Max-Joseph-Hall of the Munich Residence

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 – Allegro “Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the countryside”; Andante – “Scene by the brook”
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 – Allegro
Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
Marcelino Rojas – Violin & Residenz-Solisten

In the warm candlelight of the Max-Joseph Hall, the music awakens to spring. Marcelino Rojas, a standout violinist, leads the Resident Soloists through an evening filled with liveliness, poetic nuances, and orchestral brilliance. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, “Pastoral,” offers a sonic landscape of cheerfulness and nature-poetry. The Allegro invites the ear to travel to the first spring morning in the countryside, the soft rustle of leaves coming alive in the orchestral textures. The Andante, “Scene by the Brook,” exudes quiet beauty with birdsong, babbling streams, and the footsteps of hikers brought to life by the music, creating a poetic image that fills the room and draws the listener into an intimate nature experience.

Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, “Italian,” brings the sun of Italy into the Max-Joseph Hall with its Allegro. Bright harmonies, dancing rhythms, and sparkling melodic ideas convey the lightness and joy of the Mediterranean summer.

The Violin Concerto in E minor by Mendelssohn provides the evening’s climax. Marcelino Rojas interprets with radiant virtuosity, refined phrasing, and emotional depth, while the Resident Soloists weave a delicate yet powerful sonic bed. From the moving opening, through the lyrical central passages, to the virtuosic final stops, the listening experience is intense, combining technical brilliance with inner subtleties.

This master concert by candlelight unites virtuosity, poetic elegance, and the ceremonial atmosphere of a historic concert hall into a total work of art.

Bach: Adagio from the Easter Oratorio
Mozart: Flute Concerto in D major
Cimarosa: Double Concerto for Flute & Oboe
Dvořák: Suite “From the New World”
Strauss II: “Voices of Spring” Waltz (Frühlingsstimmen Waltz)

Michael Kofler – flute, Giovanni de Angeli – oboe & Residenz-Solisten

Easter – a festival of renewal – finds its musical reflection here: a master concert that hovers between devotion and awakening, between Classicism and Romanticism.

The Adagio from the Easter Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach opens the evening in meditative calm. The oboe sings a wondrous melody, the strings breathe, bows flow gently, and for a moment time itself seems to stand still. Bach unfolds an inner radiance that bathes the hall in a contemplative atmosphere.

With the Flute Concerto in D major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the world-renowned flautist Michael Kofler steps into the spotlight as soloist. Lightness and elegance run through every phrase; sparkling runs and lyrical arcs merge into an aura of playful grace. Mozart turns virtuosity into the art of effortlessness, and the music speaks with serene clarity.

The Concerto for Flute and Oboe by Domenico Cimarosa opens a charming dialogue. Kofler and Giovanni de Angeli respond to one another in delicate melodic turns, circle and tease each other, yet ultimately blend in harmonious unity. Elegance and esprit shape this work – a jewel of classical chamber music.

With the suite From the New World by Antonín Dvořák, the horizon opens wide. Longing for distant lands, breadth and rhythm – the music paints landscapes larger than the hall, yet fills it with intimate warmth. Each movement forms a narrative panorama, rich in colour and emotion.

To conclude, the waltz Voices of Spring by Johann Strauss is heard. Buoyant and elegant, the melody whirls through the hall in joyful motion, as candlelight and music seem to dance together.

This Easter concert in the Max-Joseph Hall is more than music: it is a celebration of refined sound culture, an evening of luxury, expression and inspiration for those who expect the exceptional.

Rossini: William Tell Overture
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor – Allegro molto appassionato
Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor – Adagio; Finale: Allegro energico
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 – Allegro
Bizet: Suite from the Carmen
Strauss II: Frühlingsstimmen Waltz (“Voices of Spring” Waltz)

Marcelino Rojas – Solo Violin & Residenz-Solisten 

At the master concert “Passion & Virtuosity of the Violin”, an evening of musical drama and sensual fascination unfolds. Marcelino Rojas, an internationally acclaimed violin soloist, joins the Residenz-Solisten in presenting a programme that captivates heart, mind, and senses alike.

