Chamber Concert - a concert by Artis Causa e.V.

Peter Bruns, cello
Annegret Kuttner, piano

Dmitri Shostakovich Sonata in D minor, Op. 40
Ernest Bloch “From Jewish Life”
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Sonata in D major, Op. 58

The globally acclaimed cellist Peter Bruns is a founding member of ARTIS CAUSA e.V., first performed in the Blauer Saal in 2003, and has given numerous concerts here since. Together with Annegret Kuttner on piano, he will present Shostakovich's magnificent cello sonata, composed by the artist as a young man in 1934. The serene yet melancholic pieces “From Jewish Life” by Swiss composer Ernest Bloch round off the program, which is crowned by Mendelssohn's tempestuous cello sonata, written in Leipzig in 1843 and demanding considerable technical finesse from the soloist.

Date: May 3, 2026 / 5:00 PM

Yuki Manuela Janke, violin
Titus Maack, cello
Johannes Wulff-Woesten, piano

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 49
Fritz Kreisler Three Pieces for Piano Trio
Erich Wolfgang Korngold Piano Trio in D major, Op. 1

The first concertmaster of the Sächsische Staatskapelle performs together with her husband on cello and the Semperoper's head of music on piano. Mendelssohn's piano trio is one of the finest works of this genre, uniting all the brilliance and tonal beauty of the composer. Fritz Kreisler was world-renowned as a virtuoso and arranged several of his encore pieces for piano trio. Erich Wolfgang Korngold was considered alongside Richard Strauss as the most significant German-language composer of that era, but fell somewhat into obscurity when he had to emigrate to the USA, where he became a successful film composer.

Date: June 14, 2026 / 5:00 PM

Lukas Stepp, violin
Moeko Ezaki, piano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Sonata in E minor, K. 304
Maurice Ravel Sonata for Violin & Piano
Johannes Brahms Sonata in G major, Op. 78

It is a special pleasure that Staatskapelle concertmaster Lukas Stepp and the wonderful pianist Moeko Ezaki are performing in the Blauer Saal again this season. Alongside an early sonata by Mozart, Maurice Ravel's last chamber music work from 1923/27 will be performed. The Sonata for Violin and Piano illustrates with a winking eye the—in Ravel's view—incompatibility of these instruments; the slow movement with its jazz influences is particularly famous. Brahms's 1878 masterpiece weaves blissful nature experiences and deep personal grief into an intimate, poetic overall sound.

Date: October 4, 2026 / 5:00 PM

Federico Kasik, violin
Theresa Beldi, cello
Cristian Beldi, piano

Franz Schubert Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op. 100
Pyotr Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50

Two works of autumn: Schubert published the Trio Op. 100 in 1828, the year of his death. It is imbued with a sublime melancholy, through which late sunbeams repeatedly shine. Tchaikovsky's Opus 50 also has a solemn background: his revered teacher Nikolai Rubinstein, founder of the Moscow Conservatory, had unexpectedly passed away in 1881. In the winter of 1881/82, Tchaikovsky composed this monumental work in Rome, dedicating it “À la mémoire d'un grand artiste”; with its near-symphonic dimensions, it fully exhausts the tonal range of the piano trio.

Date: November 22, 2026 / 5:00 PM

Jörg Faßmann, violin
Lena Matejakova, violin
Anya Dambeck, viola
Matthias Wilde, cello
Andreas Hecker, piano

Giuseppe Martucci Piano Quintet in C major, Op. 45
Johannes Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34

To conclude the concert series in the Blauer Saal, we treat ourselves to two magnificent piano quintets. Who in these parts knows Giuseppe Martucci? Mediterranean sounds from 1878 are rarely heard north of the Alps—all the more reason we are delighted that the “Ensemble International” is presenting this enchanting work. Reminiscent of symphonic soundscapes, Brahms's Piano Quintet, in which Schubert and Wagner seem to join hands, already captivated Clara Schumann. The violinist Hermann Levi called it “a masterpiece of chamber music the likes of which we have not seen since Schubert's death.”

Admission: €20.00