Widmann: Arche - Marlis Petersen, Thomas Bauer, Iveta Apkalna, Kent Nagano, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
For the opening of Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie concert hall, the German composer Jörg Widmann was commissioned to write a new oratorio for soloists, choirs, organ and orchestra, 'Arche'. Widmann drew inspiration from the shape of the building itself to create a compendious work embracing the course of history in the west with a collaged libretto drawing upon a range of writers: from the unknown authors of the Old Testament to Nietzsche and Sloterdijk via Francis of Assisi, Michelangelo and Schiller.