Andris Nelsons
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Baiba Skride
Dmitri Shostakovich
Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra in A minor, op. 77
Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, op. 64
Andris Nelsons
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Baiba Skride
Dmitri Shostakovich
Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra in A minor, op. 77
Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, op. 64
Universe, Incomplete
Charles Ives – Christoph Marthaler – Titus Engel – Anna Viebrock
A stage production from the Ruhrtriennale 2018
The Unanswered Ives – Pioneer in American Music
A film by Anne-Kathrin Peitz
Produced by Paul Smaczny
J. S. Bach
Weihnachtsoratorium / Christmas Oratorio
Cantatas I – VI
BWV 248
Thomanerchor Leipzig
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Thomaskantor Gotthold Schwarz
Dorothee Mields, soprano
Elvira Bill, alto
Patrick Grahl, tenor (Evangelist)
Markus Schäfer, tenor (arias)
Klaus Häger, bass
Gidon Kremer
Finding Your Own Voice
A film by Paul Smaczny
Preludes to a Lost Time
Mieczyslaw Weinberg
24 Preludes op. 100 in the adaptation for violin by Gidon Kremer
Recorded at the Gogol Center Moscow
Nutcracker and Mouse King
Ballet by Christian Spuck
after the eponymous fairy tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann
Music by Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky
At the Lucerne Festival 2018, Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra honored Maurice Ravel in a very special concert.
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Valses nobles et sentimentales
La Valse
Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 1
Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2
Boléro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony No. 40
G minor K. 550
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Symphony No. 6
B minor op. 74
„Pathétique“
Andris Nelsons
Gewandhausorchester
Leipzig
Aaron Avshalomov (1894-1965)
Hutongs of Peking
(Symphonic Poem about the sounds and voices of Chinese streets)
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Concerto for violin and orchestra
D major op. 35
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 5 D minor op. 47
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
Maxim Vengerov
Long Yu
After the successful arte and WDR broadcasts, the documentary trilogy is released on DVD to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. (more…)
Arvo Pärt
2-DVD box set
Arvo Pärt / Robert Wilson – Adam’s Passion
Arvo Pärt / Robert Wilson – The Lost Paradise
Founded in 1212, the St. Thomas Choir Leipzig (Thomanerchor Leipzig) is one of the most famous and prestigious boys‘ choirs in the world. This box set contains the award-winning two-hour documentary “Die Thomaner – A Year in the Life of the St. Thomas Boys Choir Leipzig” by Paul Smaczny and Günter Atteln as well as the breathtaking recordings of two of Johann Sebastian Bach’s major choral works: the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. (more…)
This box set comprises Claudio Abbado’s recordings with his “orchestra of friends”, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, between 2010 and 2013, among them the highly distinguished and award-winning Mahler 9 from the Lucerne Festival 2010 and the last ever video recording of the legendary maestro from August 2013, as well as a recording from the Salzburg Festival 2012 with the Orchestra Mozart and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir.
W. A. Mozart
Le nozze di Figaro
Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, Count Almaviva
Dorothea Röschmann, Countess Almaviva
Anna Prohaska, Susanna
Lauri Vasar, Figaro
Marianne Crebassa, Cherubino
Gustavo Dudamel, musical direction
Jürgen Flimm & Bettina Hartmann, stage direction (more…)
Steffen Schleiermacher (*1960)
Relief for Orchestra
(World premiere, commissioned by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Alban Berg (1885-1935)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
To the Memory of an Angel
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Symphony No. 3 in A minor, op. 56
Scottish
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Baiba Skride, violin
Andris Nelsons, conductor
(more…)
Part One
Antonin Dvorak – Carnival Overture, Op. 92
Ludwig van Beethoven – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, OP. 61
Maurice Ravel – La Valse & 2nd Suite from Daphnis & Chloé
Part Two
Johann Strauss – Overture from The Bat
Johannes Brahms – Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102
Peter Tchaikovsky – Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23
“Always smile and always be cheerful, always satisfied, no matter what happens, smile in spite of your sorrows and a thousand aches and pains,” sings Prince Sou-Chong, thus introducing the fundamentally melancholic tone of “Das Land des Lächelns” (The Land of Smiles), which even has a tragic ending in store. For the new production of this operetta, world-class tenor Piotr Beczala returned to the Opernhaus Zürich as Sou-Chong. He has an equal partner in Julia Kleiter, who plays the role of Lisa. Fabio Luisi and Andreas Homoki also know that the genre of operetta requires particular care – which is why they have assumed personal responsibility for this production. (more…)
Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra awaken the fantastical music of Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky in a riveting performance.
