Der Bundespräsident spricht qua Amt “im Namen der Deutschen”, auch und gerade, wenn es um die NS-Vergangenheit geht. Für Theodor Heuss und seine Nachfolger zu Zeiten der Bonner Republik war das immer auch ein Sprechen über die eigene Zeitgenossenschaft. Norbert Frei, einer der renommiertesten Zeithistoriker der Gegenwart, zeigt in seinem mitunter atemverschlagenden Buch, wie dabei die persönliche Vergangenheit beschwiegen und zugleich der Ton für das Reden über Nationalsozialismus und Holocaust in einer Gesellschaft gesetzt wurde, die erst lernen musste, sich ihrer Geschichte selbstkritisch zu stellen.

Bigband jazz made in Bavaria. The Jazzrausch Bigband has made it its mission to inspire its audience with creative music-making. With an average of 120 concerts a year, it is one of the busiest big bands in Europe and brings together jazz fans and dance fans with “power of sound, groove and enormous stage presence” (FAZ) like probably no comparable ensemble currently.

Two world-class string quartets united: experience the string octets by Enescu and Mendelssohn interpreted by Quatuor Ébène and the Belcea Quartet.

The 2023/2024 season of this Icelandic piano star is and was all about Bach, whose Goldberg Variations he played 88 times in the world's greatest concert halls. The first concert of this major undertaking took Olafsson to the Elmau Concert Hall in August 2023. He is now returning there for a crowning finale, thus closing the arc of his journey to Bach at Schloss Elmau.

The unique character of music played live is a crucial aspect of understanding the expressive beauty and compelling honesty of Grigory Sokolov's art. His poetic interpretations, which come alive with mystical intensity in the concert hall, are based on an in-depth knowledge of the repertoire. His programmes span the entire history of music: from transcriptions of sacred polyphony of the Middle Ages and works by Couperin, Rameau and Bach, to the Classical and Romantic repertoire and key compositions of the 20th century. Now Grigory Sokolov returns to Schloss Elmau – with what is sure to be a compelling and impressive concert evening.

The Swiss instrument Hang, an sounding body with a meditative sound, has made the Tyrolean Manu Delago a star – and a video on YouTube that was clicked almost 5 million times. He is responsible for sold-out houses from India to Mexico, from the USA to Germany. World stars like the Icelandic pop icon work closely with him. Now the Tyrolean musician and composer can be experienced for the first time in Schloss Elmau and presents a splendid interplay of experimental pop, detail-loving electronics and rocky chamber music.