Vackor karácsonya

Two masterpieces of late 19th-century French sacred music make up the programme of this concert-hall celebration: Gabriel Fauré’s exquisitely beautiful Requiem and the Clovis Mass by the elderly Charles Gounod. Between the movements of the latter work, the audience will also become acquainted with four further gems from the Gallican tradition of church music, with one composition each by Alexandre Guilmant, Louis Aubert, Camille Saint-Saëns and Théodore Dubois.

Emmet Cohen has clearly got what it takes. It goes without saying that he is a brilliant pianist who knows to strike a chord with his fellow musicians – legendary figures such as Ron Carter and Benny Golson, leading artists of today like Joshua Redman and Christian McBride, and even the bright hopes of tomorrow, such as Samara Joy and Mejdi Owens – and how to connect with his audience, whether in a jazz club, a concert hall, or online.

What happens when the heroes of Mozart’s opera are portrayed on stage not by singers, but by finely crafted marionette figures? The Salzburg Marionette Theatre’s production offers a barely one-hour version of this iconic piece from the opera repertoire: while preserving its essential musical and dramatic pillars, it guides the audience through Tamino, Pamina, and Papageno’s adventures in a more accessible, dense form.