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PG02:17:002015HD

After its initial rejection, Verdi’s unique opera La Traviata became one of the most acclaimed works of this composer. This love story brought the tragedy of Violetta Valéry and Alfredo to light. The rich courtesan has everything she wishes for, including money, friends, and lovers, but when she falls in love with the young Alfredo, she gets in trouble. Giorgio Germont, Alfredo’s father, disapproves the relationship and tells Violetto that she should leave Alfredo forever. This story brought Verdi legendary status through music with a profound sense of humanity and psychological portrayal of the characters and their feelings. Stage director David McVicar sets this drama in a world of romantic references while retaining an up-to-date perspective. The performance features Ermonela Jaho (Violetta Valéry), Francesco Demuro (Alfredo Germont) and Juan Jesús Rodriguez (Georgio Germont). The orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Real Madrid play under the baton of Renato Palumbo.

G01:24:002007HD

The Venezuelan Brass Ensemble – a highly-acclaimed group with nearly 50 brass and percussion players drawn from the extraordinary Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. The repertoire of the Venezuelan Brass Ensemble is a regular firework display of ambitious pieces for massed brass - impressively varied and testifies to the high standard of this young ensemble. The Ensemble is both a miracle and an inspiration to all. With their blend of classical and South American repertoire these some 50 young brass and percussion players not only have audiences on their feet but with a scintillating display of brass music demonstrate a virtuosity and a passion that is nothing short of awesome.

G00:35:002013HD

American conductor Leonard Slatkin leads the Orchestre National de Lyon in a concert recorded at the Auditorium de Lyon in 2014. The concert opens with William Bolcom´s Circus Ouverture, which was specially composed for Slatkin's 70th birthday. The concert continues with a performance of Beethoven's Triple Concerto in C, Op. 56 performed by three female soloists: Olga Kern (piano), Baibe Skride (violin) and Sol Gabetta (cello). The work is the only concerto which Beethoven ever completed for more than one solo instrument. The concert closes with Ravel's beloved orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

G00:11:002024HD

Italian cellist Silvia Chiesa and Italian pianist Maurizio Baglini perform Franz Liszt’s Two Elegies for cello and piano. This performance was recorded at Sala Verdi of the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, Italy, on November 4, 2024.

04:29
Smetana – Vltava (The Moldau) from Má vlast
G00:12:002016HD
Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the Berliner Philharmoniker in a wonderful performance of the symphonic poem Vltava (The Moldau) from Bedřich Smetana’s Má Vlast (My Country). This performance was part of the Waldbühne Concert 2016 in Berlin.

G01:17:002022HD

Tenor Jihoon Son (South Korea, 1990) performs ‘Pourquoi me réveiller?’ from Jules Massenet’s opera Werther; ‘Si, ritrovarla io giuro’ from Gioachino Rossini’s opera La Cenerentola (Cinderella); and ‘Che gelida manina’ from Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Bohème, during the semi-finals of the Aria division of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2022 (CMIM). He is accompanied by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jacques Lacombe. This performance was recorded at the Montreal Symphony House.

G00:28:001990HD

Vladimir Ashkenazy performs as a soloist and conductor in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12, K 414. He is accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hampton Court Palace, London.

G01:31:002017HD

Harpsichordist and organist Sébastien Daucé leads Ensemble Correspondances in this concert recorded as part of the Valletta International Baroque Festival of 2017 at the Co-Cathédrale de St-Jean de la Valette in Malta. The concert opens with a rendition of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s late-17th century composition Te Deum. The joyful and popular prelude of this piece is familiar to many as the Eurovision Anthem. Furthermore, the concert program is made up of motets by Henry du Mont (1610-1694), an organist and baroque composer of the French school, born in the Southern Netherlands. Among his musical heirs were Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) and François Couperin (1668-1733).

G00:43:002013HD

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 perform Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98. Brahms completed his last symphony in 1885. He conducted the successful premiere of the piece in the German city of Meiningen in October of the same year. The symphony’s finale movement is a chaconne, a variation form that reflects the composer’s fascination with Baroque music. In this movement, Brahms borrowed an 8-measure theme from J. S. Bach’s cantata ‘Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich’, BWV 150. The movement opens with the theme and then presents a set of variations all set over the same repeated theme in the bass. This performance was recorded at Opéra de Dijon, France, in 2014.

G00:45:002021HD

Andrei Iliushkin (Russia, 1995) performs Ferruccio Busoni’s transcription of J. S. Bach’s Chorale Prelude Ich ruf zu dir, Herr, BWV 639, Johannes Brahms’s Six pieces for piano, Op. 118, and Alexander Scriabin’s Sonata No. 3 in F-sharp minor, “States of the soul”, during the semi-finals of the 2021 Piano Edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM). This performance was recorded at Burgess Recital Hall of the Royal Academy of Music in London, United Kingdom.

G00:31:002006HD

Roberto Prosseda (1975) performs Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 5 (KV. 283) and four Impromptus Op. 90 by Franz Schubert. The performance ends with Chopin's technically demanding Ballade No. 4, Op. 52. Prosseda is particularly noted for his performances of newly discovered works by Mendelssohn and has recorded a nine-CD series for Decca of the piano works of Mendelssohn. Since 2012, Prosseda also gives lecture-concerts with the robot pianist TeoTronico, as educational or family concerts, to demonstrate differences between a literal production of music and human interpretation.

G00:49:002006HD

René Pape perfectly embodies the new generation of opera singers: with a current and relaxed appearance, he craves new challenges and demonstrates an openness to ambitious experimentation. In the musical film My Heart Is Burning, René Pape sings and plays various roles that showcase the impressive versatility of his voice and the many facets of his personality. Directed by Sibylle Muth.

