Bock auf Klassik?!

Pre-concert talk with Lydia Benecke

Before the concert, criminal psychologist Lydia Benecke will be a guest of the Gürzenich Orchestra. In conversation (starting 45 minutes before the concert), she will take a psychological look at Béla Bartók’s opera Bluebeard’s Castle and discuss the fascination of the forbidden, secrets in relationships, and the question of why people are sometimes drawn to precisely what frightens them.

A classical concert for young adults – no dress code, but with everything that makes for a special evening.

With its concert series ‘Bock auf Klassik?!’, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne invites everyone under the age of 29 to an evening that offers a new way of experiencing classical music: accessible, lively and surprisingly different. For just 8€, you can enjoy great works, a personal presentation throughout the evening and afterwards, a musical finale with a DJ, free drinks and a relaxed atmosphere in the foyer. 

It is dark and cold in the castle where Bluebeard leads his young wife Judith. With the power of her love, she wants to unravel her husband's mysterious past, bring light into the darkness and build bridges over chasms. However, she is not allowed to ask any questions; seven locked doors conceal secrets. Judith begins to open them one by one... It is also dark in the depths of the human soul. Locked away within it are urges, fears, dreams and nightmares. In his only opera, Duke Bluebeard's Castle, Béla Bartók penetrates the chambers of the human subconscious. The well-known fairy tale of the bloodthirsty woman-killer Bluebeard serves as the basis for a gripping psychological drama with a magical pull. Innocence, inner turmoil, speechlessness and hopelessness in the face of the cruelties of fate: the intimate play of Judith and Bluebeard shows people caught between love, hope, despair and death. An opera thriller that, with its suggestive, vivid imagery, needs no stage.

The evening is far from over once the final note has faded: the party continues in the foyer – with a DJ set by Cologne-based artist no:elia, who provides a stylish musical interlude with rhythmic beats, breaks and soul influences. It’s not a club night, but it’s definitely a place to linger, listen, chat and keep the party going.