peijun Xu viola

Niklas Schmidt violoncello

Arto Noras violoncello

Clemens Malich violoncello

Michel Lethiec clarinet

PROGRAM

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Quintet in G minor, KV 516

Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto for Two Violins, Strings and Basso Continuo in D minor, BWV 1043

- Interval -

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Larghetto / aus: Klarinettenquintett A-Dur KV 581 »Stadler-Quintett«

Robert Volkmann
Andante mit Variationen für drei Violoncelli

Alfredo Piatti
Serenade für zwei Violoncelli und Klavier

Heinrich Joseph Baermann
Adagio für Klarinette und Streicher Des-Dur

Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto für zwei Violoncelli, Streicher und Basso continuo g-Moll RV 531

Pau Casals
Cant dels ocells (Lied der Vögel) für Violoncello und Streichorchester

International Mendelssohn Festival Hamburg 2026

»Power and Form« focuses on musical form as an expression of energy and structure. Beethoven’s early String Quartet, Op. 18 No. 1, already reveals the tension between classical order and individual style. Anton Reicha’s Wind Quintet expands on this concept through sonic experiments and new formal approaches. In the second part, the perspective becomes more focused: Beethoven’s String Quintet, Op. 29, combines power and richness with a clear architectural structure, making audible how musical form arises from inner movement.

PERFORMERS

Fine Arts Quartet string quartet

Ralph Evans violin

Efim Boico violin

Gil Sharon viola

Niklas Schmidt violoncello

5um3 quintet

Meret Louisa Vogel flute

Jiyeon Noh oboe

Max Godinić clarinet

Annika Koll bassoon

Una Weske french horn

Peijun Xu viola

PROGRAM

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet in F major, Op. 18/1

Anton Reicha
Quintett f-Moll op. 99/2

- Interval -

Ludwig van Beethoven
Streichquintett C-Dur op. 29

International Mendelssohn Festival Hamburg 2026

»Elves in the Elphi« moves between fantasy, virtuosity, and sonic transformation. Carl Maria von Weber’s Violin Sonata opens with classical elegance, while Henriette Renié’s Harp Légende unfolds a floating, fairy-tale-like soundscape. The paraphrases on Bizet’s Carmen present music as a play on recognition and transformation, in which virtuosity becomes narrative power. In the second part, Weber’s Trio in G minor broadens the perspective into chamber music, before Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream transforms the space into a poetic realm between reality and imagination—a dazzling interplay of lightness and magic.

PERFORMERS

Jiyoon Lee violin

Niklas Schmidt violoncello

Patrick Gallois flute

Michel Lethiec clarinet

Álmos László Tallós harp

Juhani Lagerspetz piano

Stepan Simonian piano

PROGRAM

Carl Maria von Weber
Sonate für Violine und Klavier A-Dur op. 10/5

Henriette Renié
Légende d’après »les Elfes« de Leconte de Lisle

Pablo de Sarasate
Carmen-Fantasie für Violine und Klavier op. 25

Georges Bizet
»carmen strips«

- Interval -

Fanny Hensel
Sechs Lieder op. 1 (Auswahl)

Carl Maria von Weber
Trio für Flöte, Violoncello und Klavier g-Moll op. 63

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Suite

Encore:

David Popper
Elfentanz op. 39 für Violoncello und Klavier

International Mendelssohn Festival Hamburg 2026

»Playfulness and Elegance« explores the delicate balance between virtuosity and stylistic clarity. Jean-Marie Leclair’s sonata displays Baroque agility and structural precision, while York Bowen and Carl Maria von Weber highlight the viola as an expressive, richly colored instrument. After the intermission, Scarlatti’s sonatas unfold a concentrated form of musical expression that expands into perfect balance in Mozart’s Piano Concerto K. 488—a work in which elegance, transparency, and expression appear in ideal harmony.

PERFORMERS

Fine Arts Quartet string quartet

Ralph Evans violin

Efim Boico violin

Gil Sharon viola

Niklas Schmidt violoncello

Peijun Xu viola

Anna Kreetta Gribajcevic viola

Jens Bomhardt double bass

Stepan Simonian piano

Alon Goldstein piano

PROGRAM

Jean Marie Leclair
Sonate c-Moll op. 12/5 für zwei Violinen

York Bowen
Phantasy for Viola and Piano, Op. 54

Carl Maria von Weber
Andante und Rondo ungarese c-Moll J 79 für Viola und Klavier

- Interval -

Domenico Scarlatti
Drei Sonaten für Klavier

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in C major, KV 415 (387b)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A major, KV 488

International Mendelssohn Festival Hamburg 2026

»Triumph of the Keys« highlights the piano as a versatile center of expression. Mendelssohn’s Fantasy, Op. 28, combines free form with internal coherence, while his Songs Without Words and Paderewski’s Melody open up a lyrical, song-like dimension. Bartók’s Burlesques introduce a sharper, rhythmically pointed musical language that broadens the expressive spectrum. Ravel’s La Valse condenses these developments into a dazzling whirlwind between elegance and the abyss. In Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto—in a chamber music arrangement—the evening finally culminates in music of monumental clarity and radiant energy.

PERFORMERS

Jiyoon Lee violin

Matthias Lingenfelder violin

Anna Kreetta Gribajcevic viola

Niklas Schmidt violoncello

Jens Bomhardt double bass

Shion Ota piano

Annika Treutler piano

PROGRAM

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Fantasia fis-Moll op. 28 »Sonate écossaise«

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Lied ohne Worte fis-Moll op. 67/2

Ignaz Jan Paderewski
Melodie Nr. 2 Ges-Dur op. 16

Béla Bartók
Drei Burlesken Sz 47

Maurice Ravel
La valse

- Interval -

Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73