Schedule

Antonello Manacorda leads the Orchestra and Choir of Teatro La Fenice in a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s beloved opera Die Zauberflöte (‘The Magic Flute’). Mozart probably started to compose his masterpiece in May 1791, less than six months before his death. The work’s libretto is written by Emanuel Schikaneder. In its fairy tale-like narrative, Prince Tamino is commissioned by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter Pamina, who has been captured by priest Sarastro. Accompanied by bird-catcher Papageno, Tamino begins his quest. After finding Pamina in Sarastro’s territory, Tamino is first subjected to a number of trials in order to prove he is worth marrying Pamina. Die Zauberflöte features wonderful arias, including the famous 'Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen' ("Hell's vengeance boils in my heart"), a virtuoso aria for coloratura soprano sung by the Queen of the Night. Among the soloists are Goran Jurić, Antonio Poli, Ekaterina Sadovnikova, Alex Esposito, Olga Pudova, and Caterina di Tonno. This performance was recorded at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy, in 2015.

Every year, the Berliner Philharmoniker commemorate their founding in 1883 with the Europa Konzert at a venue of cultural importance in a different European city. This year, the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of internationally acclaimed conductor Gustavo Dudamel welcomes one of the world's leading young cellists, Gautier Capuçon. On the program are Johannes Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Haydn in B flat Major, Op. 56a; Joseph Haydn: Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in C Major Hob. VIIb: 1 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67. Filmed at the Spanische Hofreitschule, (Spanish Riding School), in Vienna, Austria.

Léon Spierer conducts the Orquesta Sinfonica de Minería during the Concerto de San Silvestre. Soloist is soprano Jéssika Arévalo. The second and last part of this anniversary concert, shown in this program, opens with the Adagio from Joseph Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony No. 45 (Hob I:45) and concludes with Antonin Dvořák's Symphony No. 8, Op. 88. The symphony was completed in 1889 and saw its premiere the following year. In contrast to Dvořák's other works from this period, the music is cheerful and optimistic.

Leonard Bernstein, David Bowie, Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, they have all once narrated the world-famous symphonic fairy tale 'Peter and the Wolf' (1936), composed by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). In this work, every character is illustrated by a different instrument (or section), with its own musical theme. Peter, for example, is represented by the strings, his grumpy grandfather by the bassoon, the cat by the clarinet, and the bird by the flute. As the narrative progresses and the characters interact with each other, the musical themes beautifully entwine. This performance (2018) is narrated and conducted by Marin Alsop. The musical accompaniment is provided by the Britten-Pears Orchestra.

Les Dissonances is a collective of artists founded by violinist David Grimal in 2004. The conductorless ensemble consists of musicians from the most prestigious European orchestras, international soloists, and young talents. In this performance, Les Dissonances play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218. Leading violinist Grimal features as the soloist. With the exception of the first violin concerto, Mozart composed his other four violin concertos in 1775 at a time when he was concertmaster at the Salzburg court. Among his five concertos, Violin Concerto No. 4 is one of the best-known. This performance was recorded at Cité de la Musique, France, in 2014.

During the years when Bach was in the service of the courts of Prince Leopold in Köthen, he had his own orchestra and was contracted to compose a great deal of instrumental music. This gave him an opportunity to try new techniques and to develop his own instrumental style. The six Brandenburg Concertos belongs to these masterpieces which he composed for a small ensemble . The joyously infectious performance of these masterpieces by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra demonstrates both the pleasure and the highest professional standard that can be reached with period instruments. Their decision to perform without a conductor is therefore quite deliberate, reviving a tradition practised right back in the 18th century.

House of Dreams is an imaginative concert designed by Alison Mackay. The concert is a magical journey to the meeting places of baroque art and music - five European homes where exquisite works by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell and Marais were played against a backdrop of paintings by Vermeer, Canaletto, and Watteau. Stage direction by Marshall Pynkoski and narrated by Blair Williams. The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, also known simply as Tafelmusik, is a Toronto-based Canadian baroque orchestra, specialised in early music. The orchestra was founded in 1979 and has 19 full-time members who specialize in historical performance and technique, with additional musicians joining the ensemble when required. The ensemble is directed by violinist Jeanne Lamon.