G01:34:002021HD

Russian pianist Nikolay Lugansky has received world-wide praise for his interpretations of the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff. In this wonderful recital, the great pianist presents works by the Russian Romantic composer as well as Ludwig van Beethoven and Alexander Glazunov. Lugansky opens his concert with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2, ‘Moonlight’, followed by Alexander Glazunov’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in E minor, Op. 75. Then Lugansky performs a selection of works by Rachmaninoff: Rachmaninoff’s piano transcription of J. S. Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E major; a selection of Études-Tableaux (Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 8, Op, 33, and Nos. 5 and 6, Op. 39); Lilac (Op. 21, No. 5); Prelude in C minor, Op. 23 No. 7; and Rachmaninoff’s transcription of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Lullaby (Op. 16 No. 1). This performance was recorded at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia, on June 4, 2021.

G00:39:002020HD

In this concert at the Lucerne Festival, Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt leads the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36. This performance was recorded at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Center (KKL), Switzerland, in August 2020.

G00:12:002022HD

Italian pianist Andrea Molteni (1998) performs Frédéric Chopin’s Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49. Molteni began studying the piano at the age of six. He graduated with honors and honorable mention at the Conservatorio di musica Giuseppe Verdi di Como, and was awarded a master’s degree Magna cum Laude in Advanced Performance Studies by the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano. He has performed at the Wiener Saal of the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Scriabin Museum in Moscow, National Opera Center in New York, and several other international venues. This performance was recorded at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Ohio, USA, in 2022.

G00:15:002022HD

Mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny (Canada/Oman, 1998) performs ‘Parto, parto’ from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito; ‘Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft’ from Gustav Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder; and ‘Di tanti palpiti’ from Gioachino Rossini’s Tancredi, 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.

G00:31:001997HD

Europakonzert has been a tradition of the Berlin Philharmonic since 1991. Every year, the musicians commemorate the anniversary of the orchestra's founding (May 1st, 1882). and celebrate their heritage from the Old World. The Europakonzert of 1997 took place at the Royal Opera of Versailles. Featuring Daniel Barenboim, both as conductor and as soloist. This concert is completed with Maurice Ravel’s suite for piano Le tombeau de Couperin, which was composed in honour of Ravel’s friends who died during WWI.

14A02:39:002015HD

Sir John Falstaff leads a dissipated life. Permanently penniless, he sends the same love letter to Frau Fluth and Frau Reich, two rich bourgeois women. These women, seeing through the ruse, are highly put out. From that time on, their only amusement comes at the expense of the inept suitor. Thrown into the Thames with dirty laundry or expelled from the room with great sweeps of the broom while disguised as a woman, Falstaff becomes the laughing-stock of the village children when he walks through the woods in a ghost costume. The performance features an opera by Otto Nicolai, libretto by Hermann Von Mosenthal, and is based on William Shakespeare’s play. Performed at the Opéra de Liege in Opéra Royal de Liege with conductor Christian Zacharias and star singers Franz Hawlata, Anneke Luyten, Werner Van Mechelen, Sabina Willeit and Laurent Kubla.

G01:10:002018HD

Beethoven’s last three sonatas – Opus 109, 110 and 111 – explore the intimate meanders of the human soul, from despair to transfiguration. At the time of their composition, Beethoven was already locked in himself by his deafness. This deeply affected his relationship to others and to the world. This "psychological framework" is explored by director Mariano Nante, setting pianist Alexandre Tharaud in a film inspired by the universe of Tarkovski. Filmed in abandoned castles, and lit by director of photography Yorgos Arvanitis, this work evokes solitude and introspection and offers an inner journey through images and music.

G01:32:002021HD

The Danish National Symphony Orchestra takes us on a spectacular symphonic space journey in an out-of-this-world concert program of film music. Under the direction of Dutch conductor Antony Hermus, the orchestra guides us through the musical universe, performing a selection of music from iconic sci-fi movies, such as Avatar, Gravity, Interstellar, and Star Wars, written by major composers such as John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and James Horner. Featured soloists in this concert are Tuva Semmingsen, Christine Nonbo Andersen, Steffen Bruun, and David Bateson. This performance was recorded at the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, in August 2021.

G00:24:002001HD

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Symphony No. 94 in G major "Surprise". Berliner Philharmoniker; conductor: Mariss Jansons. The European Concert has been a tradition of the Berliner Philharmoniker since 1991. The musicians commemorate the anniversary of the orchestra's founding on May 1st, 1882, playing in different European cities. This concert was recorded in the church "Hagia Eirene" in Istanbul, Turkey.

G00:21:002019HD

In the summer of 2019, the Utrecht Early Music Festival explored the musical legacy of Naples: a cultural metropolis of contradiction and solidarity. In the documentary 'Napoli – Music’s Forgotten Capital', festival co-curator Thomas Höft unearths riveting tales from this multi-faceted city.

G00:50:002017HD

Pianist Leon Bernsdorf performs Liszt's Sonetto 123 del Petrarca (S161/6) from the Années de Pèlerinage: Deuxième Année (Italie), Bagatelle sans tonalité (S216) and the complete Grandes Études de Paganini (S141) during the semi finals of the International Liszt Competition 2017 at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht.

G02:08:002008HD

This stunning, new interpretation of Cinderella, is a theatrical ice dancing performance not to be missed.This story of Cinderella focuses on a humble chorus dancer who is thrust into the spotlight, captivates the heart of the most eligible bachelor in town, and despite rival attempts by her stepsisters to steal his heart, shows viewers that true love always triumphs. Recorded in 2008 in Australia by award winning artistic director Tony Mercer, this twist on the classic tale, features the international Imperial Ice Stars, including Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, former world champion ice dancers. Original score composed by Tim Duncan and Edward Barnwell.

G00:51:002004HD

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. 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.