»Unheard-of, the liberties these two women took in their times! Unheard-of and scandalous alos the external forces against which these two women had to rebel. Unheard by audiences during the composers’ lifetime: their two piano sonatas in g minor.

I would like to make these masterworks and these life stories heard with my playing.« E. Polyakova

Ekaterina Polyakova is an award winner at several international competitions and made guest appearances at renowned festivals such as the Salzburger Festspiele and »Mozart al Fortepiano« in Genova, Italy. She researches about 19th century Viennese piano manufactureres and teaches historically informed performance practices in Trossingen and Hamburg.

Clara and Robert Schumann were very welcome guests in Fanny Hensel’s Berlin salon. In 1847, Fanny Hensel noted down in her diary: »I see a great deal of (Clara) Schumann, she comes to see me almost every day, and I have grown to like her quite a lot.«

Shortly after Fanny’s death on 15 June 1847, Clara wrote to her friend Elise List: »She was probably the most excellent musician of her time, and an important person for the entire musical life in Berlin – you only heard good music in her house. I had dedicated my trio (op. 17) to her, I expect the printed version any day now, and now she is dead! This event has severely shaken me and my husband!«

The transcription for transverse flute and piano, displays the subtle expressiveness of Fanny Hensel’s works and the Romances by Clara and Robert Schumann to very particular effect. Wonderful salon music with the multi-award-winning specialist for historical flutes, Darina Ablogina, and the renowned pianist Professor Tobias Schabenberger (Musik-Akademie Basel).

Programme
Fanny Hensel, «Warum sind denn die Rosen so blaß» Op. 1
Fanny Hensel, «Nachtwanderer» Op. 7
Fanny Hensel, Adagio in E-dur H. 72
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Sonate in f-Moll, Op. 4 (Flöte und Klavier), transkribiert und bearbeitet von Henner Eppel
Robert Schumann, Drei Romanzen, Op. 94
Clara Schumann, Drei Romanzen für Pianoforte und Violine (1853) Op. 22; Transkribiert und bearbeitet von Darina Ablogina

For today’s lovers of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music it is difficult to imagine that in the early 19th century the music of the great Baroque master was considered unmelodic, calculating, bone-dry and incomprehensible. It was only in a few private homes that Bach’s music was still played, and there were hardly any public performances. The Mendelssohn family was an exception, though: in their circle Bach’s music was highly esteemed and cultivated. In the winter of 1827, Felix Mendelssohn, then 18 years old, gathered a small circle of musical comrades-in-arms every Saturday to rehearse parts from Bach’s St Matthew Passion with a small choir which also included his sister Fanny. This work had been completely unknown to them, and their enthusiasm for this music grew from rehearsal to rehearsal, finally leading to a legendary first revival performance at the Berliner Singakademie in 1829. This concert was conducted by the young Felix Mendelssohn, and Fanny Mendelssohn sang in it. It is considered a milestone in music history and contributed significantly to the rediscovery of Bach‘s work in the 19th century.

Under the impression of this intense involvement with Bach’s music, Fanny Mendelssohn in 1828 composed a piano sonata which she titled “Easter Sonata”. The influence that her preoccupation with Bach’s St Matthew Passion had on her can be clearly seen. Thus the second movement centres on a fugue suffused with dense Bach-like chromaticism, and the final bars are reminiscent of some recitative passages in the St Matthew Passion.

This magnificent piano sonata was only rediscovered in the 1970s and then attributed to her brother Felix Mendelssohn. It was only when in 2010 the original manuscript turned up in a private estate that an analysis of the handwriting without any doubt identified Fanny Hensel as the author of this work. In 2024, Bärenreiter published it in an Urtext edition.

We are delighted that Sharon Prushansky will introduce this unique work to us. She will combine the Easter Sonata with character pieces from Fanny Hensel’s piano cycle “The Year” and with works by the Swiss composer Theodor Fröhlich, who attended the performance of the St Matthew Passion conducted by Mendelssohn and whose work was also lastingly influenced by this experience.

Sharon Prushansky was born in Israel and now lives in Switzerland. She is a versatile musician and regularly plays concerts as a pianist and as an organist both in Europea and Israel. Sharon studied in Tel Aviv and in Basle at the  Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.

