Schedule

Bulgarian conductor Pavel Baleff conducts the Orchestra and Choir of the Opéra de Limoges in a performance of Antonín Dvořák’s lyric fairytale opera Rusalka (1900). The work’s libretto is written by Czech poet Jaroslav Kvapil. Rusalka, an elusive water nymph, falls in love with the Prince, who happens to swim in her lake. Rusalka longs to become human herself so that she can be together with the Prince. The witch Ježibaba is willing to help Rusalka, but warns her that the transition to a mortal human being comes at a high price: the nymph will lose the power of speech. What is more, if mute Rusalka cannot keep the love of a human, she will be damned for eternity. Stage director Nicola Raab and TV director Arnaud Lalanne created a truly filmic production of Dvořák’s masterpiece. Among the soloists are Ruzan Mantashyan, Adam Smith, Rafal Pawnuk, Marie-Adeline Henry, Marion Lebègue, and Alexandra Marcellier. This performance was recorded at the Opéra de Limoges, France, in February 2021.

The Berliner Philharmoniker, Daniel Barenboim and Claudio Abbado star at the Europakonzert 1994 in Meiningen, Germany, performing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 2. Popularly known as the Emperor Concerto and composed in Vienna between 1809 and 1811, Piano Concerto No. 5 is Beethoven’s last completed piano concerto and often performed by star pianists such as Daniel Barenboim. A few decades later in 1877, Brahms completed his Second Symphony, which is often compared to Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony given its cheerful and pastoral character.

This episode presents the Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Musical excerpts played by the Freiburger Barockorchester conducted by Gottfried von der Goltz. Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos rank among the undisputed favorites of all baroque fans. They have become a firm fixture in music education and an integral part of our international musical heritage. So what's their secret? The internationally acclaimed pianist and Bach expert Robert Levin provides an answer.

In 2013, the Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu was appointed principal conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Lintu studied piano and cello at the Sibelius Academy and the Turku conservatorium in Sweden’s southeast. He started conducting at the Sibelius Academy. His many concerts with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2012 made him the obvious replacement for Sakari Oramo, who, after many years as conductor and concert master, terminated his contract in 2012. The orchestra specializes in the performance of Finnish music, but also performs the great masterpieces of Gustav Mahler and Béla Bartók. The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius is the orchestra’s favourite, as well as the conductor. In cooperation with Finland’s national public broadcasting company Yle, all seven Sibelius symphonies are recorded and broadcast. After a brief spoken introduction about the piece, the orchestra performs the complete symphony. In many ways, Sibelius’ seventh and last Symphony is his best symphony. As its parts are logical extensions of each other, the Symphony was clearly conceived as a unity. Despite its relative brevity, its compositional style is a clear precursor to the direction future great composers would take, among whom Anton Webern. Although all Sibelius’s seven symphonies were glorious, they do not dominate his complete oeuvre. His Violin concerto and his symphonic poem ‘Finlandia’ have received much more fame and popularity.

Mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Chayka-Rubinstein (Germany, 1998) and pianist Maria Yulin (Israel, 1988) perform ‘Colloque sentimental’ from Claude Debussy’s Fêtes galantes II; ‘Die Geister am Mummelsee’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder; ‘Bei dir allein’ from Franz Schubert’s Vier Refrainlieder, D. 866; Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold; ‘La fleur qui va sur l'eau’ from Gabriel Fauré’s Trois melodies, Op. 85; ‘Dance of the moon in Santiago’ from George Crumb’s Sun and Shadow (Spanish Songbook II); and ‘Den’ li tsarit?’ (Does the day reign?) from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Seven Romances, Op. 47, during the semi-finals of the International Vocal Competition 2021 – Lied Duo. This performance was recorded at Het Noordbrabants Museum in ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.

After recording all 32 Ludwig van Beethoven piano sonatas to celebrate the composer's 250th birth anniversary, celebrated Italian pianist Riccardo Schwartz decided to record solo piano works by Robert Schumann. In this performance, Schwartz performs Humoreske in B-flat major, Op. 20. Schumann composed the work in 1839 and dedicated it to German-Austrian composer Julie von Webenau. The piece’s title refers to humor as an emotional state. Schumann took his inspiration from German Romantic writer Jean Paul, who defines humor as “an infinity of contrast”, “a setting of the small world beside the great”, and where “a kind of laughter results which contains pain and greatness”. Humoreske is one continuous piece consisting of contrasting sections. Acclaimed pianist Riccardo Schwartz (1986) has performed as a soloist with many world-renowned conductors, including Gustav Kuhn and Yuri Temirkanov. His acclaimed performances include recitals and concertos for piano and orchestra in many prestigious concert halls.