The pieces are both inspired by literary legend; the icy and tragic melancholy of Tchaikovsky’s performance following the inner torment of Manfred is contrasted with Mendelssohn’s luminous performance, as light and mischievous as Shakespeare’s fairies to bring together the theme of fantastical identity, brought to life by Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and reflected in the magical surroundings of Lake Lucerne where it is performed. (more…)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Golberg Variations
Zhu Xiao-Mei
Zhu Xiao-Mei ranks among the greatest pianists of our times and is one of the most renowned interpreters of J. S. Bach’s music. The Goldberg Variations stood at the beginning of her international career and represent the “greatest musical encounter” of her life. “It is a universal piece of music that knows no frontiers”, this is the message of her extraordinary playing which is being celebrated in concert halls around the world. Her unique interpretation has now been captured on DVD for the first time. The live recording was produced at her critically acclaimed concert at the Leipzig Bach Festival at J. S. Bach’s final resting place in St. Thomas Church in 2014. (more…)
Antonín Dvořák
From The New World
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Kristine Opolais, soprano
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Othello – Concert Overture
Song to the Moon (Rusalka)
Songs My Mother Taught Me (Gypsy Songs)
Polonaise (Rusalka)
How confused I feel (Dalibor, Bedřich Smetana)
Oh, it‘s useless (Rusalka)
Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95
“From the New World”
Forbidden love, wrongdoings and anguish: the Opernhaus Zürich ventures into late 19th-century French romanticism with “Werther“ by French composer Jules Massenet. A loose adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s epistolary novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther”, the opera is conducted by Germany’s Cornelius Meister. It tells the story of the impossible union of poet Werther to Charlotte, a woman of duty already promised to a wealthy businessman. (more…)
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 1 D major
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly, conductor
Including bonus: Interview with Riccardo Chailly on Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1
„Nothing else that he wrote is as all-encompassing as the Mass in B minor, not even the great Passions,” says Herbert Blomstedt about Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Opus summum”. In June 2017, the Dresdner Kammerchor and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under the musical direction of Herbert Blomstedt have merged ingeniously to conclude the Bachfest Leipzig with this unrivaled work – a work that, written for both Dresden and Leipzig, bears close connections to choir and orchestra as well as to Herbert Blomstedt himself. (more…)
At Castle Köthen, where Bach wrote the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, Midori fills the historical rooms with the sound of these masterpieces.
Midori, in her search for authenticity, visits the places where Bach’s compositions originated. Exploring the castle of Köthen, where Bach wrote the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, she fills the historical rooms with the sound of these masterpieces. Music and space merge exclusively in the acoustic offered by the location, which supports the breathtaking polyphony and the detailed richness of the works as well as the technical brilliance and perfection of Midori’s subtly shaped performance.
With the „Messa da Requiem“, Christian Spuck brought one of Verdi’s key works to the stage. In a large-scale co-production by the Ballett and Oper Zürich, the German choreographer and director ventured to portray an unusual interpretation of Verdi’s funeral mass in his scenic-choreographic production. (more…)
In its choreographed version of the St. Matthew Passion, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart offers new dimensions to Bach‘s musical drama. And, for the one hundred schoolchildren who delved into Bach‘s monumental work and learned to dance as an artistic form of self-expression, it was an opportunity to experience the power of his music first hand. The interplay of professional musicians and young amateurs turned into a creative bridge for all involved.
“The St. Matthew Passion [..] was performed in March, filmed, released on DVD by the fine label accentus music” FAZ
Riccardo Chailly
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Ricarda Merbeth, Juliane Banse, Anna Lucia Richter, Sara Mingardo, Mihoko Fujimura, Andreas Schager, Peter Mattei, Samuel Youn
Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Latvian Radio Choir, Orfeón Donostiarra, Tölzer Knabenchor
Ludwig van Beethoven
Triple Concerto
Symphony No. 5
Herbert Blomstedt
Gewandhausorchester
Isabelle Faust, violin
Jean-Guihen Queyras, violoncello
Martin Helmchen, piano (more…)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 9 “Choral”
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
Simona Saturova – Mihoko Fujimura – Christian Elsner – Christian Gerhaher
MDR Rundfunkchor
GewandhausChor
GewandhausKinderchor
Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and the musical city of Leipzig are closely intertwined with each other: Felix Mendelssohn, Kapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester, made the work an indispensable part of the concert hall repertoire and Arthur Nikisch, one of his successors, established in 1918 the worldwide tradition of performing this groundbreaking and pioneering work at the end of the year. The phenomenal Herbert Blomstedt, Gewandhaus-kapellmeister from 1998 to 2005, once again conducted Beethoven’s Ninth in Leipzig for the 2016 New Year celebrations.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concertos No. 2 & 3
Margarita Höhenrieder
Leon Fleisher
Kammerphilharmonie Amadé
Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn
Beethoven’s piano concertos impressively reflect the personality and creativity of the revolutionary composer. They are a challenge for each pianist. In this recording of the 2nd and 3rd concertos, the legendary pianist, conductor, and teacher Leon Fleisher and his star pupil Margarita Höhenrieder, who has also gained international recognition, show their personal relationship with Beethoven. At two unusual concert locations – the Zollverein World Heritage Site in Germany’s Ruhr area and the famous Max-Littmann-Saal in Bad Kissingen, which is known for its acoustics – the two discerning artists perform the two concertos together with the Kammerphilharmonie Amadé and the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn. (more…)
Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Tragedia lirica in two act
Fabio Luisi, Conductor
Christof Loy, Stage Director
Philharmonia Zürich, Chor der Oper Zürich
Joyce DiDonato (Romeo)
Olga Kulchynska (Julia)
The story of Romeo and Juliet, who pay for their passion with their lives, has been interpreted in the widest variety of literary and musical genres ever since the Renaissance. Vincenzo Bellini’s much too rarely staged Romeo and Juliet opera, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, is far removed from Shakespeare’s version: rather than telling the story of a tenderly burgeoning love, the piece is an account of the last 24 hours in the two young people’s lives. The underlying mood of the piece is thus one of melancholy – which then develops into a catastrophic maelstrom. The première of the thrilling Zurich production of this bel canto gem, directed by Christof Loy and conducted by Fabio Luisi, was enthusiastically received by critics and audiences alike. The two protagonists also met with acclaim: experience world star Joyce DiDonato in the trouser role of Romeo, with the young Ukrainian soprano Olga Kulchynska at her side as Giulietta. (more…)
Opera in three acts (15 scenes) after Georg Büchner’s “Woyzeck”
Fabio Luisi, Conductor
Andreas Homoki, Stage Director
Philharmonia Zürich, Chor der Oper Zürich
Christian Gerhaher (Wozzeck)
Gun-Brit Barkmin (Marie)
The soldier Wozzeck (Christian Gerhaher) flits through a world that he is unable to decipher. The doctor torments him with absurd medical experiments; the captain humiliates and ridicules him. And Wozzeck’s lover, Marie (Gun-Brit Barkmin), with whom he has a child, cuckolds him with the drum major. Wozzeck becomes a murderer, stabbing Marie to death. Georg Büchner’s drama fragment, on which Alban Berg based his first opera, is an unflinching case study of social injustice and human suffering. But it is also a grotesque piece that thrives on exaggeration – and in which only a fine line separates the unfathomable from the ridiculous. Accordingly, director Andreas Homoki forgoes all realism.
You and Me
A Peking opera in five acts
Composed and conducted by Zhu Shaoyu
Staged by Zhang Yimou
Recorded live in March 2014
Directed by Barbara Willis Sweete
Produced by Paul Smaczny
Zhang Yimou, the renowned Chinese film director and winner of the Golden Globe Award (Red Cornfield, Red Lantern, Hero, House of Flying Daggers), is staging his first Peking opera at the NCPA, spectacularly fusing the traditional and modern together for his production of You and Me. The result is an overwhelming feast for the senses. Lavish and colorful costumes, unique music composed and conducted by Zhu Shaoyu, and a world class ensemble that features the greatest stars of the Peking opera, including Meng Guanglu, Shi Yihong and Li Mingyan, turn You and Me into an unforgettable experience. (more…)
China National Centre for the Performing Arts
Orchestra & Chorus
Conducted by Daniel Oren
Staged by Chen Xinyi
Finale composed by Hao Weiya
Turandot, the late gem of Italian opera, is a celebration of the sounds and the mythical figures intimately associated with Chinese culture. The dramatic punch of the libretto inspired Giacomo Puccini to imagine a sound world of unusual splendour: The score features original Chinese melodies, Asian pentatonic scales and colourful orchestration with percussion writing that is strongly reminiscent of Asian music.
Commedia per musica in four acts Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Text by Lorenzo Da Ponte
from the
China National Centre for the Performing Arts
Conductor: Lü Jia
Staged by: José Luis Castro
NCPA’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) shines a new light on one of the most famous operas created by W. A. Mozart in 1786 during the summit of his composing life: It combines traditional Western elements with an outstanding Chinese cast. Stage director José Luis Castro from Seville – where the story happens – embeds the opera in the traditional setting of his hometown. The NCPA Orchestra and Chorus, under the baton of their music director Lü Jia, bring the music to life in a fresh contemporary interpretation that lays the ground for the excellent lead soloists. Le Nozze di Figaro once more shows that the NCPA is a venue of choice for opera lovers in the Chinese capital and well beyond.
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 5
Selected Songs from “Des Knaben Wunderhorn”
Rheinlegendchen, Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen,
Das irdische Leben, Urlicht,
Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt,
Revelge, Der Tamboursg’sell
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Matthias Goerne, baritone
Andris Nelsons conducted the Lucerne Festival Orchestra for the third time in August 2015, the orchestra’s second summer without founder and guiding spirit Claudio Abbado. The first half of his concert was already highlight: the baritone Matthias Goerne seemed completely at home in a selection of songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. His warm, dark voice allows him to capture the somber and tragic atmosphere of this music like no one else. Its shaded timbre is most perfectly suited to the work’s melancholy and nocturnal moods, where one can directly experience how an artist of this caliber can bring music to the edge of the abyss. (more…)
Nikolaj Znaider, violin
Riccardo Chailly
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Felix Mendelssohn
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 64
Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op. 61
The Daily Telegraph describes Nikolaj Znaider as “the most stimulating young musician playing today, drawing on musical intelligence, perception and dynamism to give performances of rare intensity.” This release presents one of the world’s foremost violinists playing two landmark concertos, accompanied by the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester – “one of Europe’s finest orchestras” (The Guardian) – under the baton of its music director Riccardo Chailly. It was the Gewandhausorchester that, in 1845, first performed Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor. Mendelssohn himself had conducted Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major several times and helped this milestone in the history of music to its great breakthrough.