From the application video

The “Sonntagsmusiken” (Sundays Musicales) hosted by Fanny Hensel in the Mendelssohn family’s garden hall in Berlin were legendary and famous far beyond the city boundaries. This is where her composition and those of her brother Felix Mendelssohn were played. Operas were performed, directed and conducted by her, and works by her contemporaries were presented. She was considered one of the best pianists of her time, and people came from afar to hear her play.

We would like to celebrate such a musical salon in her honour. One of her most beautiful compositions – her piano trio in d minor – will be performed twice in this context. We invited two young ensembles who have already been honoured with several awards, and asked them to put this wonderful composition in the focus of their programmes. This not only gives audiences an exciting chance to compare their interpretations, the trios will also combine and comment Fanny Hensel’s work in very different ways.

You may book each concert individually with or without the accompanying culinary option or indulge yourself with the overall package and book a day ticket including the culinary option.

3 p.m. »…with obligatory accompaniment by nightingales and lilac flowers«

Ossian’s Dream playing piano trios by Fanny Hensel & Mozart

Claudia Reyes Segovia, historical clarinets · Jaume Guri Batlle, violin · Anne-Sophie van Riel, viola, Martin Egidi, violoncello · Pau Fernández Benlloch, fortepiano

Ossian’s Dream have had a very thorough look at the Sunday musical events in the Mendelssohn-Hensel household, and in their programme they give an impression of what these Sunday events might have been like when they were organised in Berlin almost 200 years ago. An entertaining concert with exciting music.

4:30 p.m. A culinary intermezzo: Apéro and fingerfood

6 p.m. An evening with Fanny, Sebastian, Ludwig and Felix
Trio Alterna playing Fanny Hensel’s piano trio in d minor and Beethoven’s “Gassenhauer” trio
Anna Dmitrieva, violine · Amarilis Dueñas Castán, violoncello · Takahiko Sakamaki, fortepiano

On 16 June 1830 Fanny Hensel gave birth to her only child, Sebastian Ludwig Felix Hensel. This choice of names honours three composers who were particularly close to her heart: Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and her brother Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. This moderated concert is dedicated to Fanny Hensel and her son.

The three outstanding musicians of the award-winning Trio Alterna will play historical instroments and thus recreate an authentic feeling for Fanny Hensel’s times.

7:30 p.m. A culinary coda: fine little morsels after grand sounds

Concert I

Concert II

The Basle ensemble Ossian’s Dream in their programme convey a lively impression of the legendary »Sonntagsmusiken«, the Sunday musical events organised by Fanny Hensel in the garden hall of the Mendelssohn family’s stately home. Numerous illustrious guests from Berlin aristocracy gathered here for these private concerts, joined by artists, poets, music lovers and musicians passing through Berlin. In summer, Fanny Hensel opened the doors to the garden, at the same time providing space for large audiences and inviting the scents and natural sounds to merge with the performances.  Afterwards, visitors dined together and lively conversations were held. We are looking forward to this very special re-enactment of an imaginary matiné in the Mendelssohn-Hensel household.

Claudia Reyes Segovia, historical clarinets · Jaume Guri Batlle, violin · Anne-Sophie van Riel, viola, Martin Egidi, violoncello · Pau Fernández Benlloch, fortepiano

On 16 June 1830 Fanny Hensel gave birth to her only child, Sebastian Ludwig Felix Hensel. This choice of names honours three composers who were particularly close to her heart: Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and her brother Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. This moderated concert is dedicated to Fanny Hensel and her son.
The three outstanding musicians of the award-winning Trio Alterna will play historical instroments and thus recreate an authentic feeling for Fanny Hensel’s times.

From the application video

The lieder by Fanny Hensel are among the most outstanding compositions of their time. In the last concert of our Fanny Hensel series they will be performed in a dialogue with works by artists who were close to Fanny Hensel.  What is particularly charming: they will be accompanied by a Romantic guitar, a typical instrument for accompaniments in that time, which was mainly played by women.

Maria Ladurner, a soprano who is much in demand internationally, is a high-profile specialist for Early Music and historically informed performance practices. Awards for her CD recordings include the Opus Klassik (2021) and the Diapson d’or. She made guest appearances at the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, at the Konzerthaus Wien, at the Berliner Philharmonie, at the Mozartwoche Salzburg and at the Händelfestspiele Göttingen. Her duo partner, Elias Conrad, was honoured with many awards in national and international competitions and has appeared in concerts with renowned conductors such as  René Jacobs, Andrea Marcon and Raphaël Pichon.

From the application video