For her concert with the Karajan-Akademie, our Artist in Residence Janine Jansen has chosen three works that combine lightness with depth: Beethoven’s Septet captivates with its serenade-like character and the sophisticated interplay between winds and strings. In his Two Pieces for string octet, Shostakovich initially celebrates Bach’s Baroque sound world before surprising with wit and irony. Bartók’s Divertimento, composed in 1939, draws on the tradition of the Viennese Classical style while blending it with rhythms and melodies of Hungarian folk dances. At times, threatening harmonies also emerge, foreshadowing the looming world war.