3 days to go: a duo on stage and in life
Dear concert guests,
For four days we have introduced you to the music. Today, the two people who will play it on Sunday in Bürglen: Marie-Elisabeth Hecker and Martin Helmchen. They are a couple, on stage and in life, and one of the most compelling duos in chamber music today.
Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, cello
Born in 1987 in Zwickau, Robert Schumann’s home town, she began playing the cello at five. She studied with Peter Bruns and Heinrich Schiff, among others, and with Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy. In 2005 she won the Rostropovich Competition in Paris, the first person in its history to take the first prize and two special prizes at once. Since then she has appeared with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic and the Orchestre de Paris, under conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Valery Gergiev and Christian Thielemann. Since 2017 she has been a professor at the Dresden University of Music.
Martin Helmchen, piano
Martin Helmchen studied in Berlin and Hannover and won the Clara Haskil Competition in 2001. Among his most important mentors is Alfred Brendel, whom you heard with Heinz Holliger in our listening tip two days ago. With the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Andrew Manze he has recorded all of Beethoven’s piano concertos; the release with Concertos Nos. 2 and 5 won a Gramophone Award in 2020. He has taught at the Kronberg Academy since 2010.
Together
As a duo they have recorded the Brahms cello sonatas and, most recently, the double album «From Eastern Europe», which includes the Weinberg sonata on our programme. In 2022 they gave the premiere of York Höller’s double concerto for cello and piano. Since 2023 they have run the «Fliessen» chamber music festival in Brandenburg together, and this season they are completing a cycle of Beethoven’s works for cello and piano at the Kronberg Academy.
Today’s listening tip
The two of them together: Johannes Brahms, Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38, first movement, from their Brahms album.
Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube, search for: Hecker Helmchen Brahms Cello Sonata 1
Keep listening
Their latest album, «From Eastern Europe» (Alpha Classics, 2025): Spotify · Apple Music
Did you know?
Marie-Elisabeth Hecker travels regularly to Rwanda: through the project «Music Road Rwanda» she supports a music school there with concerts and teaching.
Bring someone along
There are still seats free. If you would like to give someone a treat, a seat is quickly reserved: Reserve a seat
Good to know: there is no printed programme this time. In the church you will find QR codes: point your phone camera at one, and the programme opens on your phone.
Tomorrow: your listening guide for Sunday, piece by piece.
Warm regards,
Andreas Haefliger & Marina Piccinini
Marie-Elisabeth Hecker & Martin Helmchen, cello & piano
Sunday, 18 October 2026, 5.30 pm · Parish Church of St. Peter and Paul, Bürglen UR
Pay as you like (cash or TWINT) · about 70 minutes, no interval
Reserve a seat
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