On June 18 and 19, 2025, we will be in the Mercatorhalle with a Welte Kabinett and a Disklavier as part of a foyer exhibition as part of the 11th Philharmonic Concert of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The announcement there reads: “Under the heading “Time Machine”, the 11th Philharmonic Concert as part of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra’s “New Paths” project offers a journey back in time: the program refers to a concert that was performed exactly 100 years ago as part of a music festival in the city of Duisburg. It saw the premiere of Paul Hindemith’s “Concerto for Orchestra”, conducted by the prominent General Music Director Paul Scheinpflug.
Also on the program 100 years ago: Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and music by Rudi Stephan, who was one of the most promising young composers at the time before he died tragically young in the First World War. Instead of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, Axel Kober has programmed his Piano Concerto No. 4, in which the young British pianist and high-flyer Isata Kanneh-Mason makes her debut with the orchestra. And as a musical tribute to the former General Music Director, there is also the “Shakespeare Overture” by Paul Scheinpflug. However, the concert is not just a mere reconstruction of Duisburg’s rich musical history, but also a lively and critical examination of history: the music festival took place at the time on the occasion of the “Thousand Year Celebration of the Rhineland” and was therefore very much part of a German national context.”
On the website of the Duisburger Philharmoniker you can find details and book concert tickets. In this fascinating Video are impressions from Duisburg in 1925 – a lively city with a rich culture.
Before and after each concert, we will present Welte music rolls with music matching the program by Hindemith and Beethoven – both on the Welte cabinet and on the Disklavier – and will be available for questions.
