Simply masterful
Weimar Master Classes attract visitors to the Fürstenhaus, the Forum Seebach and the Weimarhalle with 16 concerts
A kaleidoscope of concerts awaits audiences at the 65th Weimar Master Classes at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar. From 19 July to 2 August, guest professors and participants in the various courses will present their artistic skills and the melodious results of their joint work in 16 concerts in the Festsaal Fürstenhaus, the Forum Seebach and the Weimarhalle. Around 100 participants from all over the world are expected to attend the courses and concerts.
In the opening concert on Saturday, 19 July at 7:30 p.m. in the Festsaal Fürstenhaus, guest professors Alexey Stadler and Michail Lifits invite you to an exciting recital. The programme ranges from Baroque clarity to Romantic depth and expressive modernism, promising great emotion and brilliance. The programme includes Franz Schubert's late Piano Sonata in B flat major, which is characterised by lyrical intensity and melancholic poetry.
Mieczysław Weinberg's Sonata for Solo Cello combines expressiveness with an almost meditative sound world. The two artists will then perform Alfred Schnittke's dramatic First Cello Sonata together.
In the ‘Meister im Konzert’ series, the well-known and highly esteemed violinist Ingolf Turban will perform in the Festsaal Fürstenhaus on Monday, 21 July at 7:30 p.m., accompanied on the piano by Tomoko Sawallisch. He will begin his concert with Mozart's Violin Sonata KV 304, which enchants with its song-like simplicity. Franz Schubert's C major Fantasy will then be performed with virtuosity and complexity.
A special highlight of the evening is Joachim Raff's great Sonata in E minor from 1857, a rarely performed gem. Another ‘Master in Concert’ on Saturday, 26 July, is pianist Konstantin Scherbakov with, among other works, the famous Bach Chaconne, a late Schubert sonata and a cross-section of Frédéric Chopin's pianistic cosmos.
In addition to a large number of mostly free course concerts, selected participants of the Weimar Master Classes will perform together in two larger concerts. Under the title ‘Meisterhaft’ (Masterful), selected students of Ingolf Turban (violin), Barbara Westphal (viola), Alexey Stadler (cello), Jean-Louis Capezzali (oboe) and Michail Lifits (piano) will take to the stage in the Festsaal Fürstenhaus on 25 July, followed by selected participants from the courses taught by Lukas Hagen (violin), Konstantin Scherbakov (piano) and Jana Boušková (harp) on 1 August.
The colourful concert programme will be rounded off on 28 July at 7:30 p.m. in the Festsaal Fürstenhaus with the ‘debut’ of the Motus Quartet: The first prize winners of the 10th International JOSEPH JOACHIM Chamber Music Competition 2025 in Weimar will perform string quartets by Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert and Béla Bartók, including Schubert's famous quartet ‘Death and the Maiden’.
For a spectacular finale to the Weimar Master Classes, the audience can once again look forward to ‘Die Besten zum Schluss’ (The Best for Last): selected participants from various instrumental courses will perform with the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Markus L. Frank on Saturday, 2 August at 7:30 p.m. in the Weimarhalle. The best performances from the previous orchestra studio will be performed by the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, a long-standing and loyal partner of the Weimar Master Classes.
Tickets cost €15 and €10 (Meister im Konzert etc.) or €20 and €15 (Die Besten zum Schluss) and are available from the Weimar Tourist Information Office and at the box office.
[26 June 2025]