Artists Biography

HOLGER GROSCHOPP 

Holger Groschopp was born in Berlin and pursued his piano studies in his hometown with Georg Sava. In addition he studied composition with Isang Yun and song interpretation with Aribert Reimann and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. His extensive solo career has taken him to most European countries, the Middle and Far East and North and Central America. He has performed as soloist at major European festivals (Berlin, Salzburg, Montepulciano etc.) and played chamber music with many prominent musicians.

 Holger Groschopp is considered an expert in Contemporary Music and worked intensively with composers such as Isang Yun, Pierre Boulez, Aribert Reimann, Hans Werner Henze, Heinz Holliger and others. He has had a close collaboration with Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, the Berlin Philharmonic, the DSO Berlin and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

 His nine CD’s released on the Capriccio label with transcriptions by Ferruccio Busoni were given highest acclaim by a range of international critics, including highest recommendation in BBC Music Magazine and the US magazine Fanfare.

The complete recordings of the works for Cello and Piano by Polish-French Jewish composer Simon Laks (an Auschwitz survivor), with Adele Bitter will be released during 2022.

ADELE BITTER 

Adele Bitter was born in Berlin, where she absorbed vital musical influences as a child and began playing cello at an early age. After several years of study with Katharina Maechler and Dietmar Schwalke (now in the Berliner Philharmoniker), she joined the class of Prof. Gerhard Mantel at the Frankfurt Conservatory.

After graduation, Adele Bitter moved to the Hanns Eisler Hochschule in Berlin, where she was a student of Prof. Josef Schwab. Periods of study in the USA, especially in Cincinnati with Lee Fiser from the legendary LaSalle Quartet, rounded out her training. She played with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and Ensemble Modern Orchestra, and while still a student was a member of Daniel Barenboim’s newly-founded Orchesterakademie within the Staatskapelle Berlin.  

She soon took up her first post, principal cellist of the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, allowing her to expand her opera repertoire.   She was appointed assistant principal cellist with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, of which she remains a member while continuing her presence as a soloist and chamber musician. As a member of the Adamello Quartett, a classical repertoire is combined with contemporary examples (Dutilleux, Glanert, Nono, Reimann, Scelsi, etc.). She is trained in historically-informed playing and studied baroque cello with Christophe Coin at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Playing both continuo and solo parts with Rinaldo Alessandrini, Karl-Friedrich Beringer, Ton Koopman, Andrew Manze, Andrea Marcon, and Helmuth Rilling has left an indelible impression on her. She also performed baroque chamber music with Jos van Immerseel and the soprano Yeree Suh.

Her album with pieces for Violoncello solo by different composers who share the experience of exile and show the musical possibilities of “melting cultures” was released in February 2022. The complete recordings of the works for Cello and Piano by Polish-French Jewish composer Simon Laks (an Auschwitz survivor), with Holger Groschopp will be released during 2022.

Concert Details

HOLGER GROSCHOPP, piano – ADELE BITTER, cello

 Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827):

Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 in g minor op. 5 No. 2 (1796)

1. Adagio sostenuto e espressivo – Allegro molto più tosto presto
2. Rondo (Allegro)

Seven Variations on „Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen“ from Mozart’s „Magic Flute“ WoO 46 (1801)

——- Intermission ——

Enrique Granados (1867–1916)

Madrigal for Cello and Piano (1915)

Joseph Boulnois (1884–1918):

Sonata for Cello and Piano in g-minor (1917)

1. Andante tranquillo – Allegro moderato
2. Choral (Andante sostenuto)
3. Scherzo (Vivo)
4. Final (Allegretto deciso)

*********************************

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

Sonata for Cello and Piano D major BWV 1028

1. Adagio
2. Allegro
3. Andante
4. Allegro

Luís de Freitas Branco (Lisboa 1890 – Lisboa 1955):

Sonata para Violoncelo e Piano (1913)

1. Moderato
2. Molto vivo
3. Molto moderato
4. Molto vivo

——- Intermission ——

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849):

Introduction et Polonaise brillante in C major op. 3 (1829)

César Franck (1822–1890):

Sonata for Cello and Piano in A major (1886)

1. Allegretto moderato
2. Allegro
3. Recitativo-Fantasia (Ben moderato)
4. Allegretto poco mosso

********************************
For concert bookings please send an e-mail to reservasconcertos@gmail.com

********************************