A documentary by Paul Smaczny
“Without inner fire, without physical energy, this profession would be unthinkable,” according to Riccardo Chailly, in whose style of conducting accuracy and elegance are unforgettably united with an inexhaustible temperament. This is clear in Music – A Journey for Life, the first film portrait of the Italian maestro, which accompanies him working with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, at La Scala in Milan, and in rehearsals for La Bohème at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia. Chailly’s impressive physical and mental strength lend a uniquely personal dynamic to the musical processes and the collaboration between the conductor and musicians. Music – A Journey for Life also reveals the private person Riccardo Chailly, for whom the rigorous study of scores and time with his family are as important as a steady routine is not. (more…)
Anton Bruckner’s symphonies are gigantic mountain ranges carved out of sound, traversed by steep chasms, broad steppes, and dark valleys. The effect of their performance is comparable to the exalted feeling of reaching the summit of a mighty peak. Daniel Barenboim guides the Staatskapelle Berlin to the heights of Bruckner’s lofty sound formations. With a vision hewn from experience, Barenboim follows the harmonic development of the symphonies 4 through 9, revealing to us the breathtaking musical panorama of these exceptional symphonic masterpieces. “Heard together, one understood so much about this strange music, with its obsessive monumentality, terrifying expressive strength, and dizzying compositional syntheses of elements from the Middle Ages to Schubert and Wagner.” (Berliner Zeitung) This unforgettable Bruckner cycle sets new standards, and guarantees the Staatskapelle Berlin and their principal conductor “a place in the Bruckner pantheon.” (Der Tagesspiegel) (more…)
He is the most performed contemporary composer in the world. And yet he rarely ventures out in public, prefers to keep quiet about his music, feels at home in the forests of Estonia and generates therewith – perhaps involuntarily – the impression of a recluse, which is attributed to him again and again: Arvo Pärt. In The Lost Paradise, we follow him over a period of one year in his native Estonia, to Japan and the Vatican. The documentary is framed by the stage production of Adam’s Passion, a music theater piece based on the Biblical story of the fall of Adam featuring three key works by Arvo Pärt. The world-renowned director Robert Wilson has brought this work to the stage in a former submarine factory in Tallinn. Tracing their creative process, the film offers rare and personal insights into the worlds of two of the most fascinating personalities in the international arts and music scene. (more…)
Music by Arvo Pärt
Adam’s Lament
Tabula rasa
Miserere
Sequentia
Stage Direction, Set Design & Lighting Concept: Robert Wilson
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste
Michalis Theophanous, Lucinda Childs
“You see, this story is your story, one that questions me. And this story is my story, one that responds to you. This is our common story. The story of Adam is the story of all mankind. And it is one of tragedy.” Arvo Pärt (more…)
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 7
Riccardo Chailly
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
“It is my best work, with a primarily cheerful character”. This was Gustav Mahler’s assessment of his Symphony No. 7, which was also highly regarded by Arnold Schoenberg, who said, “I had an impression of absolute peace based on artistic harmony. Something able to set me in motion without recklessly unsettling my center of gravity.” Riccardo Chailly, in his internationally acclaimed interpretations of Mahler’s symphonies – which he and the Gewandhaus Orchestra are bringing together in a complete cycle – focuses on the musical qualities of the works, eschewing false pathos and sentimentality while giving up none of the music’s dramatic intensity. (more…)
Filmed in North and South Korea, this documentary explores whether music can overcome the boundaries of a divided country. There is one figure representing the two Koreas, a figure whose life in itself forms a bridge between both worlds: Korean composer Isang Yun is one of the very few people acknowledged on both sides. The film traces the course of a life that has been interpreted in different ways, examining the worlds of North and South Korean music, taking the viewer on an exciting journey through two political systems that Isang Yun spent his life trying to reconcile.
For more information about the documentary click here.
Always armed with wisecracks, umbrella, and a bowler hat, Erik Satie was not only on the outside one of the strangest figures in the early 20th century French avant-garde; he was a composer, designer, church founder, PR pioneer, and master of witty remarks. In playful episodes, the documentary illuminates the overall phenomenon of Satie. His countless imaginary advertisements evolve into real commercials, and his drawings take on a life of their own as cartoons. Divas, dogs, puppets, and children, as well as pianists playing pianos stacked on top of each other are featured in scenic interludes, while performers turn into “musical furniture” in swimming pools, factories, or at train stations. Interwoven with accounts by Satie’s associates and music experts, the film offers a unique insight into Satie’s cosmos of word and sound. (more…)
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Barbara Hannigan (soprano/conductor)
She crosses boundaries and loves to explore new territory. Barbara Hannigan is one of the most fascinating and multi-facetted artistic personalities of our time. She sets new standards as a singer, conductor, and performance artist. The intimate portrait “I’m a creative animal” takes the viewer into the world of an exceptional musician – a world of both passion and discipline. Her performances possess a breathtaking intensity because of her exquisite vocal technique and virtuosity, musical and theatrical expressivity, and uncompromising engagement. In this concert with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Hannigan both sings and conducts to effortlessly build bridges linking different musical epochs. With a phenomenal performance of Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre, a work for which she is famous, she once again confirms her reputation as the performer of contemporary music – “The audience went wild.” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung)
“She is one of the best musicians out there.”
