Schedule

Fidelio (originally titled "Leonore, oder Der Triumph der ehelichen Liebe," which translates to "Leonore, or the Triumph of Marital Love"), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. This 2018 opera film from the Swiss Theater St. Gallen is based on Jan Schmidt-Garre's highly acclaimed stage production of Beethoven's Fidelio. Otto Tausk conducts the Sinfonieorchester and choir of St. Gallen, as well as many wonderful soloists in a beautifully designed set by Nikolaus Webern. The producers carefully filmed and edited several performances, and by using additional footage of starring soloist Jacquelyn Wagner as Leonore, the captivating stage production is enhanced and transformed into a unique cinematic experience.

The annual summer concert given by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at the Waldbühne is a legendary event. The Millenium concert, recorded live on June 25, 2000, brought together more than 22,000 spectators in one of Europe's most beautiful outdoor amphitheaters. Directed by Maestro Kent Nagano, this edition, titled Rhythm and Dance, focuses on the rather unusual popular music of the twentieth century, offering an inspiring combination of classical plays, show tunes, and Far Eastern music. Rightly rated as one of the most exciting programs ever presented at the Waldbühne, the evening's program features Gershwin classics (Lady, Be Good!, Strike Up the Band, A Damsel in Distress, Oh, Kay!, Porgy and Bess, and Girl Crazy) brilliantly performed by American mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, as well as Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2, and the soundtrack of the Chinese film Farewell My Concubine.

Conductor Mariss Jansons, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Mussorgsky's “Pictures at an Exhibition” were predestined to come together. The lavish colors of Ravel's orchestration of the Russian work, the breathtaking inventiveness of the wildly different movements that are all interconnected through a recurring “Promenade” – few conductors are as adept as Jansons to savor all the richness and colorfulness of the paintings and sketches by Victor Hartmann. Today, the work is universally celebrated in its dazzling orchestral transcription by Maurice Ravel. It was the great conductor Serge Koussevitzky who commissioned the orchestration by Ravel in 1922. Recorded at Herkulessaal, Munich in 2014.

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.

In this exquisite 2016 concert from Moscow's Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Russian National Orchestra and star-pianist Boris Berezovsky are led by conductor Mikhail Pletnev in a performance of magnificent works by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Winner of the 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Berezovsky interprets the works of Rimsky-Korsakov with a virtuosic power. The programme features The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya, suite for orchestra, as well as The Tale of Tsar Saltan, musical pictures for orchestra. It is produced by the Moscow Philharmonic Society, which Saint Petersburg-born composer Dmitri Shostakovich himself once described as playing a significant role "in the development of musical life [in Russia]. It is a kind of university which is attended by millions of music lovers and thousands of musicians.” The Moscow Philharmonic Society was founded in 1922 by then-Commissar for Culture, Anatoly Lunacharsky, and has over the years come to be Russia's leading concert organizing institution.

Soprano Sara Gouzy (France, 1991) and pianist Seri Dan (South Korea, 1992) perform ‘Chevaux de bois’ from Claude Debussy’s Ariettes oubliées, L. 63; Franz Schubert’s An den Mond, Op. 57, No. 3, D. 193; ‘Le collier’ from Olivier Messiaen’s Poèmes pour Mi; ‘Margaritki’ (Daisies) from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Six Romances, Op. 38; ‘Quelle aventure!’, and ‘La reine de coeur’ from Francis Poulenc’s La courte paille; Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold; and ‘Wie Lange schon war immer mein Verlangen’, and ‘Ich hab’ in Penna einen Liebsten wohnen’ from Hugo Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch, 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.

Maestro Sergiu Celibidache conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker from 1945 to 1954, and once in 1992. Wolfgang Becker's documentary The Triumphant Return documents Celibidache's long-awaited return to the Berlin Philharmonic after a 38-year-absence. Discover extensive footage from the rehearsals of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 (the only video recording in existence of Celibiadache), interviews with former orchestra members, and Celibidache's final concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker.

