Press

"Ludger Vollmer is considered the most frequently performed contemporary opera composer in the German-speaking world." Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 2023

"Ludger Vollmer's music pulls, pulls, captivates. From the very beginning you are drawn into it... There is an unconditional passion in everything the composer Ludger Vollmer does" (WDR 3)

"Crackling tension throughout the evening... opulent, melodic style... Contemporary music theater is touching when it is performed as it was this evening in Kiel, and in this harmonious performance, "opera" undoubtedly has relevance in our modern world." ("Merker", Vienna, 2024, about the opera BUDDENBROOKS)

"In anticipation of the finale of the history of the earth and mankind, people love, dance, drink and sneer as much as they can... Again and again, the music pauses for long, meaningless spoken passages that are either full of punch lines or no less mercilessly attack the laughing muscles... The police chief, the pop singer and all the others are even crazier than one would assume from knowledge of "Cabaret" or "Babylon Berlin"." (DIE DEUTSCHE BÜHNE, 2024, about the Musical Comedy ZUSAMMENSTOSS

"The interpretation caused enthusiasm...perhaps a fascination begins here at a tender age, which then transfers to something else." Österreichischer Rundfung (ORF), 2022,  about TSCHICK at the Vienna State Opera

"His wide-ranging experience was of great benefit to the grateful material with its exotic elements: the stately cast of the Capitol Symphony Orchestra devoted itself to Vollmer's imagination with dedication and tonal intensity." (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 2023,   about LOST WORLD)

"Masterful score." (Offenbach Post, 2023, on LOST WORLD)

"Captivating and captivating violin playing [over] strongly rhythmic composition" Thüringer Allgemeine, 2022,  about the VIOLIN CONCERT

"...a composer just wants to show what he's technically capable of. Unfortunately, never the right tone. As Maik, Constantin Müller has beautiful Hugh Grant hair. Premiere jubilation for a production in which almost nothing is right." DER STANDARD, Vienna (Stefan Ender), 2022, to TSCHICK at the Vienna State Opera

"'Tschick' is an affirming, uplifting, eventful piece of musical theatre." (nmz, 2018, to TSCHICK at the Saxon state theaters)

„The opera was a stunning spectacle, and reflected the terror and lighter moments of the book so wonderfully well. You all understood the point of the text perfectly, and translated it fluidly and — this is so crucial — with courage and boldness.” (Dave Eggers 2019, zu THE CIRCLE)

"The artistic team succeeded in delivering a brilliant, humorous premiere, entertaining, exuberant, and ready to be re-enacted." (Die Deutsche Bühne, 2017, on TSCHICK in Hagen)

"Song forms of enchanting lyricism." (opernwelt, 2017, to CRUSADES in Freiburg)

"Furious...a bunch of drums creates a really crazy pull at times, the strings are racing, the singers indulge in funny coloratura, which Vollmer wrote individually into their throats. And then soft soundscapes spread out, time stands still ... Melody, formulas, modes and rhythmic structure are everything, harmony is nothing. It works, it creates theatre.... Oh, nice." (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 2013, to RUN LOLA RUN)

"Ludger Vollmer's music pulls, tugs, captures. From the very beginning you are drawn into it...Ludger Vollmer's opera is full of great ideas... There is unconditional passion in everything the composer Ludger Vollmer does." (WDR 3, 2013, to LOLA RUN)

"...so it's possible to create something of your own today and still not have to resort to these ciphers that disturb the ... audience... Opera in the best sense of the word, an autonomous work of art that is accessible to young people... a successful evening...” WDR, 2012, on BORDER in Cologne

"Tumultuous applause from the young audience thanked for a performance that is probably the best that has ever been seen in the Stuttgart "Junge Oper" - a production that could be sent on tour immediately." Opernwelt, 2010, for AGAINST THE WALL (revived in Stuttgart)

"A big hit. That goes through marrow and bone!"
Markus Stenz, conductor and head of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, 2012, on BORDER

“... irrepressible power that gathers and pushes forward. So strong that you can feel it physically... choral singing whose tones swell like a mighty angry surf...(BORDER) is set in the world of today's youngsters who wear dreadlocks, surf the internet and do parkour jumps on steep ramps. ..” Aachener Nachrichten, 2012, on BORDER

"Also in Lola rennt" shows Vollmer again as a skilful setter of music, who can invent appropriate music, sounds and rhythms for scenes and situations like film editing. Yes, he finds even too delicate sound poetry..." (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 2013, to LOLA RUNNT)