(Simon Rattle in The New York Times)
Johannes Brahms
Serenade No. 2 in A major, Op. 16
Alto Rhapsody with male chorus and orchestra, Op. 53
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Sara Mingardo, alto
Bavarian Radio Choir
In 2014, all signs pointed to a new beginning at the Lucerne Festival. For the first time, the festival would take place without the incomparable Claudio Abbado, with the young Latvian Andris Nelsons leading the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Nelsons had already won the trust and respect of both listeners and performers in a moving memorial concert for Abbado in Lucerne. He is known internationally as one of the most gifted conductors of his generation. Now he was poised to lead the prestigious festival into a new era – he brilliantly mastered this “greatest challenge” (as he himself called it) of his career. (more…)
Recorded live at “El Palacio” in Buenos Aires
Café de los Maestros, Juan Carlos Godoy
Rodolfo Mederos, Teresa Parodi & Fernando Suárez Paz,
Otros Aires, Gustavo Mozzi
In the golden age of the 1920s and 1930s, the fabled ballroom “El Palacio” in Buenos Aires was home to the day’s legendary tango dancers and musicians, and even today it remains a meeting place for stars of the Argentine tango scene. The great Rodolfo Mederos, the incomparable Juan Carlos Godoy, as well as Astor Piazzolla’s musical partners Teresa Parodi and Fernando Suárez Paz all here take part in this electrifying “Fiesta del Tango”, while on the dance floor celebrated couples present consummate tango performances. This uncommon experience in an authentic atmosphere tells many stories of the tango – stories of longing, passion, and melancholy. (more…)
Claudio Abbado
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Christine Schäfer, Juliane Banse, Bruno Ganz
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 35 in D major, Haffner, K. 385
Misera, dove son! – Ah, non son io che parlo, K. 369
Ah, lo previdi! – Ah, t’invola – Deh, non varcar, K. 272
Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio!, K. 418
Christine Schäfer (soprano)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Incidental music to Goethe’s tragedy Egmont, Op. 84
for soprano, narrator and orchestra
Juliane Banse (soprano), Bruno Ganz (narrator) (more…)
Daniel Barenboim, Conductor
Staatskapelle Berlin
Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 9 in D minor
(original version)
“This music is more serious and more significant than one had thought”, the Berliner Zeitung summarized in its review of Daniel Barenboim’s celebrated Bruckner cycle with the Staatskapelle Berlin. Bruckner’s unfinished Symphony No. 9 brought to an end, in a poignant manner, the work of one of the greatest symphonic composers of the Classic-Romantic era. Once more the essential elements of Bruckner’s symphonic style are present; the technical standard, the intensity of sound, and the enormous richness of expression are in this singular work brought to an unsurpassed niveau.
It was a deeply affecting and appropriate farewell. The spirit of Claudio Abbado, the great conductor and founder of orchestras who died in January 2014, was present in music, words, and silence. Thousands upon thousands came to the Basilica di Santo Stefano in Bologna and the Piazza della Scala in Milan to pay their last respects. In Lucerne, the members of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA paid tribute to this extraordinary man and friend with a deeply moving concert – “The emotional intensity was unbelievable; this could only be achieved by true musicians, by those capable of love.” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) Friends and associates look back fondly on Claudio Abbado and speak of how they experienced these moments of grief and farewell.
Andris Nelsons, LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
Isabelle Faust, violin
Bruno Ganz
In this compelling documentary Oscar-winning director Allan Miller gives us an intimate look at the musical life of violinist Robert Mann. Founding member and first violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet, for 51 years Mann has been and continues to be one of the most important figures in chamber music. The documentary includes rare footage of Juilliard String Quartet performances, Mann’s renowned coaching sessions, and interviews with many of classical music’s greatest performers, all revealing Mann’s profound influence as a chamber musician, teacher, and composer.
