Simply masterful
Concert by the best participants in the viola and piano courses of Nils Mönkemeyer and Norma Fisher
The ‘Meisterhaft’ concert on Friday, 2 August at 7:30 p.m. in the Festsaal Fürstenhaus is all about viola and piano. The best participants in the courses of Nils Mönkemeyer (viola) and Norma Fisher (piano) will perform there as part of the Weimar Master Classes.
Tickets are available from the Tourist Information Centre in Weimar and at the box office for €12 (€8 concessions).
The programme includes Frédéric Chopin's enchanting Barcarolle op. 60. This masterpiece for piano takes the audience on a musical gondola ride through the canals of Venice. Fanny Mendelssohn's ‘Four Songs for the Pianoforte’ op. 8 is no less romantic, while Robert Schumann's ‘Carnival Joke from Vienna’ op. 26 captivates with its contrast of cheerful lightness and deep melancholy.
The programme also includes Paul Hindemith's Sonata for Viola and Piano, in which the composer combines classical music traditions with modern elements, as well as George Enescu's Concert Piece for Viola and Piano. The work by the Romanian composer Enescu, which was written in 1906, begins with a melancholy melody, which the viola plays in its warm, full-bodied timbre. This introduction leads into a lively allegro full of rhythmic variety and virtuoso passages.
Star violist Nils Mönkemeyer is in demand not only on stage but also backstage as an artist and teacher. Since 2011, he has been teaching as a professor of viola at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich – and knows all the tricks and tips for giving his Weimar students valuable interpretation and practice advice for their own works in just a few intensive days.
The British pianist and Weimar guest professor Norma Fisher, who teaches at the Royal College of Music in London and is invited to masterclasses all over the world, is no less impressive in the educational field. The results of the two masterclasses are eagerly awaited.
[1 August 2024]