The Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie, Germany's youngest top orchestra, presents works by mostly Czech composers.
The Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie, Germany's youngest top orchestra, presents the works that the orchestra members, aged just 11 to 20, have been working on under the direction of their chief conductor Wolfgang Hentrich during their traditional Easter work phase in the idyllic setting of Rheinsberg Castle.
One focus of the concert program is on Czech repertoire: Antonín Dvořák's "Polka for Prague Students" radiates Bohemian dance spirit, followed by Zdeněk Fibich's "Poem", a lyrically floating work of late Romantic intimacy. Bedřich Smetana's "Dance of the Comedians" from the opera "The Bartered Bride" brings folk-like timbres to the program, before selected movements from Leoš Janáček's "Idyll for String Orchestra" already reveal the fine expressivity that was to characterize his later work. In addition, the "Partita for String Orchestra", arranged by Vojtěch Saudek, is one of the most impressive works by the Czech-Jewish composer Gideon Klein: composed in Terezín in 1944 - just a few days before Klein was deported to Auschwitz, where he was murdered in the Fürstengrube subcamp - it combines Moravian folk music echoes with modern musical language. It is considered a modern masterpiece.
The Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie brings together the best string talents from German music schools aged between eleven and 20. The national selection orchestra comes together several times a year for rehearsals and concert tours. Since 1973, the ensemble has stood for an exceptionally differentiated string sound and has impressed audiences and the specialist press with its musical excellence. Guest performances in renowned concert halls such as the Vienna Musikverein or the Berlin Philharmonie, festival appearances and awards such as the Würth Prize 2023 underline its international significance. The orchestra has been sponsored by the Association of German Music Schools since 1991. Wolfgang Hentrich, first concertmaster of the Dresden Philharmonic, has been the artistic director since 2013.
