Schwetzingen SWR Festival: Five Seasons in Dialogue

Resident artist Dorothee Oberlinger and her duo partner Edin Karamazov present a program centered around Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons: "Nature holds its breath... Now everything is over: born is, matured is, grown is, spawned is, harvested is... In this moment, the gears stand still. It rests." This is what Kurt Tucholsky wrote about the time between late summer and early autumn, which he referred to as the "fifth season." Resident artist Dorothee Oberlinger and her duo partner Edin Karamazov borrow Tucholsky's title and description for the music and emotions of a concert program revolving around Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons. This popular concert quartet is presented here in a unique arrangement for recorder and lute, which extracts personal and intimate aspects from the baroque works. For the fifth season, there is a piece written by the English composer Imogen Holst, daughter of Gustav Holst (The Planets). The Fall of the Leaf, originally for solo cello, alternates between free recitation and a recurring melodic phrase, stretching its hands in both directions of time – towards tradition and towards modernity. The fifth season is a transitional time of reflection and anticipation. A time of melancholy and rich sighs. So good, so beautiful.