Max-Joseph-Hall of the Munich Residence

Verdi: Overture from La Forza del Destino
Mozart: Concerto for Flute and Harp – Allegro
Mahler: Symphony No. 5, Adagietto
Debussy: Danse sacrée et danse profane
Bizet: Carmen Fantasy for Flute
Smetana: The Moldau
Offenbach: Can-Can & Barcarole
J. Strauss: The Blue Danube – Waltz

Janine Schöllhorn – Flute, Emilie Jaulmes – Harp & Residenz Soloists

This concert takes the audience on a highly emotional journey through Europe’s opera houses and river landscapes, carried by dramatic fate and elegant dance.

The evening opens with Verdi’s overture to La Forza del Destino. The work begins with three striking opening notes—the famous “Fate motif”—before unfolding the most beautiful melodies from the opera. Anecdote: Verdi was convinced that this opera was cursed. In fact, in several productions, lead performers died on stage or scenery collapsed. The gripping overture is so intense that many conductors today approach it with extra reverence, as if to avoid challenging fate itself.

A moment of pure serenity follows with Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp (Allegro). One of the few Classical works combining these two ethereal instruments, it was commissioned by a French duke and his daughter. Anecdote: Mozart privately mocked the “impossible” pairing, yet he produced a score that sounds so effortlessly light, as if angels themselves had guided his pen.

We experience the deepest Romanticism in Mahler’s Adagietto from his Fifth Symphony. Composed solely for strings and harp, it is one of the most touching musical declarations of love in history. Anecdote: Mahler sent the manuscript to his future wife Alma without a single word; she understood it as a marriage proposal. The piece later gained worldwide fame through the film Death in Venice, but for Mahler, it was not a farewell—it was a glowing promise of eternal love.

The mood shifts to Spanish fire with Bizet’s Carmen Fantasy for flute. Based on Bizet’s opera, the work demands peak virtuosity from the soloist. Today, the fiery rhythms of the Habanera and the Gypsy Song are among the most beloved melodies in the world, here brilliantly transposed for the flute.

We follow the course of the river with Smetana’s The Moldau. From the first trickle of two small streams, the music swells into a mighty river flowing past hunting scenes and a village wedding. Anecdote: When Smetana composed this national epic, he was already completely deaf. He could only hear the roaring of the St. Johann Rapids in his imagination—a testament to extraordinary creative power despite physical adversity.

The grand finale features masters of entertainment. Offenbach first transports us to a gondola in Venice with the dreamy Barcarole, before the notorious Can-Can celebrates Parisian nightlife. Anecdote: When it premiered, the Can-Can was considered so scandalous and indecent that the police inspected dance halls to ensure dancers’ legs did not rise too high.

Frédéric Chopin: Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor
Johann Sebastian Bach / Sergei Rachmaninoff: Partita No. 3
George Gershwin: 18 Songs for Piano
George Gershwin: Porgy and Bess – “Summertime”, “Bess, You Is My Woman Now”, “It Ain’t Necessarily So”
George Gershwin: 3 Preludes
Jazz Standards & Improvisation 

Frank Fan Ming Ling - Klavier

From Chopin to Gershwin – When Classical Music Becomes Jazz

The modern jazz piano recital is not really a radical new beginning, but rather a fascinating continuation of the classical tradition. The clarity of Johann Sebastian Bach, the poetic lyricism of Frédéric Chopin, and the rich romantic sonorities of Sergei Rachmaninoff gradually lead toward the freedom we hear in jazz.

Rachmaninoff, often described as the “last Romantic,” deeply admired Chopin. For him, Chopin represented the ideal model: brilliant piano technique combined with profound emotional expression. In his Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Rachmaninoff allowed Chopin’s delicate melodies to shine within a new and broader sound world.

When Rachmaninoff emigrated to the United States in 1918, he encountered an entirely new musical energy: jazz. Surprisingly open to this development, he followed it with great interest. He especially admired George Gershwin, whose music brought together classical tradition, blues, and jazz. Rachmaninoff listened enthusiastically to Gershwin’s works and even attended concerts that presented this new blend of classical and jazz.

