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The veteran German composer Hans Werner Henze, now 83, is one of the most prolific, influential and successful composers of our age.

In the presence of the composer himself, the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra and Barbican are celebrating Henze's life and work in a weekend of events in January 2010.

They include a Total Immersion day – two major concerts framed by a talk, films and performances of new works inspired by Henze – complemented the following evening by a performance of his recent opera Phaedra by Ensemble Modern and a star-studded cast, conducted by long-time Henze champion Michael Boder.

The main concerts will be broadcast on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 3.

Paul Hughes, General Manager of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra, says: "It has been one of the privileges of my job to get to know and love the music of this astonishingly prolific and inventive composer.

"Hans Werner Henze is an extraordinary man and, over the years, the Ö÷²¥´óÐã SO has been able to present a number of his most iconic scores.

"I am thrilled that he has agreed to honour us with his presence during this celebration of his life and music. This will undoubtedly lift the whole weekend and enable audiences to be as charmed by his personality as they are beguiled by his music."

Among the main highlights of the Total Immersion day is the UK premiere of Elogium Musicum, the composer's serene, profoundly moving and consoling "obituary" for his companion of over 40 years conducted by Oliver Knussen, the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra's new Artist-in-Association.

Knussen also conducts Henze's "air for orchestra", ¹ó°ù²¹³Ù±ð°ù²Ô¾±³Ùé – full of bold colours and aptly described after its premiere in 1999 as "a restless search for lasting harmony" – and Henze's Fourth Symphony for large orchestra, written in 1955, in which emotional extremes and sensuous beauty combine to form music of almost supernatural enchantment.

Henze's great song against oppression and alienation, Voices, is performed in the lunchtime concert by the Guildhall New Music Ensemble and 15 singers from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama who are being coached by renowned British mezzo-soprano Sarah Walker. It is conducted by rising star Ryan Wigglesworth.

A cycle of 22 poems, "the voices of the title are those of young and old artists whose work is politically committed," Henze explains.

"These people are concerned with their fellow human beings, with the contemporary human condition within the world around them and with all the problems of race and class in which they themselves often seem fated to be embroiled."

There will also be a chance to hear three new works inspired by Henze's music, written especially for the day by young composers from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

These are performed by eight members of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra working alongside Guildhall School students in a free foyer performance before the evening concert as part of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra's ongoing partnership with the school's composition department.

The Total Immersion day also includes a number of films, as well as a talk, which aim to put Henze's music in context and give audiences the full immersion experience.

The first of the films is Barrie Gavin's 2001 portrait of the composer, Memoirs Of An Outsider, made for Henze's 75th birthday. With contributions from Sir Simon Rattle, Ian Bostridge, Oliver Knussen and Markus Stenz, the film explores Henze's childhood in Nazi Germany, his subsequent need to leave the country and his ostracism by the post-war avant-garde.

There is also the chance to see a filmed performance of Henze's nine Sacred Concertos which make up his Requiem, with pianist Ueli Wiget, trumpeter Hakan Hardenberger and Ensemble Modern conducted by Ingo Metzmacher.

Henze's music has been enriched over almost six decades by his passion for Italian music and culture. Revolutionary socialism, Italianate lyricism, Shakespearean humanity and classical myth are among the many sources that converge in Henze's output.

Art, classical music and literature banned by the Nazis somehow reached young Hans Werner Henze as he grew up in a small German village during the Thirties. It fuelled his desire to become a musician and shaped his world view. "Everything that the Fascists persecute and hate is beautiful to me," he later recalled.

Total Immersion: Hans Werner Henze is complemented the following day by a performance of his 14th opera Phaedra bringing the Henze Weekend at the Barbican to a dramatic close.

Henze celebrations continue in April 2010 with an English National Opera production of his opera Elegy For Young Lovers, directed by Fiona Shaw, at the Young Vic.

The Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra's Total Immersion series continues on 12 and 13 March 2010 with a weekend devoted to the music of one of the world's most performed living composers, Wolfgang Rihm.

Notes to Editors

Listings

Saturday 16 January

10.30am: Film, Cinema 2 – Hans Werner Henze, Memoirs Of An Outsider. Barrie Gavin's portrait of Hans Werner Henze, made for the composer's 75th birthday. It includes an interview from the composer's home, talks about his childhood in Nazi Germany and footage of performances and contributions from Sir Simon Rattle, Ian Bostridge, Oliver Knussen and Markus Stenz. UK, 2001, Dir. Barrie Gavin, 89 minutes, £6.

1.00pm: Concert, Barbican Hall – Voices. Guildhall New Music Ensemble/Ryan Wigglesworth. Voices, written for the London Sinfonietta, which gave the first performance in 1974, is Henze's great song against oppression and alienation. A cycle of 22 poems, "the voices of the title are those of young and old artists whose work is politically committed," Henze explains. "These people are concerned with their fellow human beings, with the contemporary human condition within the world around them and with all the problems of race and class in which they themselves often seem fated to be embroiled." £12.

4.00pm: Film, Cinema 2 – Henze's Requiem. A filmed performance of the nine Sacred Concertos which make up Henze's Requiem, with pianist Ueli Wiget, trumpeter Hakan Hardenberger and Ensemble Modern, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher. UK, 2001, Dir. Barrie Gavin, 71 minutes, £6.

6.00pm: Talk, Mozart Room. A discussion of Henze's significance and influence, plus an introduction to the music in tonight's concert. Free, by ticket only.

6.30pm: Free Event, Barbican Freestage. Three new works inspired by Henze's music and written especially for the day by young composers from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, performed by members of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra working alongside Guildhall School students as part of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra's ongoing partnership with the School's composition department.

7.00pm: Concert, Barbican Hall. Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Oliver Knussen; Huw Watkins (piano). ¹ó°ù²¹³Ù±ð°ù²Ô¾±³Ùé, Symphony No. 4; Elogium musicum (UK premiere); music for solo piano. Sensuous beauty, emotional extremes and music of almost supernatural enchantment meet in Henze's Fourth Symphony, written for large orchestra in 1955. Tonight's programme seduces the ear with a strong flavour of the composer's works for solo piano, before exploring the bold colour of his "air for orchestra", ¹ó°ù²¹³Ù±ð°ù²Ô¾±³Ùé. The latter was aptly described following its world premiere in 1999 as "a restless search for lasting harmony". Elogium Musicum, first heard in Leipzig in 2008, is the octogenarian composer's serene, profoundly moving and consoling "obituary" for his companion of over 40 years. £8-£24.

Sunday 17 January

7.30pm: Concert, Barbican Hall. Ensemble Modern; Michael Boder; Maria Riccarda Wesseling (Phaedra); Marlis Petersen (Aphrodite); Lauri Vasar (Minotaur); Axel Köhler (Artemis); John Mark Ainsley (Hippolytus). Phaedra (UK premiere) – Phaedra's love for her stepson Hippolytus brings catastrophe. Forbidden love, violence and jealousy drive this version of the Phaedra story towards its transcendental climax. Henze's latest opera is a feast of dazzlingly sensual music which gets to the heart of his characters' deepest emotions, and paints a vivid picture of the natural world around them. £9-£28. Part of the Barbican's Present Voices series.

Full information at bbc.co.uk/symphonyorchestra.

VB