His musical commitment and energy has been inspirational and he contiunes to inspire us; his influence on the musical community is a gift that cannot be measured. When I think about the Beethoven quartets, I think about Robert Mann. (Itzhak Perlman, violinist) (more…)
Symphony No. 8 in C minor
(second version 1887-90, Robert Haas Edition)
Daniel Barenboim, Conductor
Staatskapelle Berlin
“Clarity was one thing that made this performance a marvel. Another was the flexibility of Barenboim’s speeds…. The flexibility of Barenboim’s tempi meant that Bruckner’s charm – an often overlooked aspect of his genius – shone through, especially in the genial Trio.” (The Telegraph) Bruckner’s 8th is the last symphony completed by the Austrian composer. Many of his contemporaries regarded the symphony as “the pinnacle of 19th century music”. Even today, this monumental work fascinates listeners with its virtuoso orchestral technique, its immensity of sound, and its inexhaustible richness of detail. (more…)
Carl Philip Emnuel Bach
The 1786 Charity Concert – A Revival
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor
Hans-Christoph Rademann (conductor)
Christina Landshamer (soprano)
Wiebke Lehmkuhl (alto)
Lothar Odinius (tenor)
Thomas E. Bauer (bass) (more…)
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.9
Riccardo Chailly
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Theodor W. Adorno regarded Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 as “the first work of modern music”. Adorno’s teacher, Alban Berg, saw in it “the expression of a tremendous love for this world, a longing to live in peace and to savor Nature to its depths – before the arrival of Death. For it will inevitably come.” This live recording of the composer’s last completed symphony is part of an ongoing Leipzig cycle of Mahler’s symphonies. It confirms once more the Gewandhaus Orchestra’s reputation as an exemplary ensemble for the performance of Mahler’s music. (more…)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Tragic Overture, Op. 81
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) Orchestral Interlude and “Song of the Wood Dove” from Gurre-Lieder
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55, Eroica
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Claudio Abbado
Mihoko Fujimura (Alto)
The Last Video Recording of Claudio Abbado
With his very own “mysterious seductive power and legendary elegance” (Le Monde), Claudio Abbado opened for the last time the LUCERNE FESTIVAL in the summer of 2013. Only a few months later, the world had to bid farewell to a monumental artist, humanist, great conductor and orchestra founder. Even in the concert itself, documented here, lived a moment of farewell, as the three great works performed tell of the transience of life. (more…)
Krzysztof Penderecki is one of the most successful composers of the 20th and 21st centuries and a Polish classical music icon. His 80th birthday in November 2013 was the occasion for an extraordinary gathering of the world’s most significant musicians and most important interpreters of his works; companions and long-time friends of the composer, including the extraordinary violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, Valery Gergiev, Charles Dutoit, Krzysztof Urbanski, Roman Patkoló, Daniel Müller-Schott, Arto Noras and Ivan Monighetti. They all presented their homage to Penderecki within the setting of the Warsaw Teatr Wielki with some of his most famous works being performed: Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima; Duo Concertante for violin and double bass; Concerto Grosso for three cellos and orchestra; and the unique Credo. (more…)
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Riccardo Chailly
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
As Riccardo Chailly points out, “The Fifth begins with a dark, gloomy, and tragic tone, but then is enlivened in the Scherzo and Adagietto, and eventually ends with a more positive character in the Finale – perhaps for the last time in Mahler’s life. The Adagietto is a revelation, a spiritual oasis. It is not an expression of pain, but rather Mahler’s declaration of love to Alma – a song without words.“ (more…)
The secular repertory of the Renaissance seems made to order for the five singers of amarcord. In the incomparable setting of the Villa Godi in northern Italy, the group recorded some of the best-known and most beautiful madrigals of the 16th century, creating a bridge to the present day. Fiery declarations of love and the deep pain of parting, erotic innuendoes and bawdy humor – in the interpretations of this prizewinning ensemble, the texts always seem contemporary and relevant. The members of amarcord are accompanied by the exceptional instrumentalists Hille Perl (viola da gamba) and Lee Santana (theorbo), as well as the virtuoso percussionist Michael Metzler.
Wolfram Lattke, Tenor
Robert Pohlers, Tenor
Frank Ozimek, Baritone
Daniel Knauft, Bass
Holger Krause, Bass
Hille Perl, Viola da gamba
Lee Santana, Theorbo & Guitar
Michael Metzler, Percussion (more…)
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 7 in E major (original version)
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
Staatskapelle Berlin
In Anton Bruckner’s 7th Symphony, the listener encounters a music characterized by great spaciousness and profound solemnity, a music which speaks of grief and lamentation, but also of their transcendence. With its monumental architecture and intensity of sound, the symphony has moved listeners ever since its triumphal premiere in 1884.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Mass in B Minor BWV 232
St. Thomas Boys Choir Leipzig
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Georg Christoph Biller (more…)
Daniel Barenboim, Conductor
Staatskapelle Berlin
Recorded live at the Philharmonie Berlin, 22 June 2010
Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 6 in A major
(original version)
From the Church of St Mary, Marienberg
Sächsische Bläserphilharmonie
(The Saxony Philharmonic Wind Orchestra)
Thomas Clamor, conductor
Ruth Ziesak, soprano
Rundfunk – Jugendchor Wernigerode
Peter Habermann, chorus master
Ensemble Sonora
(more…)
Giacomo Puccini (1857-1919)
La Bohème (opera in four acts)
Directed by Riccardo Chailly
Staged by Davide Livermore
The musical notes of this Puccini masterpiece provide the starting point and foundation for a new, highly successful collaboration between Riccardo Chailly and Davide Livermore. In their interpretation, there is “no moment, no movement, that goes against the musical meaning” (R. Chailly). (more…)
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 6 in A minor
Riccardo Chailly
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
“The audience knows that the performance of a Mahler symphony is not only a musical experience, but is also emotionally effective” (R. Chailly). This counts especially for Mahler’s enigmatic sixth symphony, an emotionally stirring challenge for both performers and listeners, whilst also being one of the most impressive works in musical history. Chailly’s interpretation with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is “intensely great” (Die Presse).
