Author: Chiara

Berlin, December 2017 Berlin State Opera, Matthias Schulz, Udo Metzner, Sebastian Weigle

Hansel and Gretel is always performed at Christmas time in Germany. Everyone loves it, even though, it’s not actually very Christmassy.  For example, Hansel and Gretel collect strawberries in the forest snd sleep outside… not really things we would do in December!

But for the German audiences, it was no surprise that Humperdinck’s opera – in its new production here by Achim Freyer – was performed as part of the Christmas programme at the newly re-opened Berlin State Opera.

The Berlin State Opera, or “Staatsoper Unter den Linden” in German, underwent a seven year renovation and re-opened recently. Everything has been impressively modernised behind the scenes while managing to retain the unique Staatsoper front of house experience for audiences.

For me it was wonderfully nostalgic to be back at the Staatsoper. It was my very first job as a horn player and I spent 10 very happy years there.  I had always found it a very special place – just like a big family – and this hasn’t changed a bit.  My visit felt like I was coming home – I loved it!

I hope you enjoy this Hansel and Gretel-filled episode and it just remains for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, music-filled New Year!

Havana, Cuba October 2017 – Lyceum Orchestra Havana

Mozart in Havana! When I heard about this festival, I knew I just had to feature it on Sarah´s Music somehow. I had visited Cuba for the first time earlier this year and had immediately fallen in love with the country, the people and their music. To come back to film for work was just a wonderful excuse and I loved every minute. However, things rarely go to plan in Cuba…there’s always a surprise or two in store!

I was impressed by the standard and the passion of the young musicians studying classical music in Havana. It was a joy to play with Susana and the Havana strings in our chamber music concert and hearing the Marriage of Figaro Overture in Havana Cathedral was very special – I enjoyed watching the audience´s reaction to Mozart and the orchestra played so well.

None of this would have happened had it not been with the help of Lea Jakob and Cris Schonk from the Cuban European Youth Academy. They were the ones who organised my first masterclass in Cuba last February and were invaluable helping to organise the filming. The CuE is a wonderful organisation which supports young Cuban classical musicians, check out their Facebook page!

Although Cuba is bursting with music, classical music is not normally associated with the country so I was delighted to find how much is being done for classical music there. But their wonderful musicians need support and I am determined to do as much as I can. You can too by going to visit Cuba and, between all the Cuban music on every street corner, attend a classical music concert or two there. You’ll see what I mean!

September 2017 , Holstebro, Denmark – The Danish String Quartet: Rune, Frederik, Asbjørn, Fredrik

I´ve been fans of these four for a while so when I was invited to take part in the Klassiske Dage Festival in Denmark and saw that they would be performing there too, I knew I wanted to get them onto Sarah´s Music. And here they are!

Klassiske Dage is a wonderful festival in Holstebro, Denmark, run by my dear friend Janne Thomsen. Holstebro is a small, tight knit community and everyone was so excited that the DSQ were coming to town. I had watched their videos on YouTube so often that I felt like I was meeting pop stars. And they are! These four musicians play so well together – even their feet tap in perfect time together during their folk music. I loved getting to know them and also playing in the encore which Rune had arranged especially for all the Klassiske Dage soloists – you can see it here in the Extras.

If you get a chance to see them live, do go! And if you can´t, buy their latest CD for a taste of how beautifully they play. Last Leaf is a collection of Scandinavian folk tunes and you´ll love it, I promise!

Bonn, September 2017 – Beethovenfest 2017

This episode documents the opening weekend of the annual Beethovenfest in Bonn. Sarah´s Music is there every year as the Deutsche Welle is the media partner. We had exhausted Beethoven and Gummibears in previous years so this year I decided to just roam about with my team on the opening weekend and see what was going on.

Loved the energy of the ONE group – it´s always inspiring for me to see young people getting others involved through music. Johanna and Christina, you are great and keep on doing what you do!

The Jazztube wasn´t part of the Beethovenfest officially but I was happy to discover it by chance so just had to include it.

And I was really happy to include the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, one of the best youth orchestras in the world. My own youth orchestra days were the best of my life, so it was great to be around their energy and talent and to hear their rehearsal – they sounded great!

Rain, sunshine, lovely interviews, we had a great time in Bonn this year! Oh, and my tip for any of you visiting Bonn: go to the Konditorei Müller-Langhardt on the Marktplatz…they made all the edible Beethoven creations and we loved being there!

Lucerne, August 2017 – Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Ricardo Chailly, Michael Haefliger, Reinhold Friedrich

Lucerne can be the most beautiful and magical place if the weather is good. It is also a beautiful place when the weather is bad…it´s just not as fun to film outside as it could be! We really didn´t expect Lucerne to be so cold and rainy in the middle of August but it was. It didn´t dampen our spirits though – it was pure pleasure to be around the musicians of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. As Kirsty Hilton says in the programme, the LFO is like a grown-up youth orchestra, and for me it was so lovely to see so many old friends who I hadn´t seen in ages. A very special orchestra!

A huge thank you to the LFO brass and percussion, led by the inimitable Reinhold Friedrich! We weren´t able to film the rehearsals as the orchestra were making a CD (buy it!) so we didn´t have enough music for this episode. The brass and percussion came to my rescue and surprised me by playing a march up on the roof of the KKL concert hall. I was so honoured and adored it – and them!

Enjoy Lucerne in the rain, next Sarah´s Music I make there I will insist the sun shines so I can show you the mountains, but for now you´ll have to make do with an alpine horn in the rain…

Berlin, May 2017 Albrecht Mayer, Kammerakademie Potsdam

The Oboe is the Instrument of the Year 2017 in Germany and to celebrate this beautiful but fiendishly difficult instrument for Sarah´s Music we were lucky to have Albrecht Mayer – “the man who made the oboe cool”. I was going to call this episode just “The Oboe” but Albrecht spoke so inspiringly that it has turned into his episode. Very happy and proud to have him on the programme, also to be able to include the Kammerakademie Potsdam, a really wonderful orchestra full of lovely people. And…Albie did a very impressive Horn Challenge and I honked my best too…don´t miss it!

Berlin, July 2017 –  Christopher Rowe, Martin Roddewig, Jeanne Gröllmann, Kevin Steiner, Jörg Theiss

To make a great TV programme you need a great team – and I am so lucky to have these wonderful people to work with on Sarah´s Music. They have been with me from the beginning and have seen and heard it all,  so I thought that for this compilation I would put them in front of the camera instead of behind and ask them which were their favourite episodes and why.

They all turned out to be just as good in front of the camera as behind it – I must admit I was amazed and impressed at how well they all spoke during the filming!

I am very grateful for you, my wonderful team, and look forward to many more Sarah´s Music adventures with you all!

Hamburg, May 2017  Angelika Bachmann, Iris Siegfried, Anne-Monika von Twardowski, Sonja Lena Schmid

These girls rock! I mean really rock! I met them at the Echo Klassik awards in Berlin and loved their energy immediately. I´m so happy to have them on Sarah´s Music, they are such great ambassadors for music. And such talent! They play, sing, direct, create, make people smile…and find the time to support a music project for underprivileged children in Chile. Oh, and they are gorgeous too…a perfect recipe for success!

They are already very well-known around the world, but in case you haven´t met them yet, I hope this episode will turn you into a fan too like I am. Enjoy Salut Salon!