Henze 2 CR Karsten Witt

    On 1 July 2026, Hans Werner Henze would have turned 100. A new documentary featuring previously unseen archive footage traces his career.

    Hans Werner Henze – Composer, Communist, Dandy is the title of the film by Holger Preuße and Philipp Quiring, which premiered at the Munich Biennale and is available on the Arte Mediathek from 1 July 2026. It traces Hans Werner Henze’s journey from formative experiences under the Nazi regime and during the war to becoming a musical humanist whose work continues to resonate today. Contemporary witnesses, pupils and associates of Hans Werner Henze feature in the film, including Ian Bostridge, Jörg Widmann, Barrie Kosky, Michael Kerstan, Riccardo Panfili, Camilla Nylund and Edda Moser.

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    © Irmeli Jung

    In 2019, Wergo released a portrait CD including Anssi Karttunen’s recordings of Hans Werner Henze’s English Love Songs with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Oliver Knussen.

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