1. THEMENKONZERT

In the organizer's words:

Science and art come together in a creative way in the themed concerts. Founded in 2010, the series has been organized in close cooperation between the Bavarian State Opera and its innovation partner Brainlab AG since 2024 and takes place at the company headquarters at the tower of the former Munich-Riem Airport.

The evenings are dialogs between two manifestations of the human urge to explore: on the one hand in the form of reports from basic research and applied science, and on the other with music at the pulse of its time for chamber ensembles and similar formations. In the 2024/25 season, the themed concerts - based on the two opera premieres at Ja, Mai and the overall theme of "Illusions" - are dedicated to the phenomenon of perception and memory. Music, as the most transient of all the arts, which disappears the moment it is heard, functions essentially through memory and acts as an artistic counterpoint. Related to this is the exploration, already begun in the previous season, of the question of how individual and collective memory is shaped by human memory, whether on a neurophysiological or social level. Various disciplines from Brainlab AG's wide-ranging scientific network approach this topic in illuminating lectures. The premiere of Thomas Larcher's chamber opera Das Jagdgewehr (The Hunting Rifle ) provides an opportunity to take a closer look at the work of the Austrian composer as part of the "Ja, Mai" festival. The themed concerts, which combine art and science, are intended to appeal to the senses and the mind in equal measure.

Program:

Thomas Larcher (born 1963)
Nucleus for clarinet, violoncello and piano (2023)

Thomas Larcher
Lyrical Lights for tenor, clarinet and optional pre-recorded material (2013)

Lecture

Prof. Dr. med. Dipl. mus. Eckart Altenmüller
Former Director of the Institute for Music Physiology and Musicians' Medicine at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media
Music as an art of memory and remembrance

Break

Thomas Larcher (born 1963)
Nucleus for clarinet, violoncello and piano (2023)

Thomas Larcher
Lyrical Lights for tenor, clarinet and optional pre-recorded material (2013)

Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
Contrasts Sz. 111 for violin, clarinet and piano (1938)

Instrumentation:

• Tenor N.N.
• Violin Matjaž Bogataj
• Violoncello Yves Savary
• Clarinet Andreas Schablas
• Piano Jean-Pierre Collot