Schedule

Paul McCreesh conducts the Orquesta Gulbenkian and Coro Infantil da Academia de Música de Sana Cecília in a performance of Benjamin Britten’s (1913-1976) War Requiem, Op. 66. Soloists are Tatiana Pavlovskaya (soprano), John Mark Ainsley (tenor) and Hanno Müller-Brachmann (bass). Recorded at the Grande Auditorio Gulbenkian in Lisbon in 2014 and directed by Yan Proefrock. The War Requiem was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral in 1962. Traditional Latin texts are interspersed with extra-liturgical poems by Wilfred Owen. Britten scored the requiem for soprano, tenor and baritone, a chorus and boys' choir, organ and an orchestra and chamber orchestra. The chamber orchestra accompanies the settings of English poetry, while the voices and orchestra are used for the Latin sections.

Antoni Wit conducts the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra in performance of Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 21. Evgeny Kissin features as the soloist. This concert was part of the celebration of Chopin's 200th anniversary in 2010. Chopin composed the second concerto one year before the Concerto No. 1 and completed both works at the age of 20, before leaving his home country Poland and moving to Paris.

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 presents Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 12. Written in 1837, the work is a set of eight piano pieces with contrasting moods. The work’s title is derived from one of the composer’s favourite authors’ collection of novellas: E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Fantasiestücke in Callots Manier. Like Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, his Fantasiestücke are designed as a musical dialogue between Florestan and Eusebius, representing the duality of his own personality. The former represents the composer’s passionate side, and the latter depicts the dreamer in Schumann. 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.

“The Unanswered Ives” is the first documentary about American modernist composer Charles Ives (1874-1954). Ives was among the first generation of American composers that achieved international acclaim. Born in 1874, in Danbury, Connecticut, Ives took music lessons at a young age, becoming a church organist at the age of 14. Following his graduation from the music department at Yale University, the young composer decided to pursue a career outside of the arts. He started working in insurance, co-founding an innovative and highly successful insurance company. It was in his spare time that Ives composed his ambitious music, in which he experimented with advanced features including polytonality, twelve-tone technique, and quarter tones. The documentary film “The Unanswered Ives” (2018) sheds light on Ives’s life and work in all its facets, exploring his aural world by showing music performances in churches, concert halls, open-air venues, and a circus tent. Using interviews with relatives, insurance brokers, musicologists, and musicians, documentary filmmaker Anne-Kathrin Peitz explores the question “who was Charles Ives?"

This chamber music concert is part of the ‘Solistas del Siglo XXI’ concert series of the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid. First, Quinteto Zéphyros performs Leoš Janáček’s Mládí (‘Youth’) for wind sextet. This is followed by French flautist Paul Taffanel’s Wind Quintet in G minor, performed by Quinteto Scarlatti de Casa de la Moneda. The program closes with Sergei Prokofiev’s Quintet in G minor, Op. 39, played by Quinteto Cosan. This performance was recorded at Auditorio Sony of the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, Spain, on May 11, 2024.

American conductor Jonathon Heyward makes his debut with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) with this performance of Antonín Dvořák’s beloved Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, "From the New World". Composed during Dvořák’s stay in the United States, the work blends Bohemian warmth with the rhythms and spirit of American musical traditions. A deeply expressive and melodic masterpiece, it remains one of the most popular symphonies of all time. This performance was recorded at LSO St. Luke’s on Old Street in London, UK, on September 30, 2020.

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. Schumann composed his Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 14 (a "Concerto for piano without orchestra", in the words of music publisher Tobias Haslinger) in 1836. He dedicated it to piano virtuoso Ignaz Moscheles. In 1853, Schumann revised the work and added a Scherzo as a second movement. The final movement is reminiscent of Schumann’s earlier composition Kreisleriana, Op. 16. 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.

Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks performs Frederic Chopin's Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61. Recorded at the Nicols Concert Hall, Evanston, IL, USA. Faliks has established herself as one of the most communicative, and poetic artists of her generation. The Polonaise-Fantaise was dedicated to Mme A. Veyret, composed and published in 1846

Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan and the Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris recorded all of Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies in 2014-2015. In this program, Jordan conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93. Beethoven wrote the work in 1812 upon completion of his Symphony No. 7. The composer conducted the February 27, 1814 première at a concert in Vienna that also included a reprise performance of his Symphony No. 7 and his 15-minute orchestral piece Wellington’s Victory, Op. 91. The shortest of Beethoven’s nine symphonies, Symphony No. 8 lacks a truly slow movement. Instead it has a second movement, Allegretto scherzando, that features a steady ‘ticking’ rhythm maintained by the woodwinds throughout the movement. This is thought to be an imitation of the Andante movement of Joseph Haydn’s ‘Clock’ Symphony. Jordan’s performance was recorded at Opéra Bastille in Paris, France, in 2015.