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Missa solemnis in C minor, K. 139
“Waisenhausmesse“
Franz Schubert
Mass in E flat major, D 950
Claudio Abbado
Orchestra Mozart
Arnold Schoenberg Choir
A “touching and magnificent reunion” (Der Standard). The public and press enthusiastically celebrated the long-awaited return of Claudio Abbado to the Salzburg Festival in 2012. The conductor brought with him Mozart’s youthful Mass K. 139, the so-called Waisenhausmesse, and Schubert’s late Mass in E flat major.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Requiem in D minor, K. 626
Edition by Franz Beyer, Sanctus completed by Robert Levin
Claudio Abbado
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Bavarian Radio Choir, Swedish Radio Choir
Peter Dijkstra (Chorus Master)
Anna Prohaska (Soprano), Sara Mingardo (Alto), Maximilian Schmitt (Tenor), René Pape (Bass)
“The baton is not a magic wand – it cannot join together the fragmentary work that Mozart composed in the face of death. Yet, in Abbado’s hand, the baton could become a guide to the mysterious, sublime, consoling legacy of Mozart.”(Deutschlandradio Kultur)
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 5 in B flat major (original version)
Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
The Süddeutsche Zeitung summed up this highly acclaimed performance of Bruckner’s monumental Fifth Symphony by saying: “Both Bruckner’s belief in God, as it majestically wells up out of the chorale of the Fifth, and his deeply tragic world view, collide with one another in Barenboim’s interpretation”.
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 4 in G major
Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly, conductor
Christina Landshamer, soprano
“The greatest mix of colours that ever existed” was Gustav Mahler’s description of the third movement of his Fourth Symphony. Riccardo Chailly, one of the most adept interpreters of Mahler of our time, and the Gewandhaus Orchestra transformed the entire Fourth Symphony into this kaleidoscope of sound. (more…)
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 4 in E flat major “Romantic” (1878/1880 Version)
Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim, conductor
Daniel Barenboim is an expert in exploiting the impact of cyclical performances of composers’ works: This time he focuses his sharp intellect on all six of Anton Bruckner’s mature symphonies. Der Tagesspiegel described Barenboim’s performance of the works with the Staatskapelle Berlin on six nearly consecutive evenings in June 2010 as a “superhuman” accomplishment and went on to praise how: “His Bruckner is conceived and performed very theatrically, like an opera without words.” (more…)
China National Centre for the Performing Arts
Orchestra & Chorus
Conducted by Lu Jia, Staged by Hugo de Ana
Presented by Zhang Guoli
Unlike any other composer Giuseppe Verdi illuminates the great emotions and opulent melodies of the Italian opera. Created exclusively for the occasion of the celebrated composer’s 200th birthday, Beijing’s most important opera house, the National Centre for the Performing Arts, presents an exceptional gala: Viva Verdi. It features stars from the opera world such as Dilbèr or Roberto Scandiuzzi as they perform the best moments from Verdi’s operas and his Messa da Requiem in a visually stunning production by director Hugo de Ana. (more…)
A Film by Allan Miller & Paul Smaczny
This documentary by Oscar-winner Allan Miller and Emmy-winner Paul Smaczny pays tribute to the most fascinating American avant-garde composer John Cage. Shot in America, Germany and Japan, the program premieres rare archival footage; presenting concert excerpts and a set of short episodes, featuring associates of Cage and contemporary artists, playfully delineating different aspects of John Cage. The documentary features interviews with Yoko Ono, David Tudor, Christian Wolff, Steffen Schleiermacher, Irvine Arditti, Toshio Hosokawa, Mayumi Miyata, Calvin Tomkins and many others. “John Cage – Journeys in Sound“ will delight and enthral both Cage novices as well as die-hard fans. (more…)
A Film by Paul Smaczny & Günter Atteln
Founded in 1212 the St. Thomas Choir Leipzig is one of the most famous and prestigious boys’ choirs in the world. This documentary accompanies “Die Thomaner”, aged between 9 and 18 years old, over a period of one year. Their unique world, from motets to boarding school and the football pitch, is distinguished by success, pressure to perform, doubt, pride, homesickness, and friendship. The film charts the breadth of the boys’ experience from the classroom to traveling on tour to South America. (more…)
Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Matthew Passion BWV 244
St. Thomas Boys Choir Leipzig
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Georg Christoph Biller
Christina Landshamer (Soprano)
Stefan Kahle (Alto)
Wolfram Lattke (Tenor)
Martin Lattke (Tenor)
Klaus Mertens (Bass)
Gotthold Schwarz (Bass)
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 5 in B flat major (WAB 105; Nowak edition)
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Claudio Abbado
Daniel Barenboim, Piano
Pierre Boulez, Conductor
Staatskapelle Berlin
Franz Liszt:
Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major
Consolation No. 3
Valse oubliée No. 1
Richard Wagner:
A Faust Overture
Siegfried Idyll
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 Resurrection
New York Philharmonic
Alan Gilbert, conductor
New York Choral Artists
