Songs - Duo Weitzel-Pakusch (Bariton, Piano) + visit of Villa Carlotta

PROGRAM

W. A. MOZART:
Aria di Leporello “Madamina, il cataloguo” dal “Don Giovanni”
“Se voul ballare” Cavatina di Figaro da “Le nozze di Figaro”
G. VERDI: “Cortigiani, vil razza dannata” Aria di Rigoletto da “Rigoletto”
J.S. BACH: Cantata “Lasset uns mit Jesum ziehen”
WEITZEL/PAKUSCH: “Schläft ein Lied in allen Dingen” (Dorme una canzone in ogni cosa)
R. SCHUMANN: Frühlingsfahrt (Viaggio die primavera)
Tradizione tedesco: “Geh aus mein Herz ” (Apro il mio cuore)
R. WAGNER: Lied an den Abendstern (Canzone alla stella della sera) da “Tannhäuser”
F. SCHUBERT: Lied eines Schiffers an die Dioskuren (Canto di un marinaio ai Dioscuri)
J. GROBAN: You raise me up
F. SINATRA: My Way

THE ARTISTS

Christoph von Weitzel (Baritone)
“Weitzel’s song interpretation penetrates into the existential. It is not only the beautiful singing that is interesting, but also the sense of words intensified by the music, with which fundamental emotional situations are described.” What Gerhard Rohde writes about the singer in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reflects Weitzel’s concern: Starting from the word to fathom the music, to deal intensively with the meaning in order to rediscover the true and the beautiful.
Christoph von Weitzel completed his vocal studies with Professor John Lester (USA) and Barry Mora at the Frankfurt Opera. His participation in Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s Lied masterclass, and in particular his work with Kammersänger Walter Berry, shaped his artistic development.
Engagements have taken him to the Salzburger Landestheater, the Vogtland Theater Plauen and the Mainfranken Theater Würzburg as a permanent member. He has sung as a guest at the operas in Frankfurt, the Nuremberg Opera, the theatres in Zwickau and Regensburg and the “Alte Oper” in Frankfurt, among others. Christoph von Weitzel has performed as an opera guest and in recital at opera festivals in Austria, Italy, England, Spain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, New Zealand and South Africa.
Christoph von Weitzel’s concert repertoire spans the European music literature of four centuries, as well as contemporary composers.
He made a name for himself particularly with the staged versions of Schubert ́s song cycles and the development of new forms of presentation and formats of song recitals. Lieder recitals regularly take him to numerous German and European concert halls and festivals such as Frankfurt (Alte Oper), Munich (Gasteig), Berlin (Palais am Festungsgraben), Aberdeen (Haddo House), Hamburg (Laeizehalle), Mozartfest Würzburg, Mosel Musikfestival, Hohenloher Kultursommer, Fränkischer Sommer, Schubertiade Roskilde Denmark, in Italy and many others. As well as to other continents such as New Zealand and South Africa.
He recorded for radio (e.g. M. Durufé’s Requiem) and television productions as well as CD recordings.
Former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmid and former Federal President Christian Wulff, among others, are patrons of Christoph von Weitzel’s project “Opera for the Homeless – Winterreise – Songs become Grand Opera”, in which the staged version of this work serves as a medium to raise awareness of the increasing plight of homeless people and the work of their helpers.
With this project, he made a name for himself far beyond the world of music in West Germany.

Ulrich Pakusch (piano)
Conducting, piano and organ: these subjects, which Ulrich Pakusch studied at the conservatories in Saarbrücken and Frankfurt am Main, form the three pillars of his wide-ranging fields of activity.
After positions at the theatres in Regensburg, Kaiserslautern and Karlsruhe, Ulrich Pakusch was engaged as director of studies and bandmaster at the Mainfranken Theatre in Würzburg from 2004 to 2011. In addition to the core classical-romantic repertoire, he conducted numerous 20th and 21st century works and premiered compositions by Magret Wolf, Michael Obst, Manfred Trojahn and Gerhard Stäbler.
He then took over the musical direction of the opera school at the Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg until February 2019, and since October 2018 has been responsible for the musical direction of opera productions at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig. Since 2023 he is professor in this position.
In addition to his university activities, Ulrich Pakusch has conducted the Berliner Symphoniker and he is a passionate Lied accompanist.
As an organist, guest concerts have taken him to the organs of the Berlin Philharmonie and the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Calgary, Auckland, Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.