Soprano Dania El Zein (France, 1990) performs ‘Arrière!’ from Maurice Ravel’s opera L’enfant et les sortilèges; ‘Appena mi vedon’ from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera buffa La finta giardiniera (The Pretend Garden-Girl); and ‘Valse tyrolienne’ from Jacques Offenbach’s opérette Un mari à la porte, during the first round of the Voice Edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2022 (CMIM). This performance was recorded at the Bourgie Hall of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Mikhail Pletnev leads the Russian National Orchestra in a performance of Maurice Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2. The Suite No. 2 encompasses the third and final act of the ballet ‘Daphnis et Chloé’, which Ravel completed in 1912. The Suite consists of the sections ‘Lever du jour’, ‘Pantomime’, and ‘Danse générale’. This performance was recorded at Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia, in 2018.

Soprano Ana Carolina Coutinho (Brazil, 1993) and pianist Megumi Kuroda (Japan, 1989) perform Franz Schubert’s Die Blumensprache, D. 519; ‘Sonnenuntergang’ from Viktor Ullmann’s Drei Hölderlin-Lieder; ‘Verschwiegene Liebe’ from Hugo Wolf’s Eichendorff-Lieder; ‘Il vole’ and ‘Fleurs’ from Francis Poulenc’s Fiançailles pour rire, FP 101; ‘Wasserrose’ from Richard Strauss’s Mädchenblumen, Op. 22; Kōsaku Yamada’s 風に乗せてうたへる春の歌八章; たたえよ、しらべよ、歌いつれよ;and Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold, 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.

On Saturday, August 27, 2016, OVG and Sinfonia Rotterdam presented a new Veerhavenconcert under the direction of Conrad van Alphen. As part of this annual event presented in the port of Rotterdam, the musicians perform on a floating stage, and audiences watch the show on the dock and on boats. This fantastic concert features soloists Maria Warenberg (mezzo-soprano) and Melle de Vries (cello), who perform works by Mendelssohn, Mozart, Haydn, Rossini, Beethoven, and Fauré.

Critics praise her, and the audience loves her. Kristine Opolais, the prima donna and the star of the New York Metropolitan Opera, performs in her home country Latvia.  She gives a splendid concert with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, at the Latvian National Opera, in 2017. The program includes arias from operas that made Kristine an international star. It includes mostly Italian music that will encourage you to dream about love and think about what is truly important. Enjoy the most beautiful arias and instrumental pieces of opera by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, Camille Saint-Saëns, Arrigo Boito, and Alfredo Catalani.

At St. Bartholomew Church in Dornheim, Germany, where composer Johann Sebastian Bach married his first wife Maria Barbara, renowned Dutch cellist Anner Bijlsma performs the composer's Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011. It is likely Bach wrote his collection of six Suites for unaccompanied cello during the years 1717-1723. His cello suites are an essential part of the cello repertoire, highlighting the instrument's manifold polyphonic possibilities. As customary in a Baroque suite, each movement is based on a dance type. Bach's Suite No. 5 opens with a prelude, and is followed by six dance movements, divided over five sections: an allemande, a courante, a sarabande, two gavottes, and a final gigue.

From August 28 to September 6, 2015, the Early Music Festival Utrecht focused on England, my England. On the basis of the festival theme, presenter Lex Bohlmeijer takes the viewer in a two-part documentary on an intriguing journey through England of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque, and relates this to the city of Utrecht. Episode 1 offers a peek into the inner city churches of Utrecht, visiting the source of inspiration if this year's festival: the English estate Boughton House, where the Duke of Buccleuch shows us around.

Les Dissonances is a collective of artists founded by violinist David Grimal in 2004. The conductorless ensemble consists of musicians from the most prestigious European orchestras, international soloists, and young talents. In this performance, Les Dissonances’ string quartet – consisting of David Grimal (violin), Hans Peter Hofmann (violin), David Gaillard (viola), and Xavier Phillips (cello) – performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K. 465, ‘Dissonance’ (Op. 10 No. 6). The String Quartet is the last in the set of six quartets that were dedicated to Joseph Haydn. Written between 1782 and 1785, these are also known as the Haydn Quartets (Op. 10). String Quartet No. 19 is remarkable for its slow, dissonant introduction, giving the piece its nickname. This ominous passage suddenly gives way to the bright Allegro in C major. This performance was recorded at Opéra Comique in Paris, France, in 2015.

