The Hamburg pianist Alexander Krichel - live "in Ulm, around Ulm and round around Ulm" – exclusively for the Lions-Club Ulm/Neu-Ulm – Alb-Donau

Review 3rd concert
Grandiose playing of a virtuoso

by Burkhard Schäfer, Südwest-Presse Ulm, March 2nd, 2021


With dedication, Alexander Krichel brings the "Appassionata" and "Pictures at an Exhibition" to the live stream.

"Fortunately - and unfortunately" he already has experience with live concerts without an audience, which can currently only be experienced on the internet because of Corona, Alexander Krichel said before the benefit concert for the Ulm Hospice organized by the Lions Club and laughed. Whereby the audience is an ambivalent thing: On the one hand, it is naturally missing in the hall, on the other hand, an "infinite" number of people from all corners of the world can tune into a stream. And since he knows that friends from New York will also be watching, he feels connected to everyone who is not "here" today, but who is there "now."

For some viewers, however, it was going to be difficult to be there because, as not everyone knew, cookies had to be enabled on their computers for this stream. Those who had blocked these "data cookies" sat in front of a black screen at 8 pm. Everyone else, however, was able to literally watch the internationally celebrated virtuoso thanks to good live direction.

With Beethoven's "Appassionata" Sonata and the "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Modest Mussorgsky, Krichel had put two icons of piano literature on the program. He played the "Appassionata" for the first time when he was 14 years old, and since then it has grown especially close to his heart, Krichel confessed. This deep attachment could not only be heard, it was also reflected in the face and body language of the pianist.

Liberation and redemption

The silence that fell after the final chord due to a lack of audience was then quickly filled again with sound with the second piece, "Pictures at an Exhibition." The cycle basically depicts a life story, Krichel explained. "Until the penultimate picture, 'The Hut of Baba Jaga,' the music gets darker and darker - until at the end you stand in front of the golden 'Hero's Gate of Kiev.' This gate is like a liberation and redemption - and that's why, for me, the music fits so well with the hospice idea." Without Corona, there would certainly have been a standing ovation for this exceptional performance. But there was no applause; not so the encore: Nocturne in C-sharp minor by Frédéric Chopin. Clearly: Krichel and this benefit concert series are a stroke of luck for Ulm.

Press release 3rd concert

Charity piano concert via live stream
Alexander Krichel in Ulm – the 3rd concert


On Friday, 26 February at 8 pm CET, the third charity piano concert of the internationally successful pianist Alexander Krichel will take place at the Stadthaus Ulm – this time as a live stream. He is going to perform Ludwig van Beethoven's “Appassionata” and Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures of an Exhibition”. Tickets are available on www.alexander-krichel-in-ulm.de, the revenue will go to the Hospice Ulm.

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    The Hamburg born pianist has already been playing annual charity concerts in Ulm since 2019. The experience is so intense that he leaves his audience in disbelief every single time. "I want to tell stories through my music," Alexander Krichel says. Music makes it possible to think 'with the heart' out of deep feeling: "This is how it brings deep enjoyment – and can set processes of insight in motion which then extend into everyday life and into dealing with other people. I find that fascinating."


    The organization of the concert series with Alexander Krichel lies with the Lions-Club Ulm/Neu-Ulm – Alb-Donau, as well as the promotion of sponsors. "In the first year we hoped for as many people as possible to come to the concert. In the second year, we would have liked to have had more seats in the sold-out Stadthaus. Now in its third year, the hall will probably have to remain completely empty," said club president Dr. Monika Stolz. " But we're getting everything ready for a festive and intense online concert experience!" 


    With several cameras, a sound engineer and live direction, the online concert is professionally realized. The technical part is the responsibility of the moving image specialists Andreas Maretzek from makecom and Moritz Wetzig from Ulm. On the one hand, of course, the online concert remains a compromise, said the president, but on the other hand it opens up the chance to make the series of events known to a wider audience: "We can let people all over Germany and from far away participate in our concert series and thus be fascinated by Alexander Krichel's piano playing." 