Director Carlus Padrissa created an astonishing avant-garde production of Joseph Haydn’s oratorio The Creation (Die Schöpfung), Hob. XXI:2 with internationally acclaimed Catalan theatre group La Fura dels Baus. This multimedia production presents the viewer with a continuous stream of imagery, text and spectacle, transforming the composer’s masterpiece into an immersive theatrical experience. The show utilizes huge helium-filled balloons, a stage crane, and singers submerged in an aquarium. In this performance, French conductor Laurence Equilbey leads her own insula orchestra and choir accentus. Vocal soloists are soprano Mari Eriksmoen, baritone Daniel Schmutzhard, and tenor Martin Mitterrutzner. This performance was recorded at La Seine Musicale in Paris, France, on May 12, 2017.

J. S. Bach’s six Brandenburg Concerto’s belong to his best-known works. The composer wrote these concertos between 1711 and 1720 and dedicated them in 1721 to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg. In celebration of the pieces’ 300th anniversary, Czech harpsichordist and conductor Václav Luks and the renowned Baroque ensemble Collegium 1704 recorded all six Brandenburg Concertos on historical instruments in 2021. The concertos are based on the Italian concerto grosso form, in which a group of solo instruments is set against a large ensemble. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos feature remarkable combinations of solo instruments and virtuoso solos. This performance was recorded at the Hall of Mirrors in the Köthen Castle, Germany.

The documentary “The Three Lives of Clara Schumann” traces the fascinating life story of German pianist and composer Clara Schumann. Born Clara Wieck in Leipzig in 1819, she was an exceptionally talented pianist, with an impressive international music career. She first met Robert Schumann, whom she married in 1840 and eventually had eight children with, in 1828. Basing itself on her letters and diaries, her compositions, and on accounts from musicians who have intensively studied her music, this 2019 documentary offers a multi-angled perspective on Clara Schumann. It records the various places where she lived, and the cities she visited as a pianist. This thought-provoking film was directed by Andreas Morell and Magdalena Zieba-Schwind.

Iván Fischer leads his Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO) in a concert program dedicated to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven. The program opens with the composer’s Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21. Afterward, Fischer conducts Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, in which Richard Goode features as the soloist. The acclaimed American pianist (1943) is known for his interpretations of the Beethoven repertoire. Goode recorded all five Beethoven piano concertos with the BFO and Fischer, earning him exceptional critical acclaim and a Grammy Award nomination. As an encore, Goode performs the Sarabande from J. S. Bach’s Partita in B-flat major, BWV 825. The program closes with Beethoven’s famous Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67. This performance was recorded at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary, on January 29, 2017.

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.

Mahler's Symphony No. 8, also known as the "Symphony of a Thousand," is a monumental choral epic composed in 1906 that requires an enormous ensemble of soloists, choruses, and a massive orchestra to perform its vast musical tapestry. The work is a unique and grandiose tribute to love and the spiritual salvation of mankind, drawing from two distinct textual sources to create its sublime effect. Audiences most value its overwhelming, ecstatic emotional power and the sheer spectacle of the grand performing forces.

Luca Vignali (oboe), Angelo De Angelis (clarinet), Carmine Pinto (horn), Eliseo Smordoni (bassoon), and Linda Di Carlo (piano) perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Quintet for piano and winds in E-flat major, Op. 16. The piece, completed in 1796, is assumed to have been modelled on Mozart’s Quintet for piano and winds, K. 452. Both quintets are scored for the same unusual instrument combination, are in the same key, and feature the same three-movement structure. A marked difference is that Beethoven, as a piano virtuoso, wrote the piano parts to highlight the strengths of his playing. Besides, the composer regularly places this instrument in the center of attention. Beethoven published the work in 1801 in two versions: as a quintet for piano and winds, and as a quartet for piano and strings (also designated Op. 16). This performance was recorded at Perugia’s Auditorium Santa Cecilia, Italy, on June 23, 2022.

American conductor Michael Tilson Thomas leads the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) in an energetic performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's folk-infused Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17. Written in 1872, the work is nicknamed 'Little Russian' as the composer used several folk tunes from Ukraine, then known as ‘Little Russia’. This performance was recorded at LSO St Luke's, London, on May 31, 2021.

In this splendid concert, exceptional Russian pianists Nikolay Lugansky and Vadim Rudenko join forces in a program for two pianos comprising works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Maurice Ravel, Anton Arensky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Nikolai Kapustin. Both pianists, laureates of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1994, have received international recognition. They perform regularly in a duo. On the program: Mozart’s Sonata for two pianos in D major, K. 448/375 A; Ravel’s La Valse (arr. for two pianos); Arensky’s Suite No. 1 for two pianos, Op. 15; and Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 1 (Fantasy) for two pianos, Op. 5. As an encore, the duo performs ‘Romance’ from Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 2 for two pianos, Op. 17, followed by ‘Overture’ from Nikolai Kapustin’s Sinfonietta, Op. 49. This performance was recorded at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia, on November 25, 2021.