Every year in late August, the renowned Early Music Festival takes place in the Dutch city of Utrecht. It is the world's largest festival focused on early music, attracting an audience of over 70 thousand visitors. Due to the corona pandemic, the 2020 edition of the festival took place in an alternative form, offering an alternative program that included live concerts as well as daily livestreams of concerts and archive recordings. As part of this festival edition, Lucie Horsch (recorder) and Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya (harpsichord) perform several suites and sonatas. On the program are Charles François Dieupart’s Suite V in F, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonata, BWV 1035, a selection of preludes from Jacques Hotteterre’s L’art de Préluder, François Couperin’s Concert Royal IV, and Joseph Bodin de Boismortier’s Sonata in e, Op. 91 nr. 4. This concert was recorded at St. Gertrude's Chapel in Utrecht on August 31, 2020.

‘Iolanta’ and ‘Perséphone’ – A double bill consisting of two stage works that “represent an ideal of beauty, poetry and hope” forms this new production by Peter Sellars in Madrid from the Teatro Real from 2012. In both works, the progression from darkness to light acts as an initiation rite that completely transforms the existential attitude of the leading characters. This broadcast features ‘Iolanta’, a mature composition by Tchaikovsky, which was premiered in 1892. It contains all aspects of the composer’s mastery: beautiful melodies, clear structure, and genuine passion in its many varieties. The Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real are conducted by Teodor Currentzis. The soloists in this production are Ekaterina Scherbachenko (Iolanta), Alexej Markov (Robert), Pavel Cernoch (Vaudémont), Dmitry Ulianov (King René), Willard White (Ibn-Hakia), Vasily Efimov (Alméric), Pavel Kudinov (Bertrand), Ekaterina Semenchuk (Marta), Irina Churilova (Brigita) and Letitia Singleton (Irina Churilova).

Rodolfo Barráez conducts the Orchestra and Choir of the Academia de Musica del Palacia de Mineria in a performance of Carl Orff's cantata Carmina Burana. Soloists are Anabel de la Mora (soprano), Andrés Carrillo (tenor) and Daniel Cerón (baritone). Carmina Burana, composed in 1935 and 1936, is based on 24 poems from a medieval manuscript of the same name. The full title is "Songs from Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magical images". It was first performed at the Oper Frankfurt on June 8, 1937.

Intercultural chamber music ensemble AU Ensemble performs Canadian contemporary composer Rita Ueda’s ‘…and even if the sky fades into the dark…’ (2022). This piece for string quartet and Chinese traditional instrument of choice is here performed by Geling Jiang on the liuqin, a string instrument from the lute family. This performance was recorded at the Deep Cove Shaw Theatre in North Vancouver, Canada, on March 23, 2022.

El Sistema is a network of children’s and youth orchestras, music centres and workshops in Venezuela, in which more than 250,000 children and young people are currently learning to play an instrument. It was set up over thirty years ago by José Antonio Abreu, who was driven by a utopian vision of a better future. El Sistema’s story, which has all the makings of a fairy tale, is the extraordinary account of a vision that has become reality. Several of El Sistema’s young graduates now rank amongst the most coveted young talent in Europe – the most prominent being the conductor Gustavo Dudamel. The documentary ‘El Sistema’ shows how Abreu’s astonishing ideas have led the way out of the vicious circle of poverty and how the power of music has been able to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people. The film shows the gripping way El Sistema functions on a daily basis in a typical nucléo: the La Rinconada nucléo is located next to the barrio of the same name. The area around the nucléo is considered one of the poorest and most dangerous areas in Caracas. Up to 300 children find their daily destination here.

Quarteto Radamés Gnattali performs Heitor Villa-Lobos's String Quartet No. 2 at the Palácio do Catete in Rio de Janiero, Brasil. The ensemble was founded in 2006 and consists of Carla Rincón and Francisco Roa (violins), Fernando Thebaldi (viola), and Hugo Pilger (cello). The quartet, which specializes in Brazilian music, focuses on educational activities. Their recording of all of Villa-Lobos string quartets is a major achievement and was very well received by international music critics. Except for his Bachianas brasileiras, the performance of many of the Brazilian's compositions is limited to Latin America. Highly regarded as a composer, conductor and educator in his native country, Villa-Lobos has operas, symphonies, concertos, piano repertoire, choral music, and seventeen string quartets to his credit.