In this way, a musical line emerges: from Chopin’s poetic piano style, through Rachmaninoff’s expansive romantic sound world, to Gershwin’s “symphonic jazz.”

Within jazz itself, another element plays a central role: improvisation. A so-called jazz standard is the well-known musical theme—the shared foundation, so to speak. Musicians take this theme and invent new melodies over it in the moment. It is a little like a conversation: the theme provides the starting point, while improvisation brings the personal, spontaneous story.

Thus a bridge is formed from the classical piano tradition to the free and sparkling world of jazz.

Mozart: The Magic Flute – Overture
Mozart: A Little Night Music (Eine kleine Nachtmusik)
Strauss (son): Die Fledermaus – Overture
Strauss (son): The Hunt – Polka (Jagd-Polka)
Strauss (son): The Blue Danube – Waltz (An der schönen blauen Donau)
Strauss (son): “Tritsch-Tratsch” Polka, “Pizzicato” Polka & other Fast Polka

Residenz-Solisten
 

Johann Strauss – A Homage to the Mozart He Admired

Although Johann Strauss’s father himself was a famous composer, he was determined that his son should not become a musician. Instead, he sent the young Johann to the Polytechnic Institute so that he could pursue a respectable career as a bank clerk.

The plan did not succeed. Secretly, “Schani,” as Johann was called in the family, practiced the violin with the support of his mother. When his father once caught him playing music against his wishes, he reportedly even punished him physically. Yet rather than discouraging the boy, the incident only strengthened Johann’s determination to follow his own path. And that path clearly led toward music: according to family stories, he improvised his first waltz at the age of six.

Strauss often referred to Mozart as the “God of music,” emphasizing that Mozart’s clarity and melodic richness were, in his view, unsurpassed.

The musical parallels between Johann Strauss and Mozart can be heard especially in the lightness of their melodic writing, the clarity of formal structure, and the ambition to elevate entertainment music to a true concert level.

Strauss collected Mozart’s scores—not merely as collector’s items but as objects of study. Among them were The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and The Magic Flute. His brother Eduard later recalled that Johann often spent long nights studying Mozart’s scores in order to uncover “the secret of Mozartian clarity.” He even left small handwritten notes and cross-references to Mozartian themes in his own manuscripts.

In his stage works in particular, such as Die Fledermaus, Strauss was inspired by the dramatic structure of Mozart’s Figaro. The way ensemble scenes are constructed and the manner in which characters are shaped through musical motifs reflect Mozart’s lasting influence.

The best things come in small packages: With wonderful stucco works and crystal, chandeliers equipped Max's Joseph hall is for many a small pearl in the residence and forms the perfect frame for classical concerts. Just chamber music friends estimate the intimate character of the space.

Mozart: Bassoon Concerto in B-flat Major, K. 191
Haydn: Symphony No. 73 in D Major “La Chasse”
Strauss II: Die Fledermaus – Overture
Strauss II: Voices of Spring – Waltz (Frühlingsstimmen)
Strauss II: The Blue Danube – Waltz (An der schönen blauen Donau)
Strauss II: “Tritsch-Tratsch” Polka, “Pizzicato” Polka & other Polkas

Kaspar Reh - Fagott & Residenz-Solisten

Vienna – Johann Strauss and His Homage to Mozart

Whenever music is heard in Vienna, the spirit of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart seems to resonate as well. For Johann Strauss II, Mozart was nothing less than the “God of music.” His clarity, melodic elegance, and incomparable sense of musical theatre became an artistic ideal for the Waltz King.

Mozart’s genius already reveals itself in the Bassoon Concerto in B-flat Major, K. 191, the first concerto he wrote for a wind instrument—at just eighteen years of age. Mozart treats the bassoon almost like an operatic voice: full of wit, virtuoso agility, and at the same time infused with touching lyrical warmth.

