Klingende Residenz: Hymnen an die Nacht

For the 17th edition of "Klingende Residenz", the magnificent Ahnensaal of the Baroque residence in Rastatt hosts a musical-literary journey through the night. Performing are the internationally acclaimed Vocalensemble Rastatt, pianist Anne Le Bozec - professor at the Conservatoire supérieur de Paris - and Elisabeth Verhoeven, presenter and narrator for WDR in Cologne, who last appeared at Klingende Residenz for the incidental music to Goethe's Faust. The programme is directed by Holger Speck, founder and artistic director of the Vocalensemble Rastatt and professor at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe.

"...deeper than day can fathom" - so Nietzsche muses on the phenomenon of night. Night has always been a space of projection and illusion for humanity, a world of dreams, escape, and longing. Musicians, painters, and poets felt magnetically drawn to it, dedicating works of genuine fantasy to its mystery. And is the world not in particular need of the unusual and visionary right now?

The programme features choral and piano music by Fanny Hensel - sister of Felix Mendelssohn - Johannes Brahms, whose beloved choruses "In stiller Nacht" and "Verstohlen geht der Mond auf" are widely known, as well as the ghostly "Nächtens", and Robert Schumann, whose famous "Träumerei" naturally has its place here. Elisabeth Verhoeven will recite corresponding texts by Eichendorff, Brentano, and Novalis - the poet who gives the evening its title.