"Ludger Vollmer is one of the best-known contemporary composers, and he has an unusual specialty: youth opera." ( WDR 3 TonArt, 2012 )

"...rousing adaptation of Schiller's classic...touch of resistance and freedom...artful operatic passages...brilliant...breathtaking...rapid interplay between the worlds...the tempo of the performance (was) constantly high ... Ludger Vollmer is the name of the magician, whose new, enormously successful opera "Schillers Räuber_Rap'n Breakdance Opera"... immediately inspired the Swabian classic Friedrich Schiller..."
Frankfurter Rundschau, 2009, about SCHILLER'S ROBBERS RAP'N BREAKDANCE OPERA

“...fantastic journey into antiquity. This opera goes straight to the heart...a successful coup. The story from antiquity - today more topical than ever. For the exciting escape across borders, Ludger Vollmer creates beautiful and captivating connections between oriental and European sound worlds...big applause...exciting to the last note! Here you are taken to another, fantastic world.” EXPRESS, Cologne, 2012, on BORDER

"As of tonight, Elena Tzavara can rightly claim to have co-written a piece of opera history in Cologne." opernnetz, 2012, to BORDER in Cologne

"...Acclaimed premiere... Composer Vollmer... understands the effect...powerful, in its martial percussion rhythms at once frightening and rousing, the music leads through a wild escape choreography, which is based on French Parkour, a artistic obstacle course through the street canyons of the big city... It was not surprising that the people in the spectator stands were enthusiastic. Incidentally, all subsequent performances are sold out.” Kölnische Rundschau, 2012, on BORDER

"Ludger Vollmer, born in Berlin in 1961, is one of the most productive German opera composers." Frankfurter Rundschau, 2010

"Omnipresent is... the oriental world of sound... above (which) melodies float freely... This is contrasted with fine, fragile chamber music sounds, with great operatic gestures... The music has its strongest moments when it... in hard sound culminations that are reminiscent of the rousing drive of the West Side story."
nmz, 2010, for AGAINST THE WALL

"Ludger Vollmer, sparkling with esprit ...discovered magical sounds (and) sequences of notes with suggestively floating intervals... The love of the Faust Quartet for the fragile, expressive sounds of the piece was unmistakable..." (Rhein-Neckar- Newspaper about the string quartet MY LOVE IS AS A FEVER, Heidelberg Spring, April 27, 2005)

"Absolutely a hit. Opera. For young people? It works! There has never been a German-Turkish opera!"
Der Tagesspiegel, 2010, on AGAINST THE WALL

"...a thunderstorm of emotions...the audience was more than enthusiastic..."
El Siglo de Torreon, Torreon, Mexico, 10/16. 2004, to the dance theater DER DREISPITZ

"...a great, energetic chamber play, a choreography of feelings powerful in image, sound and symbolism... Absolutely worth seeing."
Stuttgarter Zeitung, 2010, on AGAINST THE WALL

»Ludger Vollmer's Set Of Dreams was the most demanding work (of the evening)... convincing and of intensity...«
The Advertiser, Adelaide, Australia, 29.8.2005

"...intimate and full of life...sometimes intensely reduced, sometimes full of allusions-overflowing... the spectator (feels) pleasantly taken seriously... he can listen to himself in... long instrumental passages and listen to his own interpretations sense."
TIME, 2010, for AGAINST THE WALL

"... one-time premiere... in Schiller's Räuber_Rap'n Breakdance Opera, young people deal with the "record", the social life there (as well as) with Schiller's ideas. The living environment becomes aesthetic reality and merges with the fiction of the Schiller dramas. Amateurs and professionals have ventured a project of national importance - with success. All performances are sold out."
MDR, 2009, to SCHILLER'S ROBBER RAP'N BREAKDANCE OPERA

"WE FIGHT THIS BIG CHILDREN TO THE DEATH: ...The way composer Ludger Vollmer knows how to musically link the central characters ...in a highly penetrating way is fascinating from the very first bar... There is a synthesis of the past and the present of highly topical... The audience, across all generations, celebrated the ensemble with a twenty-minute final applause....Friedrich Schiller would have been happy about this present for his 250th birthday, but the audience tore it from their seats. "
TLZ, 2009, to SCHILLER'S ROBBERS RAP'N BREAKDANCE OPERA

"WAR OF DANCERS: ...Energetic stage work...It was an ambitious project and a risk... intoxicating dynamics... complex, rhythmically challenging score... whistling, jeering, euphoric applause..."
OTZ, 2009, to SCHILLER'S ROBBER RAP'N BREAKDANCE OPERA

