Schedule

With Rolando Villazón directing and playing the title role, the world rushed for tickets to the Baden-Baden 2012 Pentecost-holiday opera. Following his directorial debut in 2011 (Werther, Lyon) the Mexican tenor went a step further, staging Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and directing himself in the role of Nemorino. The film tells the story of this “story within a story” and reveals the creative process of staging the comic opera in two acts at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in April and May 2012. We follow Rolando Villazón in rehearsals with singers and actors, and in his exchanges with young conductor Pablo Heras-Casado on the way to a highly personal performance.

The 1997 edition of the Waldbühne concert is dedicated to Russian composers. The Berliner Philharmoniker, directed by Zubin Mehta, kicks off the evening with the opening of Mikhail Glinka's opera Ruslan and Ludmila, after which Daniel Barenboim takes center stage to perform Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Chopin's Waltz in D flat major, op. 64 No. 1. The evening then pays homage to Mussorgsky with the prelude Khovanshchina and Gopak, taken from The Fair at Sorotchinsky. The orchestra also interprets Flight of the Bumblebee and Capriccio Espagnol, op. 34 from Rimsky-Korsakov. As is tradition, the Berliner Philharmoniker closes this Waldbühne concert with Paul Lincke's Berliner Luft.

In September 2016, we celebrated the birthday of one of Japan's best-known conductors: Seiji Ozawa. Renowned for his advocacy of modern composers, Ozawa founded the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto in 1992. As of 2015, it is better known as the Seiji Ozawa Festival. Seiji Ozawa appeared on stage himself with 63 Saito Kinen Orchestra members, passionately conducting Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 and No. 7. Beethoven's Second Symphony was mostly written during the composer's stay at Heiligenstadt, at a time when his deafness was becoming more pronounced. The work premiered in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on April 5, 1803. The Seventh Symphony premiered with Beethoven himself conducting in Vienna in 1813 at a charity concert for wounded soldiers. The Allegretto was the most popular movement and had to be encored.

The great clarinettist Paolo Beltramini plays a program of solo pieces for clarinet on Stingray Brava. In this broadcast, Beltramini performs C.P.E. Bach’s Solfeggietto, Béla Kovàc’s Hommage à Paganini, and Igor Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo. Paolo Beltramini is the only Italian clarinettist to have won first prize at the prestigious Prague Spring International Clarinet Competition (1996). As a duo with pianist Roberto Arosio, he won the International Chamber Music Competitions in Paris (1996) and Trapani (1997). These awards helped establish Beltramini’s reputation as one of the most interesting wind-instrument virtuosos on the international concert circuit. He was principal clarinettist with Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Swiss Orchestra della Svizzera italiana.

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’ string quartet – consisting of David Grimal (violin), Hans Peter Hofmann (violin), David Gaillard (viola), and Xavier Phillips (cello) – performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K. 465, ‘Dissonance’ (Op. 10 No. 6). The String Quartet is the last in the set of six quartets that were dedicated to Joseph Haydn. Written between 1782 and 1785, these are also known as the Haydn Quartets (Op. 10). String Quartet No. 19 is remarkable for its slow, dissonant introduction, giving the piece its nickname. This ominous passage suddenly gives way to the bright Allegro in C major. This performance was recorded at Opéra Comique in Paris, France, in 2015.

Tenor Ilja Aksionov (Lithuania, 1996) and pianist Gustas Raudonius (Lithuania, 1996) perform Bart Visman’s Het goud van Vermeer; ‘As I lay in the early sun’ from Gerald Finzi’s Oh fair to see, Op. 13b; Henri Duparc’s Extase; Claude Debussy’s Paysage sentimental, L. 55; ‘Mausfallensprüchlein’ from Hugo Wolf’s Sechs Lieder; ‘Krysolov’ (The pied piper) from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Six Romances, Op. 38; Franz Schubert’s Rastlose Liebe, Op. 5, No. 1, D. 138; and Alphons Diepenbrock’s De klare dag, RC 4, 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.

Soloist Aleksander Madzar and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Andre Previn join forces in a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27, KV 595, recorded at Vienna's Schönbrunn palace. In 1791, with his life cruelly and rapidly ending, Mozart once again turned to the compositional style which reflected his personality: the concerto for piano and orchestra. His last piano concerto, which turned out to be an uplifting composition, regales its audience with a lyrical children's song, invoking the joys of youth and springtime.

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.

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmonic during the 2008 edition of the Europakonzert, held in the renowned hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. The first edition of the Europakonzert was in 1991, and since then, the founding of the Berlin Philharmonic on May 1st in 1882 is annually celebrated with a concert in a European city of cultural significance. The orchestra opens with an outstanding performance of Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements. Furthermore, Vadim Repin, one of today’s most fascinating artists, features as soloist in Bruch’s Concerto for Violin No. 1, Op, 26. The orchestra concludes with a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, of which the second movement, Allegretto, gained instant popularity after its premiere in 1813 and remains a crowd favorite.

Pianist Adrian Herpe (France/Ukraine, 2000) performs Novellette No. 8 in F-sharp minor from Robert Schumann’s Novelletten, Op. 21; Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata in B minor, K. 27, and Sonata in E minor, K. 98; and Guido Agosti’s transcription of Igor Stravinksy’s The Firebird Suite (Danse infernale, Berceuse, and Finale), 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.