The concert opens with the overture to William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini, bursting with majestic energy and filling the historic hall with vibrant life.

At the heart of the evening lies the Violin Concerto in E minor by Felix Mendelssohn. The Allegro molto appassionato reveals the violin in glowing intensity: Marcelino Rojas unites technical brilliance with expressive depth, while the Residenz-Solisten create a refined yet powerful orchestral foundation.

Following this, the Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor by Max Bruch unfolds its full emotional range: the Adagio enchants with intimate lyricism and delicate tension, while the finale, Allegro energico, delights with dancing virtuosity and sparkling energy. Each movement becomes a sensual and poetic experience in which sound, space and emotion merge.

The Allegro from Symphony No. 4 brings sunny lightness, dancing rhythms and radiant melodies into the Max-Joseph-Saal. The suite from Carmen by Georges Bizet unfolds vibrant drama, sensual colours and orchestral brilliance, while the Frühlingsstimmen Waltz by Johann Strauss II concludes the evening with buoyant cheerfulness, elegance and sparkling joie de vivre.

This concert is an invitation to experience the world of the violin in all its expressive power, elegance and intensity – a master concert that sets new standards and turns every moment into a celebration of the senses. ?

Bruch: Violin Concerto in G minor – Allegro
Vivaldi: “Summer” from The Four Seasons
Mozart: Overture from The Magic Flute
Mozart: Violin Concerto in A major – Rondeau
Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major – Adagio; Allegro giocoso

Simon Zhu – Solo Violin & Residenz-Solisten

In the warm candlelight of the Max-Joseph-Saal, an evening of musical poetry unfolds: Simon Zhu, an exceptional violinist, leads the audience through centuries of violin music together with the Residenz-Solisten. The concert’s title, “The Violin Through the Centuries”, already highlights the instrument’s versatility and richness – from Baroque elegance, through Classical radiance, to Romantic depth.

Vivaldi’s “Summer” from The Four Seasons brings the sun and storms of the Venetian landscape to life. The solo violin dances over stormy passages, accompanied by sparkling ensemble textures.

Mozart’s Violin Concerto in A major – Rondeau follows in glittering elegance. The solo violin sings, dances, and delights the ear with clear articulation and melodic wit. Simon Zhu illuminates Mozart’s classical grace with refined technique and a touch of lightness.

One of the evening’s highlights is undoubtedly Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor – Allegro: powerful, passionate, with striking bowing and dramatic turns. Zhu shapes the melodic lines with dynamic precision; his tone is clear and expressive, supported by the Residenz-Solisten, who provide an elegant and nuanced orchestral foundation.

Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major completes the historical arc: the Adagio expresses profound introspection, while the Allegro giocoso bursts with joyful vitality. Zhu unites lyrical singing and technical brilliance, with the ensemble responding in a robust yet supple sound. The finale carries the violin through the centuries – from Baroque virtuosity, through Classical elegance, to Romantic expressivity.

Thus, the master concert in the Max-Joseph-Saal becomes a journey through the history of sound, illuminated by candlelight, interpretative finesse, and the dazzling presence of an extraordinary soloist.

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons – complete
Boccherini: Fandango & La Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid for Guitar & Strings
Albéniz: Asturias and other famous Spanish compositions for guitar

Mon-Fu Lee – violin
Leonard Becker – guitar
Residenz Soloists

Spanish–Italian Night – A Musical Evening of Sun and Passion

We begin in Baroque Venice, where the “Red Priest” Antonio Vivaldi made music history with his Four Seasons. He was a master at letting nature speak without a single word. A virtuoso violinist himself, he constantly pushed the boundaries of the instrument.

The Four Seasons are more than just beautiful melodies; they are an immersive experience that brings the renewal and drama of nature directly into the concert hall.