In 1722, when Johann Sebastian Bach lived in Köthen, Germany, he published a book of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys. This collection became known as The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One, BWV 846–869. About two decades later, Bach compiled a second book in Leipzig, which became known as The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book Two, BWV 870-893. Bach intended these pieces for the clavier, which includes the harpsichord, clavichord, and organ. Despite this unclarity, these pieces are regarded as some of the most important works in the history of Western classical music. In this broadcast, Nikolai Demidenko plays Preludes and Fugues Nos. 1 to 12 (BWV 870-881) from Book Two of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, recorded at the Palazzo Labia in Venice, Italy, in 2010.

Bernard Haitink conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden, 2015. On the program is Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68. The composer wrote his Symphony No. 6 between 1802 and 1808. Nicknamed "Pastoral Symphony," this piece is one of the few examples of program music for the German composer. Unlike other Beethoven symphonies, this piece has not four, but five movements, each with a programmatic title.

Pianist Gabriele Strata (Italy, 1999) performs Béla Bartók’s Szabadban (Out of Doors), and Muzio Clementi’s Sonata in B minor, Op. 40 No. 2, during the first round of the Piano Edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2024 (CMIM). This performance was recorded at the Bourgie Hall of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

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 Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26 (Carnival Scenes from Vienna). Schumann composed most of the work during his stay in Vienna in 1839, where he wrote the first four movements, presenting pictures of lively carnival revelry. He completed the fifth, last movement on his return to Leipzig. This piano cycle is among the composer’s most popular. 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 Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen (1958) was Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1992 until 2009. Under his dynamic leadership, it was recognized as one of the world's most outstanding orchestras. The exciting musical partnership Salonen established with his musicians was widely acclaimed in the international press. The conductor's lucidity, efficiency, and lack of pretension, promoted a relaxed collaboration between himself and the orchestra, which is particularly evident in the rehearsal process. This ‘In Rehearsal’ episode features Salonen rehearsing Claude Debussy's Impressionistic orchestral piece La Mer with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. It gives a fascinating insight into Salonen’s rapport with his musicians and also into Debussy’s masterpiece.

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. 2 in G major, Op. 18, No. 2; String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135; and String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131. This concert was recorded at Philharmonie de Paris on December 16, 2020.

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 1992 from El Escorial in Madrid was conducted by Daniel Barenboim and features the world-renowned tenor Plácido Domingo. The program consists of Giuseppe Verdi's Overture La Forza del Destino and Verdi's Lo l'ho perduta! from Don Carlos. Followed by excerpts from Hector Berlioz' La damnation de Faust and Franz Schubert's unfinished Symphony No. 7., the concert also features music by Richard Wagner: Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond from Die Walküre, Prelude to Act I from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and orchestral excerpts from Götterdämmerung.

Italian pianist Andrea Molteni (1998) performs Alban Berg’s Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 1. 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 appeared 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 Verbrugghen Hall of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Australia, in 2023.

The film Jaroussky sings Bach & Telemann is a portrait of a very special vocalist, and of two exceptional composers. When Philippe Jaroussky - whose angelic voice seems almost timeless, not belonging to any one epoque or decade - sings works by Telemann and Bach, it becomes abundantly clear that the sheer emotional force and the purifying power of their music have not diminished over the centuries. The works performed in this film are Telemann's Jesus liegt in letzten Zügen and Sinfonia from Brockes-Passion; Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus, and Bach's Sinfonia from Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis and Ich habe genug.

Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda performs Frédéric Chopin's technically challenging Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52. Completed in 1842, this piece is celebrated as a masterpiece within the Romantic piano repertoire, renowned for its intricate structure and profound emotional depth. This performance was recorded at the stunning baroque palace Villa Contarini in Piazzola sul Brenta, Italy, in 2006.

Hamlet is a grand opera in five acts by the French composer Ambroise Thomas (1811-1896), with a libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier. It is based on a French adaptation by Alexandre Dumas and Paul Meurice of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Thomas’ operas Mignon (1866) and Hamlet (1868) were largely neglected during the 20th century but experienced somewhat of a revival over the last decades. In this performance, staged by Serge van Veggel, The New European Ensemble is led by conductor Hernán Schvartzman. Main soloists are Quirijn de Lang (Hamlet), Lucie Chartin (Ophélie), Martijn Sanders (Claudius), Martina Prins (Gertrude), Jan-Willem Schaafsma (Laertes), and Patrick Pranger (Horatio). This performance was recorded at the Royal Theatre in The Hague, in April 2018.

The legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) won his first praise on his interpretation of Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto from the composer himself. When Rachmaninoff heard the young Kiev-born pianist play his work shortly after Horowitz's arrival in New York in 1928, he exclaimed: "He swallowed it whole." Fifty years later, on September 24, 1978, Horowitz electrified his audience once again with this monumental work. Accompanied by the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, he gave a special performance of this work as part of the celebrations honoring his U.S. debut 50 years earlier. His unforgettable account was recorded live on video and broadcast simultaneously throughout the United States. It was the last time Horowitz played the Third in his lifetime. The work itself, reverently called "Rach 3" by pianists brave enough to tackle its monstrous technical challenges, achieved international celebrity of a different kind in recent years.

This 2016 concert at Chambord Castle in France under the direction of Hervé Niquet features 70 musicians that gave a spectacular performance of Handel‘s Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. In between Le Concert Spirituel also plays Concerto Grosso’s No. 4 and No. 5 also by Georg Friedrich Handel. After that you can enjoy the celebrated movement of Marc- Antoine Charpentier’s Te Deum, now universally known as the signature tune of Eurovision. The music brings to mind the splendor at the court of King Louis XIV, who sojourned in Chambord on several occasions.

Every year, the Europakonzert is hosted by the Berliner Philharmoniker in a notorious concert hall or on a special location. This years concert is performed at the magnificent Royal Albert Hall in London. The Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink closes with Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring which he wrote in 1913 for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The première caused a lot of sensation and near-riot in the audience because of the avant-garde nature, music and choreography of the piece. The Rite of Spring is now considered as one of the masterpieces of classical music history and has influenced many 20th-century music composers. The encore is Tchaikovsky's Flower Waltz from the Nutcracker.

The documentary 'Heavenly Voices – The Legacy of Farinelli' (2012) tells us the story of the castrato in music – male singers who were castrated at a young age in order to preserve their high vocal range, a cruel practice that was in place mainly in the 17th and 18th centuries. For two centuries, castrati's performances held European audiences spellbound, with successful castrati such as Farinelli ranking among the most influential and highest-earning musicians of those days. Today, roles originally written for castrati are often performed by countertenors. In this documentary, countertenors Max Emanuel Cenčić, Philippe Jaroussky, Andreas Scholl, Franco Fagioli, and Jochen Kowalski discuss Baroque-era operatic entertainment. 'Heavenly Voices' is a film by Gino Pennacchi (writer) and Alessandro Scillitani (director).

Minsoo Hong (1993, South Korea) performs Variationen über das Motif von J.S. Bach: 'Weinen, Klagen', S180, Gounod/Liszt - Les Adieux, Rêverie sur un motif de l'opera Roméo et Juliette, S409 and Gounod/Liszt - Valse de l'opéra Faust, S407 during semi-final I (transcription) of the 11th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, held in TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, in 2017. The competition actively presents, develops, and promotes piano talents from around the world. In doing so, it has become one of the prominent gateways to the international professional classical music scene for young musicians. The International Franz Liszt Piano Competition was founded in 1986 in the Netherlands and has since built a reputation as one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions.

Sergei Prokofiev based his ballet ‘Romeo and Juliet’ on William Shakespeare's famous play of the same name, telling the story of two young lovers from the feuding families Montague and Capulet. Acclaimed French choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot created a distinctive choreography of the ballet in 1996, which has been performed to great success the world over. In his production, Maillot interprets Romeo and Juliet not as a social conflict or clan warfare governed by a strict code of honor, but as a tale of accidental tragedy that leads to the death of children more concerned with the path of love than that of hatred. This 2002 interpretation is performed by the dancers of Les Ballets de Monte Carlo. Chris Roelandt and Bernice Coppieters star in the title roles.