Russian pianist Dina Ivanova performs Franz Liszt’s Totentanz, S. 525, during the Solo finals of the 11th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, held at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Totentanz (Dance of Death) is one of Liszt’s many works that reflect the Romantic composer’s fascination with death. The piece is a series of variations on the macabre Gregorian Dies irae theme.

Mahler's Symphony No. 10 is an unfinished work left by the composer at his death, representing his ultimate emotional journey from torment and heartbreak to an unreserved acceptance of life and human love. The symphony, built on the composer's personal anguish and existential explorations, is characterized by its deep emotional range, intricate orchestration, and epic scale, culminating in a powerful affirmation of human connection in the face of mortality. Deryck Cook completed a version of the work with the help of materials provided by Mahler's widow.

Experience a concert of high drama as conductor Nicolás Pasquet leads the Freixenet Symphony Orchestra of the Reina Sofía School of Music. The program opens with the heroic power of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Overture to Egmont, Op. 84. The concert culminates in a journey through fate and passion with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s monumental Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36. This performance was recorded at Sala Sinfónica of the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Spain, on October 3, 2024.

The 2019 documentary ‘Approaching the Maelström’ follows the process leading up to a recording of American composer Philip Glass’s composition ‘A Descent into the Maelström’. The work is based on American writer Edgar Allan Poe’s 1841 short story of two fishermen caught in torrents raging between the mountainous islands of Lofoten, Norway. Glass’s work, originally a choral piece for the Australian Dance Theatre, was only ever performed at the Adelaide Festival of Arts in 1986. Over thirty years later, in 2019, Beacon Isle Films recorded a symphonic arrangement of Glass’s work, performed by the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir conducted by Tim Weiss with soprano Berit Norbakken Solset as the soloist. Their recording was made against the backdrop of Lofoten’s spectacular landscape: the very surroundings that inspired Poe’s story. Moreover, this inspiring documentary features a rare interview with Glass.

Roberto Giordano performs Chopin's Ballade No. 1, Op. 23. The sketches of the work date back to 1831 during Chopin's eight-month stay in Vienna. The first ballade was completed in 1835 after the composer moved to Paris. The main section of the ballade is built from two main themes which return in different keys after which a thundering chord introduces the Presto con fuoco, which eventually ends the piece in a fiery double octave scale run down the keyboard. The work gained popularity after appearing on the soundtrack to the 2002 Roman Polanski film The Pianist, where it is played by Janusz Olejniczak.

Soprano Isabel Weller (Germany, 1994) and pianist Yuriko Watanabe (Japan, 1994) perform Claude Debussy’s Nuit d’étoiles, L. 2, and Mandoline, L. 43; Joseph Haydn’s Piercing eyes, Hob. XXVIa, No. 35; ‘Die Mainacht’ from Johannes Brahms’s Vier Gesänge, Op. 43; ‘Pietà’ from Paul Hindemith’s Das Marienleben, Op. 27; Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold; and ‘Lied vom Winde’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder, 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.

English conductor and pianist Wayne Marshall leads the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France in a special concert celebrating classical music in film. The extensive program opens with the overture of Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie and concludes with Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5. In between we are treated to renditions of Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Gerswhin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Duke Ellington’s C Jam Blues, Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee, the Adagietto of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, and Strauss’ Emperor Waltz. Each of the evening’s featured works has found its way onto the silver screen in one way or another. This concert was recorded at the Salle Pleyel, Paris, in 2014.

Can we get into Beethoven’s creative mind, especially in the last phase of his life, when he was coping with severe hearing loss? Tom Beghin’s new recording of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas Opus 109, 110, and 111 is an artistic exploration of how Beethoven’s musicking was shaped by the work environment he created with the help of colleagues and friends. Not only does pianist Tom Beghin perform Beethoven’s trilogy of pianistic masterpieces on a magnificent new replica of Beethoven’s Broadwood piano, he uses a reconstruction of the Gehörmaschine that was mounted on the composer’s piano so he could continue to create music as his hearing declined. ‘You do hear better when you bring your head under this machine, don’t you?’ André Stein asked Beethoven. Two centuries later, we too can bring our heads under the machine and wonder: Do we hear Beethoven differently? Beghin draws us inside the hearing machine, where we feel as well as hear the essence of Beethoven’s rambunctious and irresistibly poetic musical vibrations. Inside the Hearing Machine invites us into the multisensory playground of a deaf composer for whom the machine was more than a hearing aid and who interacted with his instrument through much more than sound.

The Prague Ballet Gala is an exclusive dance event at the beautiful Prague State Opera featuring performances by leading ballet stars. Among these stunning dancers are Dmitri and Daniil Simkin, Maria Alexandrova and Sergey Filine, Jean Jacques Herment, and Viviana Franciosi. They present their favourite classical and modern pieces from legendary choreographers such as George Balanchine, Marius Petipa, José Limón and John Neumeier.

Over the course of 19 days, the best youth orchestras in the world led by great conductors, and flanked by virtuoso soloists, guaranteed exciting and inspiring concert performances at the Young Euro Classical 2017. The festival is known to be the most important platform for international young orchestra musicians in the European classical music tradition, and for its development. This highlight version is a collection of infectiously energizing and outstanding performances by musicians from across the globe. Their repertoire includes renowned classical works as well as local composers. On the program: Verdi - La forza del destino, Beethoven - Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1, Tchaikovsky - Six Romances, Kohji - Georgian, Mingrelian Songs, Weinberg - Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes Op. 47 and Wong - As the Heart Soars.