Baritone Michael Volle, to be heard on the world's most important opera stages, together with the soprano Gabriela Scherer gives an evening of great arias and duets from opera history.

Malta-born Joseph Calleja is one of the most sought-after tenors of the present day. NPR described him as “probably the best lyrical tenor of our time”, Gramophone magazine voted him Artist of the Year 2012, and now Joseph Calleja, who sings on all the world's great opera stages, can be heard for the first time in Schloss Elmau – with arias from his newest album on Decca “The Magic of Mantovani”.

Cuarteto SolTango stands for authentic tango with orchestral sound and chamber music esprit. The four musicians interpret classical tango of the “Golden Era” up to the Tango Nuevo of Astor Piazzolla in a unique instrumentation with artistic instrumentation by pianist Martin Klett.

The fact that Sebastian Studnitzky plays trumpet and piano at the highest international level is in itself a sensation. Like few other instrumentalists of his generation, he is present in clubs and at festivals worldwide (with Nils Landgren's Funk unit, Jazzanova, Mezzoforte or Wolfgang Haffner). In 2014, as musical director, he initiated the XJAZZ Festival – Berlin's biggest jazz festival from the ground up – and turned the jazz scene in Germany upside down. In 2015 Sebastian Studnitzky received the ECHO Jazz.

Whether Schumann or Ravel – the sought-after pianist Anna Vinnitskaya moves effortlessly through the repertoire. In this year's “double feature” in Schloss Elmau, which the Hamburg-based pianist will present in two piano recitals, she will interpret, among other things, Ravel's challenging piece “La Valse” and works by Schumann, Chopin and Brahms.

Whether Schumann or Ravel – the sought-after pianist Anna Vinnitskaya moves effortlessly through the repertoire. In this year's “double feature” in Schloss Elmau, which the Hamburg-based pianist will present in two piano recitals, she will interpret, among other things, Ravel's challenging piece “La Valse” and works by Schumann, Chopin and Brahms.

Daniela Krien tells of people whose lives were shaken by a counterpoint in history. She tells of disorientation and deep despair. But these novel miniatures go beyond the fate of the individual; they draw a picture of the human being of today. A book about holding one's head above water, about continuing to do things anyway, about creating in spite of everything.

With her "Crystal Quartet" the award-winning French saxophonist Céline Bonacina combines dancing grooves with rousing improvisations as well as complex compositions with great joy of playing and infectious good humour.

Bigband jazz made in Bavaria. The Jazzrausch Bigband is committed to inspiring their audience with creative music-making. Their success has been unbroken and has carried the young techno brass band far beyond the borders of the state to the big German classical music festivals in Rheingau and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as to the Lincoln Center in New York and to Africa & China.

Die bedeutende Geigerin Arabella Steinbacher, bekannt für ihr außerordentlich vielfältiges Repertoire und als Solistin zu Gast bei zahlreichen großen Orchestern, kehrt mit einem Rezital nach Schloss Elmau zurück.

When the Cuban pianist and composer Marialy Pacheco, the German singer and songwriter Max Mutzke and his brother, the trumpeter Menzel Mutzke meet, competence and musicality come together for an extraordinary pop concert. The title of the program sums up the concept: “a trio experience”. As simple as it sounds, as concrete and comprehensible is what happens on stage: A public entertainment of three people in different constellations.

The concert will be recorded.

Annett Lousian, probably the most charming voice of Germany is back in Schloss Elmau with her new album "Kleine große Liebe" - full of catchy lyrics and a fresh, modern sound.

Samson Tsoy, described as “most promising” by BBC Music Magazine, was named Laureate of the 2012 Santander International Piano Competition. At the invitation of Elisabeth Leonskaja, he performed alongside famous musicians such as Jörg Widmann. He is a finalist of the “Vendome Prize” at the Verbier Festival and 1st Prize Winner of the Campillos International Piano Competition. Last season included debut performances with BBC Symphony Orchestra and Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev.

A panorama of the first post-reunification years in East and West: after the German Book Prize-winning bestseller Kruso, Lutz Seiler continues the story in two major narrative arcs – in a road trip that takes us halfway around the globe and in a Berlin novel that shows us the first days of a new world. And along the way the story of a family is told, which is blown up by the autumn of 89 and which now has to try to find a new way to each other.

Christian Gerhaher, one of the world's most sought-after lieder and opera singers, can be heard again this year together with his piano partner Gerold Huber in a recital at Schloss Elmau.

