Classical concert on 2 grand pianos at C. Bechstein Centrum Dresden

About the Event

For an extraordinary evening of piano classics, visit the impressive C. Bechstein Centrum Dresden to hear the masterpieces of Mendelssohn, Mozart and Reger.

Mathias Weber
Born in Göttingen, Mathias Weber received his first musical training in Oldenburg. There he appeared in public at the age of eight with preludes and fugues from the Well‐Tempered Clavier. He went on to study piano (E. Hansen), conducting (W. Brückner‐Rüggeberg and K. Seibel) and theory (C. Hohlfeld) at the Hamburg University of Music. Mathias Weber was a scholarship holder of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes and the Bundesauswahl Konzerte junger Künstler. Among the prizes he has been awarded are the ARD competition and the international competition in Rome. He has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and lied accompanist in numerous European countries as well as in the USA (Carnegie Hall) and East Asia. Mathias Weber has also been a guest at various international festivals.
At the Schleswig‐Holstein Music Festival, Mathias Weber taught in the Orchestra Academy for many years. He has also taught at the Academy of the Hamburg Conservatory and the Hamburg University of Music.
Mathias Weber has also made a name for himself as an arranger and author of music theory essays. For example, “Beethoven's Sonata Op. 24 — Aspekte der Dialektik von Form und Prozess” was published in the “Musik” series and by the Hamburg University of Music and Drama. His version of Brahms' piano quintet for piano and string orchestra has already been performed several times by the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss and as part of the 2021 Érard Festival with the Hamburg Camerata in the main hall of the Elbphilharmonie.
The world premiere of his arrangement of Brahms' Clarinet Sonata op. 120 for chamber orchestra and clarinet with Sabine Grofmeier as soloist and the Hamburg Camerata under his direction was also a great success with audiences there. His arrangement of C. Franck's piano quintet (developed into a symphony for orchestra and piano), which has already been performed and recorded with the Lübeck Philharmonic Orchestra, has been performed in Hamburg and also twice in Oldenburg in new splendor. Partner was the Oldenburg State Orchestra under Hendrik Vestmann. With the two Beethoven sonatas Op. 57 (Appassionata) and Op. 53 (Waldstein), Mathias Weber presented the modern three‐meter‐long Paulello grand piano (Opus 102) with great success in the main hall of the Elbphilharmonie. He has performed several times with the celebrated French violinist Elsa Grether, including at the Berlin Philharmonie. Recently, Mathias Weber has given several performances in various cities with the Hamburg pianist Eberhard Hasenfratz, including his own Mozart and Schubert arrangements for two grand pianos.

Eberhardt Hasenfratz
Eberhardt Hasenfratz was a scholarship holder of the Südwestfunk from 1985 to 1987. He studied at the music academies in Würzburg and Munich with Arne Torger and Eckart Besch.
The versatile pianist won prizes at various competitions and took part in several international master classes and chamber music courses with such renowned teachers as Alfons Kontarsky, Serge Collot, Martin Lovett, Henry Meyer (LaSalle Quartet) and Norman Shetler. After teaching at the music academies in Würzburg, Lübeck and Rostock, he now teaches accompaniment with chamber music at the University of the Arts in Berlin. Eberhard Hasenfratz has made numerous radio recordings, particularly of modern piano music and chamber music, and is much in demand as an accompanist at national and international competitions (including the German Music Competition, Carl Nielsen Competition Odense) and master classes (Ticino Musica, Festival Ljubljana, Summer Academy of the Vienna University of Music). He has worked with artists such as Francois Benda, Tomasz Tomaszewski, Michaela Martin, Eduard Brunner, Jürgen Kussmaul, Walter Forchert and Rex Martin. His chamber music partners have included Francois Benda, Tomasz Tomaszewski, Andra Darzins and Mathias Weber alongside musicians from leading orchestras in Germany.
From 2006 to 2022, he took over the artistic direction of the concert series “Freunde der Kammermusik Quickborn”. Since September 2010, he has also been the second church musician at the Protestant church in Hamburg‐Blankenese, where he founded a chamber music series as part of the “Blankenese Concerts” in 2011. With Hamburg Trio he recorded all Brahms and Schumann piano trios and also gave concerts with these programs in Japan and Russia. The CD Verklärte Nacht with works by Schönberg, Zemlinsky and Schubert recorded by the Hamburg Trio was recently released on the Genuin label.
For some time now, Eberhard Hasenfratz has been giving concerts with the Hamburg pianist Mathias Weber 4‐hands and on 2 grand pianos. The focus here is on previously unpublished Mozart and Schubert arrangements for two grand pianos.