ABOVE: Tivoli Copenhagen Phil. Photo by Martin Bubandt.
Copenhagen, Denmark — The Tivoli Concert Hall is surrounded by roller coasters and carousels, ice cream kiosks, tombola stalls and balloon sellers, and ever since 1843, the concert hall has made sure classical music can be heard in Copenhagen right through the summer. Star soprano Sarah Coburn, Wagner diva Irene Theorin, Grammy winner Emanuel Ax and one of the best ensembles in the world, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, are just a few of the highlights. Tivoli Summer Classic festival starts on 15 May and continues until 19 September.
International visitors
Tivoli Summer Classic includes 65 concerts in total, taking place from 15 May to 19 September.
These are just a few of the international stars who will visit Tivoli in 2016:
The Budapest Festival Orchestra is ranked in the top ten ensembles worldwide. In spring 2016, they are touring the USA, Canada, Italy, Poland, France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany – and on 28 August, they drop in on Tivoli.
Irene Theorin had her debut in Copenhagen in 1996, and is now an international star, helped in part by Wagner roles in Kasper Holten’s The Copenhagen Ring. She performs on the world’s greatest opera stages such as the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Royal Opera House/Covent Garden in London, Bayreuth, the Metropolitan in New York, and more. In Tivoli, she will be performing a programme of Wagner arias. 20 August.
American soprano Sarah Coburn returns to Tivoli following great success with I Puritani in 2014. This time she sings a selection of her favourite arias. 25 June.
Seven-time double Grammy award winner Emanuel Ax, also known as the performing partner of Yo-Yo Ma, will play a programme of pure Beethoven – completely alone on the stage with his grand piano. 6 June.
Nikolaj Koppel, once a concert pianist who performed in concert halls all over the world and now Tivoli’s Vice President for Culture, is delighted about the upcoming season: “Tivoli’s symphony orchestra, the Tivoli Copenhagen Phil, has never played better than they’re doing now, and has succeeded in engaging some of the best soloists in the world. If we add in the special experience of listening to live music in the beautiful, magical setting of Tivoli, I can only be happy that so many people will get to see – and hear – the Summer Classic festival at Tivoli. ”
Concerts with an edge
The Summer Classic festival also includes concerts that challenge other senses, as well as that of hearing. During the Rose Bath concert, the Tivoli Concert Hall will be bathed in roses while pianist Katrine Gislinge performs Danish composer Bent Sørensen’s Papillons trilogy.
The In focus: Shirinyan concerts will give visitors a novel, highly intense experience. The audience is positioned on-stage, surrounding the soloist. Marianna Shirinyan plays three concerts with music by Ravel, Mozart, Mendelssohn and others. She has also invited guest performers including Isabelle van Keulen.
More about the Summer Classic Festival and Tivoli
- –Tivoli opened on 15 August 1843.
- –Tivoli’s first artistic director was H. C. Lumbye, also known as “the Strauss of Scandinavia”.
- –The Tivoli Copenhagen Phil is a full symphony orchestra consisting of 70 musicians. In winter the orchestra is known as the Copenhagen Phil.
- –The Summer Classic is a series of 65 concerts. 22 are ticketed, seven are free to Tivoli visitors, and 36 cost 50 kroner, payable at the entrance to the Tivoli Concert Hall.
- –The Summer Classic Festival also includes concerts featuring the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America and conductor Valerij Gergiev, Angela Hewitt, Isabelle Faust, Egberto Gismonti and Bo Skovhus.
- –From 6 April until 25 September, there will be free daily music, ballet and entertainment on stages around Tivoli.
Tickets
See the entire programme, http://www.tivoligardens.com/en/sommerklassisk
Tickets for the concerts, which include admission to Tivoli, are available to purchase at www.tivolifestival.dk