Johann Strauss’s own path into music was anything but inevitable. His father, the famous bandmaster Johann Strauss I, did not want his son to become a musician and sent him instead to the Polytechnic Institute in the hope that he would pursue a respectable bourgeois career. Yet the young “Schani” secretly practiced the violin—with the support of his mother. As a child, he was already said to improvise his first waltz melodies.

Mozart’s influence accompanied Strauss throughout his life. He collected the scores of operas such as The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and The Magic Flute and studied them late into the night. His brother Eduard Strauss later recalled that Johann tried to uncover “the secret of Mozartian clarity,” sometimes even leaving small handwritten notes and cross-references to Mozart in his own manuscripts.

This admiration becomes particularly clear in Strauss’s stage works. In the operetta Die Fledermaus, for example, one finds a refined sense for ensemble writing and musical characterization—very much in the spirit of Mozart.

Thus this concert evening traces a musical arc through Vienna’s rich history: from the classical elegance of Mozart to the sparkling waltz-filled world of Strauss. Two masters united by that unmistakable blend of lightness, melody, and musical wit that continues to define the sound of Vienna to this day.

Vivaldi: “Vier Jahreszeiten” - gesamt
Mozart: “Eine kleine Nachmusik”
Pachelbel: “Canon”
 

Simon Zhu - Violin & Residenz-Soloists

 

Simon Zhu – Violin

The star of the evening is Simon Zhu, a violinist of today who brings to the stage the narrative power of the great masters of the past. His musical journey began at the age of six with his first violin lessons and soon led him to major international stages—from the Berlin Philharmonie to competition halls around the world.
At an early age he won first prizes at competitions such as the International Georg Philipp Telemann Competition and the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition, even before achieving success at the Menuhin Competition and ultimately triumphing at the prestigious Premio Paganini.
In 2023 he not only won first prize there but also received the special prize for the best performance of a Paganini concerto. On that occasion he performed on Il Cannone, the legendary violin of Niccolò Paganini—even playing it in the presence of Charles III.

Mozart: Flute Concerto in G major 
Cimarosa: Concerto for Flute and Oboe
Salieri: Sinfonia Veneziana – Allegro
J. Strauss: "Die Fledermaus" Overture
J. Strauss: "Auf der Jagd" (The Hunt) – Quick Polka
J. Strauss: "Tritsch-Tratsch", "Pizzicato" & other quick polkas

Michael Kofler - Flute, Giovanni De Angeli – Oboe & Residenz-Solisten 

 

From Venice to Vienna

Antonio Salieri’s "Sinfonia Veneziana" provides a sparkling opening to our program. Contrary to the dark myths popularized by film, this Allegro reveals exactly why Salieri was the darling of the Viennese court: his music breathes the vibrant spirit of Venice and sets the stage with pure Italian joie de vivre. That woodwinds experienced a golden era during this period is then proven by Domenico Cimarosa. In his Concerto for Flute and Oboe, a playful dialogue unfolds between the two solo instruments, sounding much like a scene from a comic opera—a musical conversation between equals.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart proves that one can create true masterpieces for an instrument even when "at odds" with it. Despite his alleged dislike of the flute, his Flute Concerto in G major is a work of such brilliance and grace that it has become an undisputed staple of the repertoire. it concludes the classical portion of the evening with that divine lightness unique to Mozart.

After the intermission, we move from courtly ceremony to the ballroom to celebrate the "Waltz King." The overture to "Die Fledermaus" transports us into the golden age of Viennese operetta—a work Johann Strauss composed in a feverish burst of creativity lasting only 42 days. Things then turn playful: while the "Pizzicato Polka" creates an almost magical, feather-light atmosphere through the delicate plucking of strings, the "Tritsch-Tratsch Polka" mirrors the rapid-fire gossip of Viennese society. Strauss composed it as a humorous response to the rumors the tabloid press of the time spread about his turbulent private life.