"... Subculture versus Establishment - on all levels the prefabricated housing estate stands against the middle-class Moor Castle... Composer Vollmer, who recently attracted attention in Bremen with the German-Turkish opera "Against the Wall", has a director in Jena Entertaining and worth seeing youth play brought to the stage... the premiere audience cheered..."
Märkische Oderzeitung, 2009, about SCHILLER'S ROBBERS RAP'N BREAKDANCE OPERA

"...a grandiose finale was Ludger Vollmer's new composition of Buxtehude's Toccata in D. He not only converted the registers of the Marienkirchen organ, but also added new orchestral colors. The composer was also able to receive warm applause for this journey into the past."
Offenbach Post, 2009, on TOCCATA IN D

Every note, produced by the Philharmoniker, playing as if in an endophine frenzy, says: This music is liberating.
Benno Schirrmeister, taz, 2008, for the opera AGAINST THE WALL

"Minutes of applause, jeers, whistles, from an audience that had never experienced anything like it before! That was the result after this nearly three-hour performance... it was supposed to... point to... a core area of our culture. This is Ludger Vollmer succeeded with the help of many like-minded people."
Herrmann Habitz, Der Neue Merker, Vienna, 2008, on AGAINST THE WALL

Supported by guest musicians who play traditional Turkish instruments such as saz, cymbalon, mey, zurna and kaval, the Bremen Philharmonic are in top form under the direction of Tarmo Vaask. Since the ensemble was also convincing, one can speak of an all-round successful premiere. The premiere audience honored it with thunderous applause.
Martin Mertens, Bremer Anzeiger, 2008, for the opera AGAINST THE WALL based on Fatih Akin

"...a real highlight"
El Norte, Monterrey, Mexico, October 10th, 2004, to the dance theater DER DREISPITZ

"Musical bang"
Ostthüringer Zeitung, title, 2007, on the string quartet MY LOVE IS AS A FEVER

Using the means of opera, the three-hour production creates its own interpretation of the dramatic material. Its energy and brutality are mainly conveyed through the emotionally charged music.
The premiere audience celebrated a convincing performance with loud applause and footsteps.
Stephanie Letten, dpa, 2008, for the opera AGAINST THE WALL

AGAINST THE WALL has the chance to attract a young, and also a Turkish, audience to the opera.
Anke Kültür, ARD night magazine, 2008, on AGAINST THE WALL

Impressive, fast-paced and emotionally charged. It's a risk to bring such a successful film to the stage as an opera. Composer Ludger Vollmer and director Michael Sturm brilliantly passed the tough test in front of the Bremen audience.
R. Möller, BILD, 2008, for AGAINST THE WALL

An opera that captivates and touches despite its length of almost three hours and the difficult implementation.
Annica Müllenberg, Weser Report, 2008, on AGAINST THE WALL

An amazingly colorful sound spectrum.
Clemens Matuschek, Die Zeit, 2008, for AGAINST THE WALL

The performance of the orchestra, which translates the complex score into emotion, is magnificent. The actors are also impressive, who not only act and sing, but also have to be dudes.
Karsten Krogmann, Nordwest-Zeitung, 2008, on AGAINST THE WALL

»...resolutely appropriate for the combination of emotional archeology and editing-related film dramaturgy...catchy, catchy...piquant...in the style of hearty irony...sacral, solemnly wafting legend tone is not his thing. Dorotty Szalma has staged a brisk series of images that lives not least from playfully drawn video projections, in which even the prefabricated buildings are provided with the almost cheerful elegance of the ephemeral....«
Gerhard R. Koch, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, April 14, 2004, on the OPERA PAUL UND PAULA in Plenzdorf

»...the fine score (was)... very melodic and.. lively, in the tempo of a feature film... the audience was greatly impressed and caused an ovation for musicians and composers lasting several minutes... (it) hopefully won't be the last Opera by the composer who was born in Berlin in 1961...«
W.V., Opera Gazet, Holland, 13.4. 2004, to the opera PAUL UND PAULA

»...the large orchestrated music, upgraded with rock band, whistle and washboard, car horn, tambourine and Hammond organ...sometimes jumps at the audience directly, is fast-paced and carried by the rhythm...skillfully in the service of the dialogues, fast and funny «
Joachim Lange, opernwelt, June 2004, on the opera PAUL UND PAULA

"A new music-theatrical star rose with the premiere of Ludger Vollmer's opera "Paul and Paula or The Legend of Happiness without End" ... surrounded by thunderous applause" (Thüringer Allgemeine 2004, on the opera PAUL UND PAULA)

