00:00
Shostakovich - 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87
English-French pianist David Levy performs Dmitri Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87. The work is a set of twenty-four pieces for piano, one in each of the major and minor keys of the chromatic scale. Each piece is in two parts: a prelude followed by a fugue. The composer was doubtlessly inspired by J. S. Bach’s famous The Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846-893), a collection of forty-eight preludes and fugues published in two books. A panel member at Leipzig’s Bach competition, Shostakovich was deeply inspired by Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva’s performance of Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues. Shostakovich wrote these pieces between the autumn of 1950 and February 1951, dedicating them to Nikolayeva, who agreed to perform the Leningrad premiere in December 1952. David Levy’s performance was recorded at the Budapest Music Center, Hungary, in September 2023.
02:01
Baroque choral music by Bach, Schütz et al.
Five-strong vocal ensemble amarcord is joined by an extra alto and two soprano voices for this unusual concert at Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church. As amarcordplus, the ensemble presents a program focused on the city of Leipzig, which includes sacred madrigals by Johann Hermann Schein, motets from Heinrich Schütz’s collection Geistliche Chor-Music, as well as two motets by the most famous Thomaskantor: Johann Sebastian Bach. Moreover, various sacred works by lesser-known contemporaries Philipp Heinrich Erlebach and mononymous composer Liebhold are performed, in addition to compositions by other members of the Bach family, including Johann Michael Bach and Johann Christoph Bach. This performance was recorded on May 1, 2020.
03:16
In Rehearsal: Zubin Mehta
Indian conductor Zubin Mehta (1936) became Music Director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) in 1977 and was appointed Music Director for Life in 1981. On July 18, 1996, Mehta led the IPO in its first-ever performance of Richard Strauss’s tone poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28. Renowned as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of the great symphonic repertoire—especially the Romantic works of Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss—Mehta had conducted this popular masterpiece many times before. However, this was the first occasion he rehearsed it from the very beginning with the orchestra. This episode of ‘In Rehearsal’ offers an intimate look at the dialogue between Mehta and the musicians as they explore Strauss’s tone poem together.
04:11
Preludes - Danze al pianoforte
In multidisciplinary project ‘Preludes - Danze al pianoforte’, dance and music come together in a wonderful and sophisticated show. Recognized Italian choreographer Massimo Moricone choreographed some of the most beautiful piano pieces by Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy, J. S. Bach, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, played by Italian pianist Costanza Principe. The protagonists are three Italy’s finest dancers: Anbeta Toromani, Alessandro Macario, and Amilcar Moret Gonzales. This performance was recorded at Teatro Romano di Verona, Italy, on July 25, 2023.
05:11
Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 23, KV 488
Regarded as one of the finest interpreters of Romantic repertoire, Francesco Attesti (*1975) gave his first recital at age 11 and by the time he was 23, had earned the highest honours in piano from Florence’s Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini. In this recording of his 2016 Deeply Mozart concert tour, Attesti performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piano concertos KV 449 and KV 488 with the Italian OIDA Orchestra and conductor Paolo Belloli.
05:52
Schumann - Piano Quintet, Op. 44 - III.
For this exceptional recital, recorded in 2019 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Camille (cello) and Julie Berthollet (violin) are accompanied by pianist Guillaume Vincent and the Ensemble Appassionato under the direction of Mathieu Herzog. The two musical sisters have chosen a repertoire which crosses genres and eras to explore the expressive palette of the violin and cello, from the baroque of Vivaldi to the jazzy notes of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grapelli. Among the works on the program are Brahms Hungarian Dances No. 5 and No. 6, Karl Jenkins' Palladio, 'Theme from Forrest Gump' by Alan Silvestri, Schumann's Piano Quintet, Op. 44, The Red Violin by Corigliano, Hungarian Rhapsody, op. 68 by Popper, Minor Swing by Reinhardt/Grappeli and Csárdás by Monti.