The crowning finale is Austria's unofficial anthem: "The Blue Danube." It is hard to believe that this global hit was nearly a failure at its premiere as a choral waltz. It was only as a purely instrumental version that it began its triumphal march around the globe, becoming the ultimate symbol of the Viennese way of life

Corelli: Christmas Concerto
Vivaldi: Flute Concerto “La notte”
Haydn: Concerto for Flute and Harp
Borne: "Carmen Fantasy" for Flute
Smetana: "The Moldau" (aus Má vlast)
Tchaikovsky: Highlights from "The Nutcracker" & “Swan Lake”
Offenbach: Can-Can & Barcarolle

Janine Schöllhorn - Flute, Emilie Jaulmes – Harp & Residenz Solisten

Arcangelo Corelli opens our journey into the Baroque world with his famous "Christmas Concerto." Written "for the night of the Nativity," it exudes a solemn tranquility. The highlight is the finale—a Pastorale whose swaying rhythms evoke images of shepherds in the fields. Antonio Vivaldi provides a thrilling contrast with his flute concerto "La Notte" (The Night). Here, we experience not a silent night, but one filled with ghosts and dreams. Vivaldi masterfully uses the flute to depict flickering shadows and nocturnal unrest—an early masterpiece of program music.

Classical balance returns with Joseph Haydn. His Concerto for Flute and Harp (often performed as an arrangement of the double concerto for flute and oboe) is a prime example of elegance. The harp lends the work a silvery shimmer that perfectly complements the flute's virtuosic lines. A very different kind of virtuosity awaits in François Borne’s "Carmen Fantasy"—a true firework display for the flute. Borne takes the passionate themes from Bizet’s opera Carmen and transforms them into a high-octane showpiece that demands everything from the soloist, from fateful motifs and the seductive Habanera to the fiery gypsy dance and the proud march of the toreros.

The full power of the orchestra unfolds in Bedřich Smetana’s "The Moldau." We follow the river from its two small springs—represented by two shimmering flutes—to its majestic flow through Prague. Smetana succeeded in capturing the soul of his Bohemian homeland, even though the main theme is actually based on an old Swedish folk song he encountered during his time in Gothenburg.

A fairytale highlight is set by the selections from Peter Tchaikovsky’s ballets. Whether it is the majestic entrance of the swan knight in "Swan Lake" or the enchanting character dances from "The Nutcracker," Tchaikovsky was the undisputed magician of melody. Finally, Jacques Offenbach provides a rousing conclusion. While the "Barcarolle" from The Tales of Hoffmann gently rocks us in a Venetian gondola, the famous "Can-Can" from Orpheus in the Underworld will inevitably pull you from your seats. Originally intended as a satire of Parisian society, this wild dance became the ultimate symbol of French joie de vivre.

Mendelssohn: Violinkonzert E-Moll
Grieg: Peer Gynt – Suite
Corelli: Weihnachtskonzert
Händel: Concerto grosso
Pachelbel: Kanon

Simon Zhu - Violine & Residenz-Solisten

 

The best things come in small packages: With wonderful stucco works and crystal, chandeliers equipped Max's Joseph hall is for many a small pearl in the residence and forms the perfect frame for classical concerts. Just chamber music friends estimate the intimate character of the space.

Vivaldi: „Die vier Jahreszeiten“ – gesamt
Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Corelli: Weihnachtskonzert
Händel: Concerto grosso
Pachelbel: Kanon

Simon Zhu - Violine & Residenz-Solisten

 

The best things come in small packages: With wonderful stucco works and crystal, chandeliers equipped Max's Joseph hall is for many a small pearl in the residence and forms the perfect frame for classical concerts. Just chamber music friends estimate the intimate character of the space.

Vivaldi: „Die vier Jahreszeiten“ – gesamt
Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Corelli: Weihnachtskonzert
Händel: Concerto grosso
Pachelbel: Kanon

Residenz-Solisten

 

The best things come in small packages: With wonderful stucco works and crystal, chandeliers equipped Max's Joseph hall is for many a small pearl in the residence and forms the perfect frame for classical concerts. Just chamber music friends estimate the intimate character of the space.