"A highlight...demanding fare with dramatic sounds, but also beautiful melodies."
Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, January 2007, on METAMORPHOSIS

»The diagnosis is an "catchy tune"... The sympathetic composer knew perfectly how to skilfully process this modern theme, which is rather unusual for an orchestra, into a work that both friends of classical orchestral music as well as audience members, who are normally unfamiliar with brass bands, can relate to were equally fascinated...The thunderous applause that followed should have shown the composer that his musical experiment was quite a success...Perhaps some will even whistle the melody of "Updating the Virus" once their own computer is back has given up the ghost."
The Bergen-Engheimer on UPDATING THE VIRUS in Frankfurt/M., May 24th, 2007

»At high speed on the erotic rollercoaster... Ludger Vollmer not only composed the incidental music, which widens the backdrop to the acoustic, he also plays, fiddles and sings himself and, as a high-flying scoundrel with little angel wings, provides a comical icing on the cake... Much applause... a play as you like it.«
Neue Presse, to the incidental music of WAS IHR WOLLT at the Landestheater Coburg, February 6th, 2006

»...For the mood behind reality, the director needs above all the music, beautiful songs and compositions created by Ludger Vollmer... that you want to hear again.«
Nordbayrischer Kurier, about WHAT YOU WANT at the Landestheater Coburg, February 7th, 2006

»...I...I enjoyed your music. She struck me as witty and witty..."
dr Wilfried Brennecke, longtime program organizer of the Witten "Days for New Chamber Music" on the JOURNEY TO THE NORTH POLE in a letter to L. Vollmer

»...with unbelievable fire and life...«
Neue Presse, Coburg (www.np-coburg.de) on BABA O'RILEY (The Who/ L. Vollmer) with the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt, soloist on the electric violin: Ludger Vollmer

»...acclaimed premiere...«
Märkische Oderzeitung (http://www.moz.de/) on the dance theater DER DREISPITZ

"...it is important that the audience can identify with the piece, feel it and experience it."
Notimex, Mexico City, Mexico, October 8th, 2004, at the DREISPITZ

“...an impressive sample of German contemporary dance. One could see that their mode of expression and their motivation did not differ significantly from the artistic inspiration of our continent.”
La Opinion, Torreon, Mexico, October 16, 2004, to the DREISPITZ

»...sonorous and exciting, subtle, bizarrely dramatic...«
Erlanger Nachrichten (www.erlanger-nachrichten.de) on LEGEND OF LOVE AND OTHER DEMONS

»...his fourth composition for dance...has...a keen sense for sound effects and musical humour...enjoyable...«
Thuringian General (www.thueringer-allgemeine.de)

»...Moments of the most exciting music, restrained or excited, standing still or in flux, born in the well of overflowing creative feelings and far from everyone...banter...more than an interesting novelty... For Vollmer, priorities obviously take precedence over a stringent overall concept.«
Thüringische Landeszeitung, Weimar, on the harpsichord concert DIE BERNAUERIN (www.tlz.de)

»…ultimately (the music offers) less reason for analysis than for allowing one’s own dreams to be granted, and without the lazy magic of a simple salvation.«
Dresdner Latest News (www.dnn-online.de), about DREAMCATCHER

»...intense melodies and bizarre moods...«
Thüringische Landeszeitung, Erfurt (www.tlz.de), on LEGEND OF LOVE AND OTHER DEMONS

"Brachial power of sound puts the crown on Finale"
Cover of the Hanauer Gazette, July 26, 2004, about TOCCARE! (premièred in front of around 15,000 listeners as part of the Wilhelmsbader Sommernacht 2004)

»...a symphonic sound and adventure journey...Rhythmic excesses and mysterious sounds combine to form a musical world...«
Ostthüringer Zeitung, Jena (ww.otz.de), on SINDBAD

"...the crazy stuff...a horde of young ladies appreciate him and everything with self-forgotten screeching...but the teacher punished her gang of little rascals with reproachful looks..."
Thuringian state newspaper (www.tlz.de), on SINDBAD

»…crowned the end of the concerts.«
Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung (www.waz-online.de) 27.12.2001 on RECREATION

"...enjoyable...racy...with irony that can hardly be exaggerated effectively..."
Ostthüringer Zeitung (www.otz.de), on DON QUIJOTE

»Odd and sensitive...fascinating...«
Saxon newspaper (www.sz-online.de) on DREAMCATCHER

»...One would have liked to hear the work again as the final piece and would like to meet the composer again.«
Dresden Latest News (www.dnn-online.de) on VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS