Mamlok, Modarresifar, Boulez, Lee, Kurtág, Staud, Illés

One summer day, I found myself once again in the Werner-Otto-Saal of the Konzerthaus Berlin. Indeed, I was back here for another avant-garde chamber recital, this time by violiist Rachel Kolblyakov as well as by the Track3 Ensemble, consisting of clarinet, viola, and piano. They happen to be the latest recipients of a prize by the Dwight and Ursula Mamlok Foundation, and this was a concert held in this occasion. And yes, it featured several modern and contemporary pieces.

Missy Mazzoli's Breaking the Waves

I went all the way to Mainz for this one. Given that it's a Mazzoli opera, not to mention that it had an intense subject matter, I felt like I wanted to see this one, and it didn't matter if it was all the way in Mainz. It was absolutely worth it.

Schnittke, Klebanov, and Weinberg

I attended a concert recently in the Komische Oper. But as is typical with opera houses, they offer not only operas but also other concerts, including chamber music recitals. And this time, there was a concert on the program that was rather interesting, as it consisted of works of composers who were persecuted by the Soviets. On the program were works by Alfred Schnittke, Dmitri Klebanov, and Mieczyslaw Weinberg. I attended this concert for the Schnittke pieces, as I have less familiarity with the other composers.

Childs and Shostakovich

So we were in the Philharmonie yet again recently. And we saw a concert by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, featuring two works I haven't heard of before. They played Billy Childs' Diaspora: Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra, as well as Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60, "Leningrad". I wasn't familiar with either pieces, not to mention I haven't seen a saxophone concerto before, so I was looking forward to this one.

Joseph Beer's Polnische Hochzeit

I rarely see operettas. But as I had an opportunity to see a rather rare one in Regensburg, I opted to get a ticket. And it was a fantastic show!

Georg Friedrich Händel's Alcina

It seems I am dipping my toes heavily into Baroque opera nowadays. In late May, I was temporarily in Regensburg for a holiday, and during that time, the Staatstheater Regensburg was producing this Late Baroque opera. I decided to see it, and I have to say, I absolutely enjoyed it, regardless of the fact that when my musical center of gravity leans heavily toward post-WWII avant-garde and spectralism. Intriguing, eh?

Olga Neuwirth's Orlando

Somehow, I ended up getting a ticket for Orlando (2019), which is a "music-theatre in 19 scenes," based on the 1928 novel by Virginia Woolf. It was produced recently in the Komische Oper Berlin, and was a multimedia explosion that transcends traditional genre boundaries. Komische Oper said it was a queer sci-fi hybrid grand opera, so I was curious.

Bernstein, McTee, Barber, and Copland

I recently was in the Philharmonie again, this time to listen to the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin perform a quintessential "Americana" program. However, for someone who leans toward the post-WWII avant-garde (Xenakis, Grisey, Lachenmann) and the "Hard Minimalism" of Reich and Andriessen, this program presented me with an interesting tension. It balanced the "Great American" populist sound with high-octane virtuosity and contemporary living voices. While I didn't enjoy all four pieces equally, I still had a great time that evening.

Franz Schreker's Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin

I went to Halle for this one. It's a rare opera after all. And I have to say, it was totally worth it. I first encountered Franz Schreker's music earlier this year, when I saw Der Schatzgräber in the Deutsche Oper Berlin. I loved the fact that his music forecasted the contemporary classical music styles that I liked, which only appeared decades later. That, and the fact that his music is rather rare due to the fact that the Nazis suppressed his music made it even more attractive to me, given my penchant for rare pieces.

Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream

I recently saw my third Britten opera. A Midsummer Night's Dream was playing at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and as it coincided with a family visit, we all decided we would attend. I have to say, I thought I didn't like it, but in the end, I enjoyed it.

Claudio Santoro's Alma

I actually haven't heard of Claudio Santoro before. I never knew that this Brazilian composer even existed in the first place. So a few weeks ago, when I was looking for interesting events to attend, my AI bot alerted me to this production, as it was being produced in Dessau. And Dessau was just about 90 minutes away by train. So I went.

Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos

As a last minute decision, I went to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden one evening to watch Ariadne auf Naxos. I was looking for something to do, and they still had tickets that evening. I am glad I went. It's been a while since I saw a Richard Strauss opera, and so I was looking forward to this one.

Sigfúsdóttir, Corigliano, Schwertsik, and Respighi

On a recent evening, I opted to go to the Philharmonie. I had tickets to see the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, in particular its series where young performers make their debut. I like this series, as it tends to showcase young talent, as well as modern music. Not to mention that the tickets are also rather cheap in comparison with other concert series. This time, the program was essentially a fantastic survey of different modernisms (e.g. atmospheric, virtuosic, and ironic).

Alfred Schnittke's Life with an Idiot

Once again, I went to Magdeburg to see this opera. Given my penchant for the visceral, the complex, and the avant-garde, Alfred Schnittke’s Life with an Idiot (Жизнь с идиотом) is a choice that aligned remarkably well with my "high-octane" musical palate.

Schnittke, Mozart, and Honegger

So, I went all the way to Leipzig for this one. I was looking for something to do one Thursday evening, and I was advised that the Gewandhausorchester zu Leipzig was playing a concert that I had a high likelihood of enjoying. So I did my research and concluded that it was worth travelling there from Berlin. I am glad that I did.

MaerzMusik: Lange, Rodriguez, Lin, and Seglias

I attended a total of three concerts for this year's MaerzMusik Festival. The last event I attended was a concert by the Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, featuring four chamber works. The program is essentailly a "who's who" of the cutting-edge contemporary scene. That, coupled with my strong affinity for high-modernism, spectralism, and complex rhythmic structures, I thought that this concert was right up my alley.

MaerzMusik: Fullman

I attended multiple concerts during MaerzMusik 2026. The second concert I attended was the world premiere of Ellen Fullman's Energy Archive 4 for Long String Instrument and String Quartet, the latter being performed by my favourite string quartet that specialises in contemporary classical music, the Jack Quartet.

When Different Occasions Call for Different Classical Music Periods

I have lately realised that as much as I want to claim that I have a strong preference for contemporary classical music, I actually have a wider interest than that. It's just that I devote different types of attention to different musical periods.

MaerzMusik: Haas

Yes, MaerzMusik happens again in 2026. This time I bought tickets for three concerts, the one of them was the opening concert featuring Georg Friedrich Haas' 11000 Saiten. Given my sophisticated palette — which clearly leans toward the rigorous, the spectral, and the "living" — the opportunity to hear this monumental work is the contemporary music equivalent of a planetary alignment.

Haydn, Assad, and Debussy

So, a few weeks ago, the Takács Quartet was in Berlin, and while I was not too enthusiastic about the program, I also knew that they are a rather respected string quartet, and so I procured a ticket. They were playing three pieces from three different musical periods, and while I thought this was rather too much all over the place, the fact that one of them was a contemporary piece made me want to see it.