06:00
Arvo Pärt - Kanon Pokajanen
Arvo Pärt based his ‘Kanon Pokajanen’ (from ‘Canon of Repentance to Our Lord Jesus Christ’, 1995-97) on the canon of repentance as handed down in the earliest Slavic-Christian manuscripts, dating back to the sixth century after Christ. The canon symbolizes the change, the transformation from day to night, the Old and New Testament, prophecy and the fulfillment, the here and now and the hereafter. This deals with the human and the divine, weakness and strength, suffering and redemption, mortality and immortality. In this broadcast, ‘Kanon Pokajanen’ is performed by the chamber choir Aquarius. This Flemish chamber choir is a trailblazer where new music and new concert formats are concerned. ‘Kanon Pokajanen’ is a great example of this: the singers are positioned in a circle in the center of a church. This dark church is only lit by candles and the music stand lights. After the choir has entered in procession, they sing for close to two hours. Performed by the Aquarius Choir led by Michael de Smet in 2008.
07:43
Beethoven - String Quartet No. 7 & 13, and Op. 133
Renowned French string quartet Quatuor Ébène marked the 250th birth anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) with a remarkable project: recording all of the great composer’s sixteen string quartets. For five years, violinists Pierre Colombet and Gabriel Le Magadure, violist Marie Chilemme, and cellist Raphaël Merlin immersed themselves in Beethoven’s 650 pages of sheet music. Their efforts culminated in the performance of the composer’s complete repertoire for string quartet, which covers three decades of Beethoven's musical creativity, during six impressive concerts at Philharmonie de Paris in the autumn of 2020. Quatuor Ébène explored every facet of Beethoven's string quartet repertoire: from the youthful Opus 18 string quartets to the Razumovsky, Harp, and Serioso quartets (Opus 59, 74, and 95) from his middle period, and finally, the depth of his late quartets (Opus 127 to 135). This program features Quatuor Ébène performing Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59, No. 1, known as “Razumovsky”; String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130; and the monumental Great Fugue, Op. 133. This concert performance was recorded at Philharmonie de Paris on October 12, 2020.
09:23
Beethoven - Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60
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. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60. Count Franz von Oppersdorff adored Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 and offered the composer a large sum to write a similar work. Beethoven obliged and completed his Symphony No. 4 in the autumn of 1806. Its first performance was at a private concert in Vienna in March 1807. With its lightweight and sunny character, Symphony No. 4 pales in comparison with its revolutionary predecessor and successor. Jordan’s concert was recorded at Opéra Bastille in Paris, France, in 2014.
10:00
Patmos – A musical documentary
Every summer, the Greek island of Patmos hosts the Patmos Musical Festival, a unique musical event comprising both a Chamber and a Sacred Music Festival. This documentary captures the 2024 edition, featuring performances by distinguished soloists and ensembles from around the world. The lineup includes the festival’s artistic director and pianist Roberto Prosseda, Steven Isserlis, Irène Duval, Michael Guttman and the Brussels Chamber Orchestra, and Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars. In interviews, several artists share their experiences of this intimate festival and the unique atmosphere of the island. The documentary was produced by the Patmos Music Festival Association and directed by Alberto Girotto.
11:00
Baroque works by Bach, Muffat and Rameau
Paul Goodwin conducts the Conjunto Barroco of the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid in a Baroque music program featuring works by Georg Muffat, J. S. Bach, and Jean-Philippe Rameau. On the program are Muffat’s Sonata No. 5 in G major, 'Armonico tributo'; Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D major, BWV 1069; and Rameau’s Suite from the opera ‘Les Boréades’. This performance was recorded at Auditorio Sony of the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, Spain, on February 8, 2024.
12:24
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13
Conrad van Alphen leads Sinfonia Rotterdam in a performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13, ‘Winter Daydreams’, recorded at De Doelen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in September 2022. Having completed a number of shorter orchestral works, Tchaikovsky embarked on a more ambitious project in March 1866: to write his first symphony. In the summer of that year, the young composer showed his still-unfinished score to his former teachers Anton Rubinstein and Nikolai Zaremba, whose harsh criticism thoroughly disillusioned him. With significant changes, the entire symphony was first performed in 1868, but Tchaikovsky further revised the work in 1874. Not only did the composer subtitle his symphony ‘Winter Daydreams’, he used descriptive titles for the first two of the four movements as well: ‘Dreams of a Winter Journey’ and ‘Land of Desolation, Land of Mists’.
