This post is a continuation of my previous reflection. Two thoughts came to me while listening to Mendelssohns Elijah at the Berlin Philharmonie on 8 March 2026. In my previous post, I discussed the essence of Elijah. In this post, I would like to share my thoughts on Baal worship. At first sight, it looks …
The Elijah I listened to at the Berlin Philharmonie on 8.3.2026 is the kind of version where Mendelssohn would be watching from heaven and smiling with utmost satisfaction. Having heard Benjamin Appls excellent and moving interpretations of Bachs St. Matthew and St. John Passions, I had been anticipating his interpretation of Mendelssohns Elijah. Personally, the …
“A white hand wavesFrom fairy tales of old,Where there are sounds and songsOf a magic land.” — Aus alten Märchen winkt es, Heinrich Heine The Liederabend was indeed an entry into a magical land of sounds and songs. Our guides for the evening were Benjamin (baritone) and James (piano), who led us through the poetic …
The CD I have been waiting for over 19 days finally arrived today, and I realised that I had never written a proper review of my absolute favourite Christmas album. Today, I am putting that right. If you are interested in reading this review, you are probably more interested in my personal thoughts than in …
I had fairly high expectations for this concert, Franz Schubert: Master Storyteller by Benjamin Appl and Sholto Kynoch, which was also the opening concert of this year’s Oxford International Song Festival, for three reasons. Firstly, I had heard their wonderful performance back in May in Heidelberg, Germany. Secondly, I have been a lover of Lieder …
The concert at Aula der Alten Universitt Heidelberg at 19:30 was the 100th anniversary commemoration of the singer Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. A significant figure who contributed greatly to the cultural landscape after the war, especially in the German cultural heritage of Kunstlied (Art Song). His last pupil, Benjamin Appl, curated the programme using Fischer-Dieskaus biography as …
“In the evening the dove returned and carried an olive leaf in its beak.” Bach’s St. Matthew Passion
“In the evening the dove returnedAnd carried an olive leaf in its beak.O beautiful time! O evening hour!We now make our peace with GodFor Jesus’s sufferings are ended.” From St. Matthew Passion no. 64 (an excerpt) In this short text of the recitative “Am Abend, da es kühle war” from J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, …
Have you ever had a beautiful dream and somehow lost it somewhere. Schubert’s Nacht und Träume is about bringing back this fair dream from above to us. If it is a beautiful dream, be courageous to dream again, and never let it go. Some dreams are messages from heaven about our purposes on earth. Only …
Time continues to play its organ diligently,Its little song sings to you every day,Mixed with sounds that are not cheerful,That no one wants to hear. The sounds continue. And as the years go byIt becomes a full singing society.It makes you go through the roof.You’d like to be somewhere else. Well, all right. You do …
At Easter 2022, I left my previous occupation as a church musician and started new life as a self-employed musician. Shortly before the Easter, I still have many vacation days available, so I travelled to Freiburg, Dresden, Postdam and Berlin for spinett shopping plus visiting my favourite concerts (Schubert’s Winterreise, Bach’s family). I remembered it …