Simon Höfele

Press

• Album Review: Pieces of A Dream

  Aug 2024

  • The first movement, "Is it safe," begins with a vocal flugelhorn solo that shapes the course of the piece. With his particularly gentle flugelhorn sound, Höfele introduces Dupree's dreamy piano part, which seems like a musical landscape painting.

    • Das Orchester
    • 01 January 2025

• Spohr Kammerorchester: Hummel's Trumpet Concerto

  Kassel Staatstheater

  Nov 2024

  • Fascinating, the calm sovereignty with which Höfele interpreted the highly virtuoso solo part, tonally highly flexible, technically perfect down to the trills and ornaments, and with wonderful lightness across all registers.’ „Faszinierend, mit welch gelassener Souveränität Höfele den hoch virtuosen Solopart interpretierte, klanglich hoch flexibel, technisch pefekt bis in die Triller und Verzierungen, dazu von wunderbarer Leichtigkeit über alle Lagen.

    • Werner Fritsch
    • 05 November 2024

• Duo Simon Höfele & Kaan Bulak: No clouds in Haraz

  Kasseler Musiktage

  Nov 2024

  • An atmospheric evening’ [...] The brilliant use of electronics and the sensitive trumpet playing created a spatial sound in the perfectly suited acoustics via loudspeakers that mesmerised the audience and made time stand still. The melancholy of the trumpet met sophisticated sounds and mystical flair: it was more reminiscent of contemporary jazz, for example by Nils Petter Molvær, than ‘classical’ music.’ „Ein atmosphärischer Abend“ […] Die brillant eingesetzte Elektronik und das sensible Trompetenspiel erzeugten in der dafür bestens geeigneten Akustik über Lautsprecher einen Raumklang, der in den Bann zog und die Zeit stillstehen ließ. Die Melancholie der Trompete traf auf raffinierte Sounds und mystisches Flair: Das erinnerte eher an Spielartendes zeitgenössischen Jazz, etwa von Nils Petter Molvær, als an ‚Klassik‘.

    • Hessische Allgemeine
    • 04 November 2024

• Jena Philharmonic Orchestra: Hummel's Trumpet Concerto

  Jena Philharomonie

  Oct 2024

  • Simon Höfele played Hummel's trumpet concerto in E major with admirable ease, virtuosity and expressiveness. He effortlessly mastered the first movement with its march-like main theme and its large musical intervall leaps. In the Andante, he enchanted the audience by literally ‘singing’ the wide cantilena arches on the trumpet, delicatley embedded by the woodwinds and strings, and in the fast-paced final movement he impressed with his technically flawless, furious playing. His trumpet sound is slender and demonstrates great depth of musical expression.’ „Simon Höfele spielte Hummels Trompetenkonzert in E-Dur mit bewundernswerter Leichtigkeit, Virtuosität und Ausdruckskraft. Mühelos meisterte er den Kopfsatz mit seinem marschartigen Hauptthema und seinen großen Intervallsprüngen. Im Andante verzauberte er das Publikum, in dem er die weiten Kantilenenbögen auf der Trompete regelrecht ‚sang‘, fein umspielt von den Holzbläsern und Streichern, und im rasanten Finalsatz beeindruckte er durch technisch makelloses, furioses Spiel. Sein Trompetenklang wirkt schlank und zeugt von großer Tiefe des musikalischen Ausdrucks.“ ‘The sound of his trumpet revealed how much he loves this concerto [Alexander Arutjunjan's Concerto in A flat major] with its melancholy grounding. [...] Simon Höfele played the slow movement with such lyrical tenderness and intimacy that he touched the audience deeply.’ „Der Klang seiner Trompete offenbarte, wie sehr er dieses Konzert [Alexanders Arutjunjans Konzert in As-Dur] mit seiner melancholischen Grundierung liebt. […] Den langsamen Satz spielte Simon Höfele so lyrisch-zart und innig, dass er damit das Publikum tief berührte.

    • Thüringische Landeszeitung
    • 27 October 2024

  • Then Simon Höfele, Artist in Residence, played Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Trumpet Concerto in E major with admirable ease, virtuosity and expressiveness. He effortlessly mastered the first movement with its march-like main theme and its large interval leaps. In the Andante he enchanted the audience by literally "singing" the wide cantilena arches on the trumpet, delicately surrounded by the woodwinds and strings, and in the rapid final movement he impressed with technically flawless, furious playing. His trumpet sound is slender and testifies to a great depth of musical expression. Simon Höfele once said that his playing of the great trumpet concertos shows his "quite primal love of music."

    • Ostthüringer Zeitung
    • 27 October 2024

• Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra: Lisa Streich Trumpet Concerto

  Lucerne Fesitval

  Aug 2024

  • Lisa Streich's trumpet concerto, on the other hand, seems more approachable, more gestural than the music of her colleagues, and her carefree, experimental and adventurous music with the fabulous Simon Höfele on the trumpet (and on the garden hose!) forms an ideal centre line between Furrer's and Feldman's tinkering.’ „Lisa Streichs Trompetenkonzert wirkt dagegen zugänglicher, gestischer als die Musik ihrer Kollegen, und ihre unbekümmert voranschreitende, experimentierfreudige Musik mit dem fabelhaften Simon Höfele an der Trompete (und auf dem Gartenschlauch!) bildet eine ideale Mittelachse zwischen Furrers und Feldmans Tüfteleien.

    • Neue Zürcher Zeitung
    • 05 September 2024

• Rheinische Philharmonie State Orchestra: Haydn Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major

  Rhein-Mosel-Halle, Koblenz

  Apr 2024

  • Technically confident, the 30-year-old captivates with a smooth playing that impresses with softness, warmth, sensitivity and, in the slow middle movement, almost 'singing' qualities. At the same time, he knows how to use the sharpness of the trumpet without falling into a tinny blare.

    • Rhein-Zeitung
    • 29 April 2024

• Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie: Haydn Trumpet Concerto

  Rhein-Mosel-Halle

  Apr 2024

  • Simon Hofele takes up the challenge with appropriate relish: technically confident, the 30-year old captivates with a supple playing that impresses with its softness, warmth, sensitivity and, in the slow middle movement, 'singing qualities. At the same time, he knows the sharp possibilities of music.

    • Rhein-Zeitung Koblenz
    • 29 April 2024

• Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra: Marcello Trumpet Concerto & lbinoni Trumpet Concerto

  Neckar Forum, Esslingen

  Dec 2019

  • He approached the first movement of Tomaso Albinoni's Trumpet Concerto in D minor, Op. 9, No. 2 with such ease that one got the impression that anyone could play the trumpet. However, anyone who tries it will quickly be proven wrong. Höfele let the barrels rattle over the airy accompaniment of the well-positioned Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. And in the Adagio he provided clean tonal approaches and excitingly phrased, beautiful tone lines. Lightness is key In the Allegro, Höfele once again ignited a brilliant firework display of wind art. What's more: the technical brilliance, the precise articulation and the razor-sharp scales were reminiscent of the unrivaled art of the legendary trumpet master Maurice André. In Alessandro Marcello's Trumpet Concerto in D minor - like Albinoni's opus originally written for oboe - lightness was also the trump card. The technique sparkled flawlessly, the slow movement enchanted with wonderful legato magic, and in the Presto Höfele showed what a fast tongue is: you experienced brass art with a high enjoyment factor. Of course there was an encore. In the da capo of the final movement, Höfele increased the tempo a bit and ended on a perfectly set top note after a real hussar ride.

    • Esslinger
    • 29 December 2019

• The Lübeck Philharmonic: Arutjunyan Trumpet Concerto

  Theater Lübeck

  Dec 2017

  • Loosely arranged, the soloist is given delicate tonal tasks that demonstrate the expressive range of his instrument, from the lyrical to the dramatic. In parts that were interwoven with other instruments, for example with the strings or in a duet with the clarinet, a soloist was rarely seen as free and thoughtful. It was Simon Höfele, a native of Darmstadt born in 1994, who never made the great cadenza, which explored all the possibilities of the trumpet, appear virtuosic, but rather let it be experienced as a magnificent and musically meaningful conclusion.

    • Unser Lubeck
    • 27 December 2017

• CD Review: Standards

  Mar 2020

  • One attraction of Höfele’s playing is how well he balances brilliance with lyricism; both concertos’ slow movements are beautifully done, each followed by an excitable rondo finale. Duncan Ward’s BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra offer sprightly support.

    • The Arts Desk
    • 28 March 2020