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Astoria Concerts Programme 2026 - 2027

About the artistic direction

Bringing over 25 years of rich experience as a performing musician and programmer, Daniel Rubenstein previously served as Artistic Director of Concerts Astoria from 2005 to 2013 alongside Jacques Leduc, continuing the legacy of his father, Jerrold Rubenstein, the founder of Astoria Concerts. This upcoming season proudly marks his return to the artistic leadership of the series.

Saturday 14 November 2026

Classics and discoveries

The eminent French clarinettist Jean-Marc Fessard, joined by his longtime duo partner Olivier Dauriat, travels from Paris to present a carefully curated programme. They pair two Romantic masterpieces of the repertoire, by Schumann and Saint-Saëns, with rare works drawn from their ambitious recording project dedicated to the competition pieces of the renowned Paris Conservatory.

Jean-Marc Fessard, clarinet
Olivier Dauriat, piano

  • Camille Saint-Saëns: Clarinet Sonata, Op. 167 in E-flat major
  • Robert Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op. 73 for clarinet and piano
  • Charles-Marie Widor: Introduction et Rondo, Op. 72 for clarinet and piano
  • André Messager: Solo de Concours for clarinet and piano
  • Claude Debussy: Première Rapsodie, L. 116 for clarinet and piano
  • Joseph Jongen: Récitatif et Airs de Ballet, Op. 33 for clarinet and piano
book tickets - 14 November 2026
Trio Becel
Saturday 5 December 2026

Dances and enchantments

 

Trio Becel invites audiences on a poetic and flamboyant reimagining of dance repertoire through the ages. Carried by the rare, luminous combination of flute, viola, and harp, this program explores movement in all its artistic guises: from the stately elegance of Renaissance courts to the haunting spells of Saint-Saëns's Danse Macabre, moving through the lush impressionistic colors of Ravel and the raw, vital energy of Bartók's traditional folklore.

Trio Becel

Gergely Kota, viola

Léonore Frommlet, flute

Alyssa Hondekijn, harp

“Balletto”

Ottorino Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite I (arr. for flute, viola, and harp)

Maurice Ravel: Excerpts from Daphnis et Chloé, Suite II (arr. for flute, viola, and harp)

Antonio Bertali: Ciaccona (arr. for flute, viola, and harp)

Camille Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre (arr. for flute, viola, and harp)

Béla Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances (arr. for flute, viola, and harp)

saturday 16 january 2027

Diversions for the queen's ear

La Cetra d'Orfeo transports us into the splendor and elegant intimacy of the Versailles salons under Louis XIV and Louis XV. Celebrating the great masters of the French Baroque, this program unveils the rich textures of French Baroque chamber music written for recorders, viola da gamba, and harpsichord.

From the striking purity of Hotteterre's unaccompanied duets to the refined counterpoint of Leclair's continuo, and from the theatrical humor of Marais's Tableau de l'Opération de la Taille to the mischievous wit of Rameau, the evening offers a fascinating panorama of the French musical spirit.

Ensemble La Cetra d'Orfeo

  • Carlota Ingrid Garcia, traverso
  • Barbara Hünninger, viola da gamba
  • Raphaël Collignon, harpsichord
  • Michel Keustermans, recorders
book tickets - 16 January 2027
saturday 13 February 2027

Romanticism and miniatures

This concert celebrates the cello in all its rich lyrical eloquence and expressive depth. Cellist Natania Hoffman and pianist Monika Dars bring monumental Romantic pages by Beethoven, Schumann, and Grieg into an inspired dialogue with the singular, suspended, and deeply evocative world of Lithuanian composer Anatolijus Šenderovas's Four Miniatures.

Natania Hoffman, cello

Monika Dars, piano

  • Anatolijus Šenderovas: 4 Miniatures for cello and piano
  • Robert Schumann: Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70 for cello and piano
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 4 in C major, Op. 102 No. 1
  • Edvard Grieg: Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36
book tickets - 13 February 2027
saturday 13 March 2027

Suspended time

Quatuor Taurus offers an immersive musical experience conceived as a seamless, continuous sonic meditation. Built around slowness, silence, and inner contemplation, this unique program bridges disparate musical eras with extraordinary fluidity.

The sacred medieval polyphonies of Machaut and Pierre de la Rue meet Beethoven's most deeply spiritual pages, while modern works by Kurtág, Scelsi, and Webern extend this shared quest for suspended time. An invitation to slow down and listen differently.

 

Quatuor Taurus

Wietse Beels, violin

Liesbeth Baelus, violin

Vincent Hepp, viola

Martijn Vink, cello

book tickets - 13 March 2027
Quatuor Taurus
Saturday 17 April 2027

Intimate Beethoven

One of music's towering figures in musical history, Ludwig van Beethoven remains an inexhaustible spring of creative inspiration. Pianist Olivier de Spiegeleir, widely acclaimed for his highly engaging and illuminating lecture-recitals, guides us through a selection of sonatas, variations, and bagatelles, offering a personal journey into the heart of Beethoven's musical thought.

A Selection of sonatas, variations, and bagatelles for solo piano.

book tickets - 17 April 2027
saturday 22 May 2027

The Spirit of youth

Bringing together two masterful post-Romantic works, Daniel Rubenstein (violin) and Muhiddin Dürrüoğlu (piano) invite listeners to discover the remarkable and overlooked First Violin Sonata of Robert Fuchs. A close friend of Brahms and a central figure in the musical life of fin-de-siècle Vienna, Fuchs helped pave the way for a young Richard Strauss, whose Sonata in E-flat major answers the nobility and lyrical depth of his predecessor with youthful brilliance.

Violin Sonata No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 20 by Robert Fuchs and a Violin Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 18 by Richard Strauss.

book tickets - 22 May 2027
saturday 19 June 2027

Romantic summits

To bring this Concerts Astoria season to a triumphant close, four world-class musicians will perform two pinnacles of the piano quartet repertoire. The radiant elegance and classical balance of Mozart's Quartet in E-flat major, will give way to the passionate and sweeping poetry of Schumann's monumental Piano Quartet, a finale marked by artistic generosity, emotional depth and expressive dialogue.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major, K. 493

Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 47

Brought by

  • Gordan Nikolić, violin
  • Frantz Gališ, viola
  • Céline Flamen, cello
  • Roberta Mamou, piano
book tickets - 19 June 2027