Press:
«Konzert für Marimba und Orchester No1, Opus 80»
Haller Sinfonie Orchester
MD: Susanne Kolb
SoloMarimba: Lukas Zeuner
"The first movement was created under the impression of the Carpathians. An almost swaying melody determines this movement: first in the strings, then spreading to the woodwinds and horns. Hofmann creates a wonderful network of sounds in this movement, gently illuminated by the Hall Symphony Orchestra.
In the opening movement it is the (solo) instrument that provides the impulse for more dance-like movement. At the beginning of the slow movement, the marimba phone is more of an accompanist to the orchestra. Here, Lukas Zeuner, as a soloist, explores the warmth of his instrument's sound with soft mallets. Impulses for dancing now come first from the orchestra: always interpreted in a cheerful, exuberant and clever way.
This was followed by the final “Presto”. Here Zeuner (...) was challenged as a virtuoso on the marimbaphone, which he was able to convey pointedly and with joy in a dance-like tone.
As a thank you for the long-lasting applause - also for the composer - he plays a movement from Bach's E minor lute suite."
(Ralf Snurawa, Südwestpresse / Schwäbisch Haller Tagblatt 04.10.23)
Symphony No1, op56
Württemberg Philharmonic, 29.06.2019
"In the late evening there were standing ovations in the fully occupied stands. Johannes Hofmann in particular deserved it for his first symphony, op. 56 (...). It is music that flouts all avant-garde conventions, but in theirs expanded tonality is never really in danger of sinking into the banal, trivial or even kitsch.
In terms of compositional craftsmanship, all of this is not only neatly worked out, but also pervaded by an admirable sense of sound...
The wealth of melodic invention, striking themes, rhythmic variety and harmonic turns, including dissonant culmination, is definitely worth the renunciation of an alienated, advanced sound.
...that for more than 1.5 hours was exciting, powerful and transparent every minute. No lengths, no idling, no slacking off. With bravos, cheers, trampling and frenetic clapping, the composer appeared... in front of a gratefully enthusiastic audience.
(Martin Bernklau, GEA, July 1, 2019)
Press:
«Pig Boy 1986 – 2358. Replay of the Incarnation»
Nominated and honorable mention for the ARD Hörspielpreis 2022 and the Grand Prix Nova Bucharest 2022
Special Mention ARD Radio Play Prize 2022
"In the pig's gallop, the piece races in 3 auditory exciting and different parts from the relationship between humans and animals to media criticism. Great speakers like Cathlen Gawlich as a chimera of pig and woman as well as fast-paced staged ideas make 'Pig Boy' one of the boldest pieces of this year's selection." (Jury of the ARD Hörspielpreis 2022)
"The most grandiose madness I've heard in a long time"
Musician, pop culture journalist Kersty Grether and jury member
"This piece is not just a text setting, but a real radio composition that develops a real pull."
Nathalie Singer, Professor for Experimental Radio at the Bauhaus University Weimar, member of the jury
"The first part grabbed me as a topic, the second part is formally completely crazy and I find the third part, which is reduced to a monologue, incredibly touching."
Drama director, director and jury member
"After the radio play, I had the feeling that I had seen a David Cronenberg film"
Jenny Zylka publicist and jury chair
(Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 11.11.22)
Tell, op. 42
Tell Festival Altdorf, 08/20/2016
"Right at the beginning, the participants step into action in an impressive choral scene and it becomes clear what a supporting role not only the chorus plays, but also the incidental music in general, which its composer Johannes Hofmann has performed in the orchestra pit by the horns of the Musikgesellschaft Schattdorf. The powerful chords, sometimes reminiscent of Kurt Weill's song style, sometimes reminiscent of Hollywood films, give the performance a partly hymn-pathetic, partly rhythmic-march-like ambience, which in Rolf Derrer's imaginative lighting direction evoking mountains and clouds as a gloomy background and in those by Graham Smith choreographed mass scenes (...) finds its optical counterpart." (nachtkritik)
The Life of Galileo
Karlsruhe State Theater, November 5th, 2022
"In the songs composed by Hanns Eisler, in addition to the vocally furious Frida Österberg as the ballad singer, the entire ensemble, which also includes Lucie Emons and Rumi Wehrli, captivates with precise choral singing." (Badische Neueste Nachrichten)
The Vampire, additional music
Comic Opera Berlin, 03/20/2016
"Hofmann's prudent tone clusters and surprising breaks in the musical flow increase the suspense character of the production and send the listener into unexpected listening experiences for brief moments." (Opernnetz)
"... to Johannes Hofmann's newly composed connecting music - a refreshing rubbing surface for the eerily romantic Virgin Sacrifice." (Opernwelt)
“Hofmann's short transitional music sometimes grows seamlessly out of the original Marschner score and takes the place of the deleted dialogues. ..., they indicate the abyss over which Marschner's music moves, in atmospheric sustained sounds with softly shimmering strings, rather than brushing it out on their own. All in all, the game with disparate levels of style fits well into the overall picture of this opera.” (Deutschlandfunk)
“Johannes Hofmann’s short interludes grow (….) seamlessly out of the original Marschner score with atmospheric sustained sounds and softly shimmering string runs. At least they convey an idea of the ambiguity that Nunes deprived the play of with his parodic directorial style.” (nzz)
Don Giovani - Last Party
Thalia Theater Hamburg, 01/25/2013
"This playful approach also shapes the music. Johannes Hofmann has imaginatively arranged Mozart's score for a seven-piece female band, which bathes the arias in completely new colors with instruments such as saxophone, guitar and drums."
(nzz)
"The tonal reduction reveals the emotional core of the pieces and gives the actors space for touching moments: wonderful how Maja Schöne as Donna Anna whispers «Or sai chi l'onore» with wide wide eyes and childlike voice or how Karin Neuhäuser as the omnipresent messenger of death « Dalla sua pace" murmurs, so defenselessly fragile, as Josef Bierbichler once sang about the fair art in the Hamburg Marthaler "Faust".
(nzz)