Dorothea Röschmann, soprano
Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano
Tibor Kováč first violin, Shkëlzen Doli second violin, Thilo Fechner viola, Stephan Koncz cello, Ödön Rácz double bass, Daniel Ottensamer clarinet, František Jánoška piano
Guests: Walter Auer flute, Christoph Traxler harmonium
Johann Strauss II
Rosen aus dem Süden arr. by Arnold Schoenberg
Kaiserwalzer arr. by Arnold Schoenberg
Lagunenwalzer arr. by Arnold Schoenberg
Wein, Weib und Gesang! arr. by Alban Berg
Schatzwalzer arr. by Anton Webern
Leopold Godowsky
Alt-Wien
Fritz Kreisler
Marche miniature viennoise
Schön Rosmarin
Caprice viennois
Tibor Kováč
Yiddische Mame
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 2 in C minor
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly
Soloists: Christiane Oelze (Soprano), Sarah Connolly (Mezzo-Soprano)
Choirs: MDR Rundfunkchor, Berliner Rundfunkchor, GewandhausChor
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 8 in E flat major
Riccardo Chailly
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Soloists: Erika Sunnegardh (Soprano), Ricarda Merbeth (Soprano), Christiane Oelze (Soprano), Lioba Braun (Alto), Gerhild Romberger (Alto), Stephen Gould (Tenor), Dietrich Henschel (Baritone), Georg Zeppenfeld (Bass)
Choirs: MDR Rundfunkchor, Chor der Oper Leipzig, GewandhausChor, Thomanerchor Leipzig, Gewandhaus Kinderchor
Martha Argerich, piano
Mischa Maisky, violoncello
Luzerner Sinfonieorchester
Neeme Järvi, conductor
Antonín Dvořák: Scherzo capriccioso in D flat major, op. 66
World Premiere – Rodion Shchedrin: “Romantic Offering”
Double Concerto for piano, violoncello und orchestra
César Franck: Sonate for violoncello and piano in A major
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, op. 70
Gustav Mahler: Adagio from Symphony No. 10
Twelve Songs from “Des Knaben Wunderhorn“
The Cleveland Orchestra
Pierre Boulez, conductor
Magdalena Kožená
Christian Gerhaher
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Mahler’s birth and just one month short of his own 85th birthday, composer-conductor Pierre Boulez marked his forty-five-year collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra by directing this very special Mahler-only concert at Ohio’s splendid Severance Hall. (more…)
Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3 in C Major, Op. 72a
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E flat Major, Op. 82
The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Sakari Oramo, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin
Joshua Bell lights up the stage with this dazzling performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, the centerpiece of the Nobel Prize Concert in honour of the 2010 Nobel Prize Laureates. Part of the official Nobel Week, this tribute concert opens with music by Beethoven that urgently evokes the spirit of freedom from tyranny. (more…)
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 9 in D major
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Claudio Abbado, conductor
Claudio Abbado and his hand-picked players of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra take their acclaimed Mahler cycle to a new level with this performance of the most complex and compelling of the symphonies, the intense, searching Ninth. (more…)
Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela
Claudio Abbado, conductor
Anna Prohaska, soprano
Sergei Prokofiev – Scythian Suite, Op. 20,
Alban Berg – Symphonic Pieces from the Opera “Lulu” (Lulu Suite)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – The Magic Flute: “Ach, ich fühl´s, es ist verschwunden” (Pamina)
Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 B minor, Op. 74 “Pathétique”
Five years after first conducting the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra in their Venezuelan home, Claudio Abbado continues his commitment to this stunning ensemble in this first joint audiovisual concert recording. (more…)
Fryderyk Chopin
Piano Concerto No 1 in E minor, Op. 11 (N. Demidenko)
Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4 (N. Demidenko)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21 (E. Kissin)
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
Antoni Wit, conductor
Evgeny Kissin, Nikolai Demidenko, piano
The internationally celebrated concert event from Warsaw on the occasion of Fryderyk Chopin’s 200th birthday presents two Russian piano stars in one program: Nikolai Demidenko with a marvelous performance of Chopin’s Concerto No. 1, Evgeny Kissin with a most thrilling interpretation of Concerto No. 2. The former wunderkind enthused the audience, which could not get enough even after several encores. A unique performance and truly a gift for Chopin lovers all over the world. (more…)
L’arpa festante München
Bachchor Mainz
Ralf Otto, conductor
Dorothee Mields (soprano) ǀ Gerhild Romberger (alto)
Georg Poplutz (tenor) ǀ Klaus Mertens (bass)
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Wohl dem, der den Herren fürchtet (BR-WFB F 19)
Sinfonia in D minor (BR C7)
O Wunder, wer kann dieses fassen (BR-WFB F 2)
Ach, dass du den Himmel zerrissest (BR-WFB F 3)
Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen (BR-WFB F 10)
In 2010 the world is celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, whose music – for the most disparate reasons – was for a long time shrouded in oblivion. Many of his works disappeared completely after the Second World War, and it was not until 1999 that they were rediscovered in Kiev. (more…)