Wilfried Strehle and the Chamber Music Ensemble of the Herbert von Karajan Academy (Berliner Philharmoniker)

Musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker – one of the world’s most acclaimed orchestras – don’t just perform major symphony programmes. The orchestra’s soloists are also well-known as performers of chamber music. Soloists of the Berliner Philharmoniker have performed as chamber instrumental ensembles at the Stars of the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg on numerous occasions. Last century, the Berliner Philharmoniker was directed by Herbert von Karajan for thirty-five years. In 1955 he was appointed the orchestra’s Musical Director for Life. Concerned about the succession of generations of musicians in the Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan initiated a special programme to train high-class musicians. In 1972 he created the Academy Orchestra, the main aim of which was to select the most talented young musicians and train them to the level of the musicians in the Berliner Philharmoniker and other leading orchestras throughout the world. Under the guidance of musicians in the orchestra they acquire brilliant skills and inestimable experience. The idea of Herbert von Karajan has, to a large extent, come about thanks to the support of a small group of entrepreneurs – patrons who for many years have willingly supported the Academy and taking responsibility for a significant part of its expenses. At this year’s festival the ensemble of the Herbert von Karajan Academy will be performing under and together with outstanding Berliner Philharmoniker violist Wilfried Strehle.

In his final years, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed several quintets, each of which without exception may be called a masterpiece. By this time he had scaled great heights in chamber music, which is borne out by the six quartets dedicated to Joseph Haydn. For Mozart, the next step was his four string quintets for classical ensemble (two violins, two violas and cello ) and his clarinet quintet.
The String Quintet in C Major (K. 515) was completed on 19 April 1787. It was composed independently and had not been commissioned. It would appear that Mozart was confident that his new music would find its own fans, and through subscriptions he disseminated the sheet music, “written out beautifully and precisely”, as the Wiener Zeitung related.
The quintet opens with a dialogue between the cello and the first violin which soon interchange their themes. The melody occupies a broad expanse easily and freely – from the very first bars Mozart uses the full range available to each of the five instruments. Just as freely he develops the themes, moving from one tonality to another and demonstrating that he had no intention of limiting his means. The composer makes it clear from the outset that this music is intended for true connoisseurs and refined musicians (perhaps even intellectuals) who value the refinement of the minuet, the cantilena of the Andante and the intentional simplicity of the rondo finale.

Johannes Brahms’ String Sextet No 1 in B Flat Major (Op. 18) was completed in 1860 and was the young composer’s second (but already absolutely mature) chamber work. Brahms had not yet moved to Vienna, though in this sextet it is as if he could already sense the atmosphere of that amazing city, where in the 19^th century literally everyone was making music – an entire army of professionals and an even greater army of amateurs. Brahms did not give his chamber works any programme titles to make them more accessible to the wider public. His music does not need any explanations because it goes, as Beethoven said in his own time, “from heart to heart.” The first section of the sextet is a songful Allegro that develops unhurriedly so that the audience can evaluate the melodic richness of the music. The bleak theme of the second section is first expounded by the viola. This bold section is written in the form of variations and to an extent in the 18^th century manner, in the spirit of early variations on the theme of a folie. This is followed by a scherzo and the rondo finale (Poco allegretto e grazioso). Having six instruments to hand – two violins, two violas and two cellos – Brahms does not overuse academic polyphonic methods. Quite the reverse, in fact – the additional voices serve to increase the cantilena melodies and make the harmony no less orotund than Brahms’ music for the piano.
Anna Bulycheva