    The decision for a ticket price, whether 8 Euro, 25 Euro or 50 Euro, is at everybody's own discretion, supplementary donations are possible. Ticket sales (minus fees) will go entirely to the planned “garden for contemplation” at Hospice Ulm, a major project of the three Ulm Lions-Clubs. It is intended to serve as a place of relaxation and retreat at the hospice. The planning, model and budget for the first phase of construction have been completed, but the overall project still needs some financing. 


    The sponsors of the concert include the fashion house Reischmann, the BW Bank and the jewellery manufacturer Boemans, as well as the dental practice clinic Dr. Aicham and colleagues, the hotel "Goldenes Rad", Brillen Willhelm, Reisser Musik, Völk Immobilien, the photographer Jan Prengel, makecom network+multimedia and Moritz Wetzig. Since 2020, a master class with the artist, sponsored by the Noerpel Group, has been held for talented young pianists. The piano students will enjoy 90-minute lessons each at a high level. 


    Alexander Krichel travels all over the world – outside of lockdowns – and at the same time he is very much looking forward to his Ulm concert every year. And he is happy to give a brief overview of the works: “The “Appassionata”, at first wild and romantic, later develops into a light and peaceful landscape. At the end follows the furious Allegro ma non troppo: Inner tension builds up like slowly boiling water in a closed pot – all the way to the massive finale! Mussorgsky's “Pictures of an Exhibition” features ten paintings – amongst them a cunning gnome, cheerful chaos in the market square of Limoges, deathly fear of the witch Baba Yaga and finally arriving at home, at the Golden Gate of Kiev. They are linked by the promenade as a recurring musical motif. It is a work of extremes, but also a journey into the innermost soul. ” 



    The concert with Alexander Krichel starts on 26 February at 8 pm CET at the Stadthaus Ulm – and all around the globe. Info and tickets: www.alexander-krichel-in-ulm.de, tickets also here at reservix. 

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Review 2nd concert

A pianist who brings classical music back to people

The pianist Alexander Krichel played in the town hall - and delighted the numerous listeners with his skills.

By Dagmar Hub (Augsburger Allgemeine / NUZ 08.03.2020)

Alexander Krichel is considered a master of his field. In a series of concerts he enchants numerous listeners in Ulm.


Courage that is rewarded and that also does good: While in many places fewer and fewer audiences come to concerts of classical music, a new one is being founded in Ulm on the initiative of the Lions Club Ulm / Neu-Ulm - Alb-Donau and the world-class pianist Alexander Krichel Concert series. It is called “Alexander Krichel in Ulm”, and after Krichel's appearance last March in Ulm, which was not initially intended as the start of a series of concerts, the 31-year-old's second concert took place on Saturday evening.

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    He already plays in the most renowned concert halls in the world. After the two and a half hour concert, at the end of which the audience in the practically sold-out town hall paid homage to the pianist, the date for the third concert of the world-class pianist in Ulm was already set. Krichel waives part of his fee for the series and thus supports the construction of a planned reflection garden at the Ulm hospice. In addition, four piano students from the music schools in Ulm and Neu-Ulm enjoyed a master class with the pianist over the weekend. Alexander Krichel had to let go of many people he was close to in his young life. That is the reason why the highly sensitive musician supports hospices - in his hometown of Hamburg and in Ulm.

Review 1st concert

Krichel makes the piano sing

Benefit concert: The pianist electrifies the audience in the town hall with pieces from the early and high romantic periods.

By Burkhard Schäfer (Südwest-Presse Ulm April 2nd, 2019)

Alexander Krichel once confessed in an interview that he is a romantic person. “And a romantic repertoire gives you the opportunity to be very honest with your feelings.” The visitors were able to attend the benefit concert of the Lions Club Ulm / Neu-Ulm - Alb-Donau in the town hall, which the pianist gave for the benefit of the reflection garden at the Ulm Hospice experience this emotional sincerity with painful intensity. Krichel had put pure romance on his program, more precisely: works of German early and high romanticism - by Ludwig van Beethoven ("To the distant beloved"), Franz Liszt ("Venezia e Napoli"), Richard Wagner ("Isolde's love death" ) and Robert Schumann (“Symphonic Etudes”).

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    Beethoven's song cycle, with which the concert began, is composed for piano and (male) voice. Liszt entrusted the ingenious arrangement of the vocal part to the piano, and it showed Krichel's class how he literally "overran" his percussive instrument and elicited the purest singing from it.