Cathedral Music A series of Wednesday-evening organ concerts at the Frauenkirche in September provides residents with a perfect opportunity to revisit the city’s most famous landmark. The lineup includes: September 5: Michael Hartmann performing works by Bach, Bossi, Höller and Liszt; September 10: A group of young organists, including Matthias Egger, Alexander Schmid and Dominik Bernhard, performing Bach, Reger, Höller and Vierne; September 19: Hans Leitner, the cathedral’s organ master, and the BMW Chamber Orchestra performing works by Handel, Schmidt and Höller. The main organ, replaced in 1994, includes 95 registers, and is one of four in the cathedral. All concerts begin at 7 pm and cost € 8. For tickets, go to www.muenchenticket.de
The Best Young Musicians Music lovers often fantasize about being in the audience when a young musician gives a legendary performance. The 56th ARD International Music Competition, to be held from September 5 to 21, will include 340 young musicians from 46 countries. One may even be the next Paganini, Lang Lang or Yo-Yo Ma. This year oboists, trombonists, percussionists and piano trios will compete for prizes of up to € 15,000. In keeping with tradition, event organizers have commissioned new works in the four competition categories. Final-round winners will perform on September 19 and 20 at the Prinzregententheater and the prizewinners’ concert on September 21 will be held at the Munich Residence and feature the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation Symphony Orchestra (broadcast on Bayern 4 Klassik). Ticket prices range from € 5 to 30. A CD of 2006 prizewinners is now available. For details, visit www.br-online.de/kultur-szene/klassik/pages/ ard/ard.html
Renaissance Music “Fire—Passion in English Lute Song” will be performed at noon on September 30 at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (Bavarian National Museum). The program of Renaissance English lute and continuo love songs from the time of William Shakespeare is threaded with the theme of fire, uniting them in the lyrics. It is the first in a concert series called “Between Mars and Venus” and will be held in the museum’s Mars-Venus Hall. Joel Frederiksen, director of Ensemble Phoenix Munich, and Gerhard Söhne, lute maker and Munich resident, will give a preconcert lecture at 11 am. Concert tickets cost € 20 (€ 16 for seniors and students). For details, visit www.bayerisches-nationalmuseum.de
Arresting Music The Police unite! After 23 years, Sting, Stewart Copeland (the tall one) and Andy Summers (the short one) announced in February that they were insane (reading between the notes, that means mature) enough to give it another go. The trio perfected the act and appeased even New York critics when they performed this summer on their US tour. Don’t look for innovation, though: “Every Breath You Take,” “Roxanne,” “Synchronicity” and “Message in a Bottle” are all on the song list. If you’re ready for a nostalgic evening at the Olympia Stadium on September 22, tickets are still available, and at press time ranged from € 56 to 120 ... a miracle considering Big Apple sellers were asking up to $ 2,500. For tickets, go to www.muenchenticket.de
Virtuoso Plus Violinist Maxim Vengerov, who performs up to 130 concerts a year, will present works by Tchaikovsky on September 24 at 8 pm with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonic in Gasteig. Vengerov started violin lessons at the age of five, learning to play with gloves because his west Siberian home was so cold. He went on to study under Zakhar Bron and won the 1990 first prize at the Carl Flesch competition in London. Ticket prices range from € 35 to 115. For more information, see www.musikerlebnis.de
A Little Help from His Fans... Joe Cocker, the legendary blues balladeer, has been wooing audiences since the 1960s and may just tie Dylan for being able to rock the soul of his audiences. Although his Munich Olympiahalle concert is not until October 5, it has been heavily promoted and only arena tickets are now available, for € 47. Songs on the play list include all of his standards–“Chain of Fools,” “Maybe I‘m Amazed,” “I Put a Spell on You”–but fans can also expect to hear a few new ones from the rocker’s latest album, Hymn for My Soul.
Music Wrap-Up Move over Madonna. Style maven and singer Gwen Stefani (you can add MTV and Grammy Award winner as well as mom to her credits) hits the Olympiahalle on September 12 with her “Sweet Escapes” tour. Ticket prices range from € 38.75 to 57.75. If I had a Hammer. Nine Inch Nails, the avant-garde rock/industrial pop band will perform at Circus Krone on September 3 at 8 pm. Ticket prices range from € 46.80 to 52.55. Doing Dad Right. “Zappa Plays Zappa” at Circus Krone, on September 30 at 8 pm, features Dweezil Zappa and his band playing his father’s greatest hits, the late Frank Zappa, who died in 1993. Ticket prices range from € 48 to 57.