Swiss saxophonist, clarinettist and composer Nicolas Masson presents his quartet “Nicolas Masson's Parallels” in his album “Traveleres” released by ECM. The quartet has been touring in unchanged formation for a decade.

Bodek Jankes's currently most ambitious project "SONG" is a modern and acoustic, 21st-century response to the world of singer-songwriters, pop culture and its songs. A heavy clash of contrasting music cultures paves the creative space towards new rhythmic, melodic and harmonic structures, surprising the listener with fresh and new but catchy sounds from an exceptional drummer, composer and arranger.

Ausgehend von der Geburtsstunde des Barock und der „Sezierung“ von Rhetorik und Affekt Anfang des 17. Jahrhunderts in Italien um Monteverdi geht die Reise über europäische Werke des Hoch- und Spätbarocks von Händel, Corelli und Jacques Hotteterre le Romain bis hin zu einem Ausblick ins 20. Jahrhundert mit Luciano Berios Gesti, wo die Theatralik italienischen Stils mit den Stilmitteln der Avantgarde der 60er Jahre kulminiert.

A very special concert will bring a very special mother and son team to Schloss Elmau: Violinist Viktoria Mullova is one of the outstanding violinists of our time. Every time she performs at Schloss Elmau, she unfolds a new facet of her great skill and musical range from Bach to Indian music. Her son, the young award-winning double bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado, has also devoted himself to music with great success - but he is especially devoted to jazz. A special evening in an unusual duo formation!

„Es ist KEIN Tangoprogramm“, betont Schlagzeuger und Komponist Wolfgang Haffner, wenn er über sein neues Programm spricht. „Es geht mir um eine Übersetzung des Tango-Lebensgefühls in meine musikalische Welt. Während ich Einflüsse aufnehme, verarbeite und weiterschreibe, folge ich meinem eigenen Weg, der mir erlaubt, ich selbst zu sein. Entscheidend ist die Transposition: aus der Bezugnahme entsteht etwas Neues, Zeitgemäßes.“ Auch der jüngste Spross der „Kind of…“ Trilogie ist vor allem eins: 100% Haffner.

„Tokyo Stories“ ist eine klingende Hommage an die energiegeladene japanische Metropole von Pianist, Producer und Komponist Francesco Tristano, der schier mühelos zwischen der Welt der klassischen Musik und dem Universum neuer Klangformate wandelt. Jedes der 16 Stücke für Klavier, Synthesizer und Elektronik spiegelt seine tiefe Bewunderung für Tokio wieder und seine lange Beziehung zu dieser Stadt. Während der Albumtitel auf den ikonischen Film „Tokyo Story“ von Yasujiro Ozus anspielt, speist sich die Musik aus Tristanos eigener Gedankenwelt und erzählt seine persönliche Geschichte über sowohl aufwühlende als auch glückliche Momente in Tokio.

The Pablo Held Trio is currently one of the liveliest and most significant formations of European jazz. It transcends the boundaries between composition and improvisation by renouncing arrangements, a sequence of themes and a predetermined way of presenting them at concerts. "Investigations" is the title of the new album by Pablo Held and his longtime trio with Robert Landfermann on bass and Jonas Burgwinkel on drums, which will be released in April 2018. With this release, the trio finds a new musical home and begins a new chapter in its remarkable track record. Full of seductive elegance and lyrical sophistication, "Investigations" combines tradition with modernity, the familiar with the unknown and subtlety with passionate energy. After twelve years touring, nine acclaimed records and notable collaborations with jazz greats such as John Scofield and Chris Potter, "Investigations" is the next step.

A top-class chamber music trio will be guests at Schloss Elmau on this evening: star pianist Alice Sara Ott, ECHO Classic Prize winner Ray Chen and the up-and-coming young cellist Pablo Ferrández will play together for the first time in this formation in Schloss Elmau. The main work of the evening is Beethoven's “Ghost Trio”, which owes its nickname to the “uncanny” sounding second movement and is regarded as a style-shaping work for this genre.

Daniel Müller-Schott is highly praised by the press as one of the world's most sought-after cellists, for his "intense expressivity" and his "outstanding technique" (New York Times). At his side is the young, aspiring pianist Robert Neumann.

Part 2 of "Janine Jansen & Friends". Young musicians from Europe's top orchestras come to Schloss Elmau at the invitation of the great violinist Janine Jansen.

Hailed as one of the most outstanding Korean piano talents, Seong-Jin Chon chooses a strictly Romantic programme for his Schloss Elmau debut.