Berlin nonet

Rossini’s Duetto for Cello and Double Bass  dates from 1824 and reveals the composer’s lesser-known side as a writer of chamber music. Uroš Krek’s Episodi concertanti  belong to the period of his mature chamber output, in which he combines a concentrated musical narrative built from short motifs with folk elements. Franz Schubert started composing his String Trio in B flat major (D 471)  in 1816, but completed only the first movement, leaving the second unfinished. Croatian composer Veronika Reutz Drobnić wrote her new work Igre mora i Osora  especially for the Berlin Nonet. Louise Farrenc’s Nonet in E flat major, written in 1849, is the work that brought the composer the greatest recognition in her own lifetime. Dating from her mature creative period, the work reveals a clear formal conception and a carefully balanced relationship between winds and strings.

The ensemble consists of musicians with extensive experience, most of them associated with the Berlin Philharmonic. Marlene Ito (violin) trained in Australia and Germany, Joaquín Riquelme García (viola) studied in Madrid and Berlin, Jaka Stadler (cello) is active as a soloist and orchestral musician, and Todor Marković (double bass) is a double bassist with the NDR Radiophilharmonie. They are joined by Christoph Hartmann (oboe), a teacher and founder of the Landsberger Sommermusiken festival, Brina Kafol Žust (flute), active in symphonic and chamber ensembles, Matic Kuder (clarinet), a former member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, Luka Mitev (bassoon), a member of the Karajan Academy, and Andrej Žust (horn), the recipient of several national and international awards.