Schedule

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.

On August 19, 2000, the Teatro Colón was filled to the brim with spectators longing to hear Daniel Barenboim play the piano. Barenboim, who is currently best known as a conductor, started his career half a century ago as a child prodigy, playing his first piano recital at age 7. This concert celebrates the maestro's on-stage career. Only after the maestro had performed for a full three hours, including no less than 13 encores, the audience was willing to let him leave the stage: a special evening if ever there was one! The concert included Ludwig van Beethoven's Sonata No. 23 ‘Apassionata’, Frederic Chopin's Waltz in e minor, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Sonata in C major.

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.

At St. Bartholomew Church in Dornheim, Germany, where composer Johann Sebastian Bach married his first wife Maria Barbara, renowned Dutch cellist Anner Bijlsma performs the composer's Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011. It is likely Bach wrote his collection of six Suites for unaccompanied cello during the years 1717-1723. His cello suites are an essential part of the cello repertoire, highlighting the instrument's manifold polyphonic possibilities. As customary in a Baroque suite, each movement is based on a dance type. Bach's Suite No. 5 opens with a prelude, and is followed by six dance movements, divided over five sections: an allemande, a courante, a sarabande, two gavottes, and a final gigue.

The 2007 Europa-Konzert takes place in Berlin, on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Under the theme "The Year 1882", the acclaimed orchestra is lead by conductor Sir Simon Rattle as it interprets Brahms’ “Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra”, his Fourth Symphony and Wagners’ “Prelude to Act I” from Parsifal - the piece that marked the orchestra's first recorded work of September 1913 under the baton of Alfred Hertz. The soloists are Lisa Batiashvili (violin) and Truls Mørk (cello), established as sought-after young virtuosos and appearing regularly with leading orchestras and in recitals throughout the world. The “Kraftwerk und Kabelwerk Oberspree (power and cable factory)”, the remarkable venue of this concert, is one of the most impressive historical industrial building from the late 19th century in Berlin. As its impressive presence is infused with Brahms and Wagner, there is an air of total commitment, only enhanced further by the unusual surroundings. The collaboration of Lisa Batiashvili and Truls Mørk ensures a moving performance of Brahms’s last orchestral work, his Double Concerto. Following this, Rattle and the orchestra continue to demonstrate their outstanding musicianship, delivering Wagner's amazingly fresh and dynamic Fourth Symphony.

Mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Chayka-Rubinstein (Germany, 1998) and pianist Maria Yulin (Israel, 1988) perform ‘Colloque sentimental’ from Claude Debussy’s Fêtes galantes II; ‘Die Geister am Mummelsee’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder; ‘Bei dir allein’ from Franz Schubert’s Vier Refrainlieder, D. 866; Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold; ‘La fleur qui va sur l'eau’ from Gabriel Fauré’s Trois melodies, Op. 85; ‘Dance of the moon in Santiago’ from George Crumb’s Sun and Shadow (Spanish Songbook II); and ‘Den’ li tsarit?’ (Does the day reign?) from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Seven Romances, Op. 47, 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.

Spanish conductor Garcia Navarro leads the Radio Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart in a performance of Manuel de Falla’s El sombrero de tres picos (‘The three-cornered hat’). Originally a ballet score, De Falla composed the piece in 1916 and 1917. The ballet was commissioned by Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev for his Ballets Russes, and saw its premiere at the London Alhambra Theatre in 1919. As De Falla was interested in traditional Spanish folk music, he included elements of this music in his score. The mezzo-soprano’s parts are examples of cante jondo, a vocal style in flamenco. In this performance, recorded in 1988, mezzo-soprano Paloma Pérez Iñigo handles those vocal parts with conviction.

Johann Sebastian Bach probably composed his Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord BWV 1014 through 1019 while working as chapel master of Köthen. It is assumed he wrote the sonatas for Prince Leopold and later adapted them for personal use in Leipzig. Maybe it because of this that the pieces are very suitable for amateurs, though all sonatas also have enough finesse to pose professional musicians with a challenge. The separate pieces are meant to be played as a set, like the 'Brandenburg concertos'.

Conductor Jan Latham-Koenig leads the Flanders Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16. French pianist Pascal Amoyel features as the soloist. Grieg composed the work in 1868, drawing inspiration from Norwegian folk music. It is the composer’s only concerto. The work premiered on April 3, 1869 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Edmund Neupert as the soloist, and was received enthusiastically. The Norwegian premiere followed a few months later. This performance was recorded at Concertgebouw Brugge, Belgium, on April 21, 2016.