Con spirito – Leipzig´s Chamber Music Festival

We uncover them in the fifth season of the Con spirito chamber music festival. From 30th August to 7th September 2025 we will welcome international stars of the chamber music scene in the salons and places of Mendelssohn, Bach, the Schumanns, Grieg and Wagner: Michael Wollny, Martin Helmchen, Antje Weithaas, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Tobias Feldmann, Peter Bruns and others.

Get one of our limited festival passes before the official advance sale and enjoy all concerts in the best seats at the special price of 180 euros (instead of 240 euros).

You are also welcome to follow us on our social media channels: Facebook and Instagram!

The 1st concertmaster of the Berlin Konzerthausorchester Sayako Kusaka (violin) and the two professors of the Leipzig University of Music and Theatre Pauline Sachse (viola) and Peter Bruns (violoncello), accompanied by pianist Annegret Kuttner, will take you back to the inspiring era of salons in the 19th century. Whether at home with Mendelssohn or the Schumanns – it was here in Leipzig that the salon lions came together, careers were forged and new compositions were performed.
You can look forward to an entertaining evening with Robert Schumann’s piano quartet in E flat major op. 47, which he composed in Leipzig and which his wife Clara premiered in the Gewandhaus, as well as entertaining anecdotes and other musical surprises.

Sayako Kusaka (violin) | Pauline Sachse (viola) | Peter Bruns (violoncello) | Annegret Kuttner (piano) | Gregor Nowak (moderation)

Tickets: 35 € | Concert venue: Blumenland Engler, Geschwister-Scholl-Str. 45, 04205 Leipzig

Saturday, 30 August 2025 | 6 p.m. | Gewandhaus zu Leipzig (Mendelssohn Hall)

Johannes Brahms
Liebesliederwalzer op. 52 (selection)
(contemporary arrangement for string quintet by Friedrich Hermann)

Antonín Dvořák
“Cypresses” (selection)

Franz Schubert
Fantasy in F minor for piano four hands D 940 op. posthumous 103

***
Robert Schumann
Novellette op. 21 No. 8

Johannes Brahms
Piano Quartet in C minor op. 60

Tobias Feldmann, Seiji Okamoto, Rosanne Philippens, Antje Weithaas | Violin
Sophie Kiening, Pauline Sachse | Viola
Peter Bruns, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Xiaotang Xu | Violoncello
Burak Marlali | Double bass
Martin Helmchen, Boris Kusnezow, Annegret Kuttner | Piano

Tickets: PC 1: 35/25 EUR (reduced) | PC 2: 30/20 EUR (reduced), plus booking fee
(available at the Gewandhaus box office)

Sunday, 31 August 2025 | 7 p.m. | Schumann-Haus Leipzig

Clara Wieck
“Romance variée” op. 3

Robert Schumann
Carnaval op. 9 (selection)
(contemporary version for violin and piano by Ferdinand Hüllweck)

Joseph Haydn
Piano Trio in E flat minor “Jacob's Dream” Hob. XV: 31

***
Robert Schumann
Piano quintet op. 44

Tobias Feldmann, Seiji Okamoto, Rosanne Philippens | Violin
Pauline Sachse | Viola
Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Xiaotang Xu | Violoncello
Rolf-Dieter Arens, Martin Helmchen, Boris Kusnezow, Annegret Kuttner | Piano

Tickets: 30/20 EUR (reduced) plus booking fee

Tuesday, 2nd September 2025 | 7 p.m. | Alte Nikolaischule, Wagner-Aula

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Serenade No. 13 “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” KV 525

Richard Wagner
Opera excerpts (from Rienzi, Tannhäuser, Tristan and Isolde, Meistersinger and Parsifal)

***
Johann Sebastian Bach
“The art of the fugue”

Maya Kasprzak, Seiji Okamoto, Rosanne Philippens | Violin
Sophie Kiening, Pauline Sachse | Viola
Peter Bruns, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker | Violoncello
Rolf-Dieter Arens | Piano

Tickets: 30/20 EUR (reduced) plus advance booking fee

Wednesday, 3rd September 2025 | 7 p.m. | Bach Museum, Summer Hall

Johann Sebastian Bach
Goldberg Variations BWV 988
(version for string trio)

Tobias Feldmann | Violin
Pauline Sachse | Viola
Peter Bruns | Violoncello

Tickets: 30/20 EUR (reduced) plus advance booking fee

Thursday, 4th September 2025 | 7 p.m. | Thomaskirche

An evening with Michael Wollny (piano) and Tamar Halperin (harpsichord)

Tickets: PC1: 35/20 EUR (reduced) | PC2: 20/15 EUR (reduced), plus booking fee

Friday, 5th September 2025 | 7 p.m. | Mendelssohn Haus

Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonata for viola da gamba (violoncello) and piano No. 1 in G major BWV 1027

Fanny Hensel
“Adagio” in E major H.72 for violin and piano

Fanny Mendelssohn
“Easter Sonata”

***
Fanny Hensel
Fantasy in G minor for violoncello and piano
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Lied ohne Worte op. 109 for violoncello and piano

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano trio in E flat major op. 70 no. 2

Tobias Feldmann, Rosanne Philippens | Violin
Peter Bruns, Xiaotang Xu | Violoncello
Martin Helmchen, Boris Kusnezow, Annegret Kuttner | Piano

Tickets: 30/20 EUR (reduced) plus advance booking fee

Saturday, 6th September 2025 | 7 p.m. | Grieg-Begegnungsstätte

Robert Schumann
Piano Quartet op. 47 in E flat major

Dmitri Schostakowitsch
String Quartet No. 8 in C minor op. 110

***
Antonín Dvořák
Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” op. 95
from it: “Negro Spiritual Melody” from the 2nd movement (arr. Fritz Kreisler)

Antonín Dvořák
“Dumky” Trio in E minor op. 90

Tobias Feldmann, Maya Kasprzak, Rosanne Philippens | Violin
Sophie Kiening, Pauline Sachse | Viola
Peter Bruns, Xiaotang Xu | Violoncello
Boris Kusnezow, Annegret Kuttner | Piano

Tickets: 30/20 EUR (reduced) plus advance booking fee

Sunday, 7th September 2025 | 11 a.m. | Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" | Tickets: 30/20/10* EUR plus advance booking fee (*children up to 16 years)

The magic of A Midsummer Night's Dream envelops this fantastic picture theater with Bodecker & Neander and Con spirito musicians. 13 scenes take you into the universe of the artist Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Pantomime, film and object theater merge with the music and enable an extraordinary journey into Mendelssohn's life - without words - without explanation.

Compagnie Bodecker & Neander | Pantomime
Tobias Feldmann, Maya Kasprzak, Emilija Kortus, Rosanne Philippens | Violin
Sophie Kiening, Pauline Sachse | Viola
Peter Bruns, Xiaotang Xu | Violoncello
Benjamin Wand | Double bass
Omer Itzhak Posti | Oboe
Anna Garzuly-Wahlgren | Flute
Johannes Gmeinder | Clarinet
Thomas Eberhardt | Bassoon
Thomas Hauschild | Horn

Musical direction: Peter Bruns
Written and directed by: Lionel Ménard
Idea and production: Gregor Nowak

Tickets: PK1: 30/20 EUR (reduced) | PK2: 20/15 EUR (reduced) | Children up to 16 years: 10 EUR, plus booking fee