Schedule

Riccardo Frizza leads the Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic opera Rigoletto (1851). In 1850, Teatro La Fenice commissioned Verdi to compose a new opera. Verdi proposed Victor Hugo’s controversial play Le Roi s'amuse to his librettist Francesco Maria Piave. This play, which premiered in 1832 but was banned after only one performance, portrayed the monarchy in its worst vices. However, Verdi was determined to adapt the play to opera and reached a compromise with the censor. The opera revolves around Rigoletto, a hunchbacked jester at the court of the licentious Duke of Mantua. Rigoletto’s life is turned upside down when his latest wisecrack starts a vendetta that is far from amusing, leaving him cursed. In this 2021 production, Italian director Davide Livermore follows the story as we know it, but places it in a contemporary setting. Among the soloists are Javier Camarena (Duke of Mantua), Luca Salsi (Rigoletto), Enkeleda Kamani (Gilda), Alessio Cacciamani (Sparafucile), Caterina Piva (Maddalena), and Valentina Corò (Giovanna). This performance was recorded at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, in 2021.

Europakonzert 2004 was held in Athens, Greece. This concert featured the Berliner Philharmoniker performing live at the ancient Herodes Atticus Theatre along with an interesting combination of conductor and soloist - Sir Simon Rattle wielding the baton as pianist Daniel Barenboim plays Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 and Arnold Schoenberg's arrangement of Brahms' Piano Quartet No 1. The Athens concert marked a double première: it was the first Europakonzert under the direction of the new chief conductor, as well as the first time Rattle and Barenboim appeared together. The Odeon of Herodes Atticus, an amphitheatre built in 161 AD in memory of Herodes Atticus’ wife, is situated on the slope of the Acropolis. With a seating capacity of at least 5,000 spectators, it was reputed to be the finest theatre in all of Greece.

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.

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. This program features Quatuor Ébène performing Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 18, No. 2. This concert was recorded at Philharmonie de Paris on December 16, 2020.

Juan Manuel Cañizares is the soloist in a performance of Joaquín Rodrigo's (1901-1999) Concierto de Aranjuez. He is accompanied by the Berliner Philharmoniker led by maestro Sir Simon Rattle.

Soprano Heidi Baumgartner (Austria, 1998) and pianist Asuka Tagami (Japan, 1991) perform Franz Schubert’s Suleika I, Op. 14 No. 1, D. 720; ‘Er ist’s’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder; Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold; ‘Sua katselen’ (Looking at you) from Kaija Saariaho’s Leino-Laulut (Leino songs); and ‘Pantomime’ and ‘Apparition’ from Claude Debussy’s Quatre chansons de jeunesse, 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.

Set in the magnificent Cistercian Monastery Schulpforte near Naumburg, Germany, Sounds like Christmas combines festive music with the spontaneity and freshness of jazz. This Christmas program is the musical encounter between soprano Angelika Kirchschlager and jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stańko. Interpreting popular and lesser-known Christmas songs, the soloists are accompanied by the outstanding Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Leipzig a cappella ensemble Amarcord, consisting of former members of St. Thomas Boys Choir. The artists' different backgrounds and stylistic preferences create a suspenseful, varied musical experience. The origins of the monastery date back to the Benedictine convent founded in Schmölln in 1127. Concert footage is juxtaposed with snowy mountain landscapes and cities decorated for Christmas.

For this truly unique, historic occasion, Welsh composer Sir Karl Jenkins conducts The World Orchestra for Peace and around 2,000 singers from nearly 30 countries to Sing for Peace at the Berlin's Mercedes Benz Arena on November 2, 2018. Soloists are vocalists Leah-Marian Jones, Yumeji Matsufuji, Pauline Rathmann, Amir Aziz, violinist Krzysztof Wisniewski and cellist Valentino Worlitzsch. The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace is the most performed work by any living composer. This performance is the largest ever staged, and was uniquely performed in synchronization with a specially commissioned war-archive film that reinforces the narrative of the work – the build up to war, war itself, and the consequences of war. Projected on to five giant screens, the film delivers a poignant backdrop to the moving musical narration providing the audience with a powerful and emotional multimedia experience.

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 present Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, ‘Eroica’. Admiring the ideals of the French Revolution, Beethoven initially dedicated the symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte. However, upon hearing that Napoleon had crowned himself Emperor, Beethoven violently erased Napoleon’s name from the manuscript. Composed in 1803-04 in a style that breaks with tradition, the symphony is regarded as a turning point in Beethoven’s oeuvre as well as Western music history. Symphony No. 3 is longer in duration than any previous symphony. The work opens with two powerful chords that replace the more customary long introduction. The lower strings then introduce the main theme. The slow second movement is a Funeral March, followed by a quick Scherzo. The fourth and final movement is dominated by a theme from Beethoven’s ballet music for ‘The Creatures of Prometheus’. This performance was recorded at Opéra de Dijon, France, in 2012.

Pianist Derek Wang (USA, 1998) performs Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23, during the final round of the Piano Edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2024 (CMIM). Wang is accompanied by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under the baton of Xian Zhang. This performance was recorded at Maison symphonique de Montréal.

On the occasion of her 80th birthday, Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich explored repertoire for piano and violin in this wonderful concert, recorded at Château de Chantilly, France. The ‘Grande Dame’ of the piano is joined by various renowned artists, including pianists Evgeny Kissin, Theodosia Ntokou, and Cristina Marton-Argerich, and violinist Maxim Vengerov. On the program are Dmitri Shostakovich’s Concertino for two pianos, Op. 94; Frédéric Chopin’s Impromptu No. 3, Op. 51, Polonaise No. 6, Op. 53 “Heroic”, and Waltz No. 6, Op. 64 No. 1; Camille Saint-Saëns’s Polonaise for two pianos, Op. 77; César Franck’s Sonata for violin and piano in A major; and Fritz Kreisler’s Liebesleid and Schön Rosmarin. This performance was recorded on June 12, 2021.

"It would be hard to find anything greater, more significant or more moving anywhere in musical life today: total harmony of mind and heart, poetry and outcry, fear and consolation, knowing and feeling," declared the Berne paper Der Bund after this stunning performance of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in August 2003 by the newly founded Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Claudio Abbado had formed this ensemble from famous instrumentalists, celebrated chamber-musicians and experienced soloists from the world's best orchestras, and the event was sold out months in advance. In this performance, the magnificent soloists Eteri Gvazava (soprano) and Anna Larsson (mezzo-soprano) are accompanied by Orfeón Donostiarra choir.

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. This program features Quatuor Ébène performing Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132. This concert performance was recorded at Philharmonie de Paris on November 24, 2020.

On May 1, 1882, fifty members of the former Bilse Kapelle refused to sign their new contracts and formed their own democratically-governed ensemble. Today still, the present-day Berlin Philharmonic continues to elect its new members and principal conductors. Isabel Iturriagagotia and Paul Smaczny accompanied the Berlin Philharmonic after chief conductor Claudio Abbado announced in February 1998 that he would not be renewing his contract after 2002. Maestros in Democracy, the most extensive documentary ever produced about the Berlin Philharmonic, shows the new candidates for Abbado's position in rehearsal with the orchestra, revealing the various working practices of Lorin Maazel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle and Zubin Mehta. Later in the film, after several nail-biting rounds of voting, full of expectation and excitement, the orchestra has to come to a decision...