Isaac Albéniz – Asturias (Leyenda)

Although the title Asturias suggests the green landscapes of northern Spain, every note of the piece breathes the spirit of Andalusia in the south. Originally composed in 1892 for piano, the work later became an icon of Spanish music through its transcription for guitar—an instrument for which Albéniz seemed almost instinctively to write.

Albéniz originally titled the piece simply Leyenda (“Legend”)—a fitting name for a work that has become one of the most recognizable melodies in classical music worldwide.

Luigi Boccherini – La Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid

Imagine sitting by an open window on a warm summer night in the year 1780. Outside, in the winding streets of Madrid, a vibrant nocturnal life begins to unfold.

Luigi Boccherini, the Italian virtuoso living in Spanish exile, captured these fleeting moments in his String Quintet Op. 30 No. 6. He considered the piece so deeply connected to Spain that he believed its magic could hardly be understood anywhere else.

More than chamber music, this work is an acoustic painting that dissolves the boundary between the concert hall and the streets. It invites the listener into a world of shadows and light, filled with the irresistible rhythms of old Spain.

His famous Fandango was, in its time, almost a provocation of courtly etiquette. Boccherini brought the passionate and seductive folk dance of the streets into refined chamber music—often crowning it with the clattering rhythm of real castanets.

Mozart: Serenade Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings – Allegro & Waltz
Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Suite
Rossini: String Serenade
Brahms: Hungarian Dance
Johann Strauss II: Waltz On the Beautiful Blue Danube

Residenz Soloists

Summer Serenade at the Residenz

When the June evening sun bathes the façades of the Munich Residenz in warm gold and the Max-Joseph Hall glows softly beneath the light of its chandeliers, it is time for a Summer Serenade. This concert does more than simply present a sequence of works—it allows moods to flow seamlessly, from classical clarity to romantic warmth, from graceful dance to the sparkling joie de vivre of Vienna.

The evening opens with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s serenade Eine kleine Nachtmusik, that enduring masterpiece which for centuries has shone like a musical emblem of the Viennese Classical style. From the very first striking chords of the Allegro, the atmosphere is set: buoyant precision, crystalline clarity, and a play of light and shadow that unfolds into tender lyricism in the singing middle movements. Here the art of the serenade reveals itself as cheerful evening music—yet far from superficial. Instead, it is a finely crafted miniature of elegance and balance.

With Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings—a composer sometimes affectionately called the “Russian Mozart”—the musical color shifts toward the late Romantic world. The Allegro, written in homage to Mozart, unfolds with passion and breadth, infused with that unmistakable Russian melancholy that lends even lively passages a touch of longing. The following Waltz swirls gracefully through the hall—light, elegant, and shimmering with radiant string textures that seem almost to set the audience in motion. It is a dance between noble refinement and emotional depth.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s suite from A Midsummer Night’s Dream leads us into a realm of fluttering fairies, nocturnal confusions, and poetic enchantment. Inspired by Shakespeare’s comedy, the music paints a sonic landscape of magical lightness with silvery lines and sparkling rhythms. Yet beneath the delicate charm there remains a hint of Romantic irony, as if one were listening to a dream slowly dissolving with the arrival of dawn.

Gioacchino Rossini’s String Serenade brings Italian brilliance to the program. With playful elegance and sparkling virtuosity, the melodies unfold in graceful arcs. Rossini’s instinct for theatrical effect is unmistakable—even without a stage, the music becomes a lively drama of tension, wit, and smiling exuberance.

For the glittering finale, Johann Strauss II’s waltz On the Beautiful Blue Danube fills the hall. Few works evoke the spirit of the 19th century so vividly: floating triple rhythms and a melody that rises wide and radiant through the air. Like a musical firework, the waltz unfolds in festive splendor, illuminating the summer evening and sending the audience out into the night with lightness and joy.

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.