May 2016
Patricia Kopatchinskaja and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra raise questions about conventions in classical music through an innovative concert performance. Bye Bye Beethoven, which was conceptualized by Patricia Kopatchinskaja, will be performed for the first time at the Hamburg International Music Festival and a repeat performance will be staged in Berlin.
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, known for her versatility and curiosity, once said: “Classical music is like a big cruise ship, with everyone sitting in the back looking backward, at the past. No one is sitting in front looking forward…“
Bye Bye Beethoven, the fourth collaboration between the MCO and Patricia Kopatchinskaja, addresses such restraints and clichés of classical music through a staged production. This performance involves musicians in both conventional and unconventional roles, encounters with different musical genres – including a collaboration with sound designer Jorge Sanchez-Chiong – and discourse among sound, space and imagery.
In Hamburg, Bye Bye Beethoven will be performed at Kampnagel, a performance space doubling as a meeting place for freelance artists and a laboratory of ideas. In Berlin, the performance will be presented at Radialsystem, one of the MCO’s longstanding partners in presenting concerts with unconventional formats.
