Schedule

Pianist Gabriele Strata (Italy, 1999) joins the CMIM ensemble, consisting of three principal strings players of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, in a performance of the first movement, Sostenuto assai – Allegro ma non troppo, of Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 47. This performance took place during the chamber music round of the two-part semi-final of the Piano Edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2024 (CMIM). It was recorded at the Bourgie Hall of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

The soloists from the Lucerne Festival Orchestra present Ludwig van Beethoven’s Septet in E-flat major, Op. 20, which is scored for clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and double bass. This 1799 piece achieved great popularity during Beethoven’s lifetime. It was arranged for many various instrumental ensembles, including versions for two guitars, and piano four-hands, but also a trio for clarinet (or violin), cello, and piano, arranged by Beethoven himself. This performance was recorded at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Center (KKL), Switzerland, in 2020.

Baritone Matthias Goerne teams up with violinist Vilde Frang, cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, flutist Stathis Karapanos, and harpsichordist Michaela Hasselt in this program dedicated to the music of J. S. Bach. They perform baritone arias from Bach’s most beautiful cantatas, as well as solo pieces and duets. On the program are Sonata No. 3 in C major for violin solo, BWV 1005; arias ‘Hier, in meines Vaters Stätte’, BWV 32 and ‘Die Welt mit allen Königreichen’, BWV 59; Suite No. 5 in C minor for cello solo, BWV 1011; ‘Wenn Trost und Hülf ermangeln muß’, BWV 117; ‘Ja, ja, ich halte Jesum fest’, BWV 157; Invention No. 7 in E minor, BWV 778; Invention in A major, BWV 783; and ‘Welt ade, ich bin dein müde’, BWV 158. This performance was recorded at St. Mary’s Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

This exclusive live concert production presents a unique selection of movie classics - from Sergio Leone’s iconic Spaghetti Westerns to modern mafia masterpieces by Francis Ford Coppola and the cult movies of Tarantino. The Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir are conducted by Sarah Hicks in this premiere performance of authentic soundtracks by composer legends Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota, Sonny Bono, and Bernard Herrmann. Soloists for this performance are Tuva Semmingsen (mezzo), Christine Nonbo Andersen (soprano), Hans Ulrik (saxophone) and Mads Kjølby (guitars). Recorded at the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2018.

Television plays a crucial role in popularizing classical music. Not only has it preserved precious moments of music making, but it also helps shape the future of music. The Vienna-based IMZ International Music + Media Centre, a global association for all those involved in any aspect of classical and contemporary music, world music, jazz, and dance, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015. To commemorate this, renowned film maker Reiner E. Moritz produced the documentary 'Music in the air' to shed light on the history of classical music on television. The film dives into television's archives to demonstrate what the medium has done for the dissemination of music. It features rare footage of Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in one of the first televised concerts, and captivating fragments from Leonard Bernstein’s Young People Concerts. Moreover, the film contains excerpts of great performances from the past, including those by Glenn Gould, Herbert von Karajan, Igor Stravinsky, and Pierre Boulez.

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.

Fabio Luisi conducts the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8. The work is one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire and is frequently called the "Symphony of a Thousand." The work was composed at Mahler's Maiernigg villa in southern Austria in the summer of 1906 and is the last work which was premiered in Mahler's lifetime. Soloists include Ricarda Merbeth (soprano), Henriette Bonde-Hansen (soprano), Sofia Fomini (soprano), Marianne Beate Kielland (alto), Olesya Petrova (alto), Stefan Vinke (tenor), Russel Braun (baritone), and Günther Groissböck (bass). Among the participating choirs are the Danish National Concert Choir, MDR Leipzig Radio Choir and Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir. Recorded at the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2017.

Italian cellist Silvia Chiesa and Italian pianist Maurizio Baglini perform a wonderful recital as part of the 2023 edition of the Amiata Piano Festival. On the program are Claude Debussy’s Cello Sonata, L. 135; Allegro moderato from Camille Saint-Saëns’s Cello Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 32; Allegro ma non troppo from Johannes Brahms’s Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38; Allegro scherzando from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19; Alla Romanza – Largo doloroso from Francesco Cilea’s Cello Sonata in D major, Op. 38; Scherzo – Allegro molto from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69; Vive Henri IV (No. 2) and Charmante Gabrielle (No. 3) from Azio Corghi’s Après cinq chansons d’élite; and George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (transcription for cello and piano by Thierry Huillet). This performance was recorded at the Forum Fondazione Bertarelli in Poggi del Sasso, Italy, on July 29, 2023.

Indian conductor Zubin Mehta (1936) became Music Director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) in 1977 and was appointed Music Director for Life in 1981. On July 18, 1996, Mehta led the IPO in its first-ever performance of Richard Strauss’s tone poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28. Renowned as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of the great symphonic repertoire—especially the Romantic works of Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss—Mehta had conducted this popular masterpiece many times before. However, this was the first occasion he rehearsed it from the very beginning with the orchestra. This episode of ‘In Rehearsal’ offers an intimate look at the dialogue between Mehta and the musicians as they explore Strauss’s tone poem together.

Iván Fischer leads his Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO) in a concert program dedicated to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven. The program opens with the composer’s Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21. Afterward, Fischer conducts Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, in which Richard Goode features as the soloist. The acclaimed American pianist (1943) is known for his interpretations of the Beethoven repertoire. Goode recorded all five Beethoven piano concertos with the BFO and Fischer, earning him exceptional critical acclaim and a Grammy Award nomination. As an encore, Goode performs the Sarabande from J. S. Bach’s Partita in B-flat major, BWV 825. The program closes with Beethoven’s famous Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67. This performance was recorded at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary, on January 29, 2017.

The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence Musical May) is Italy’s oldest opera and arts festival. It was founded in 1933 with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas. Over the years, the scope widened, and orchestral concerts have long been an integral part of the festival. As part of the festival’s 2021 edition, Sir John Eliot Gardiner leads the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a wonderful concert program that includes Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17, ‘Little Russian’, and Edward Elgar’s Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, better known as the Enigma Variations. Written in 1872, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 bears the nickname ‘Little Russian’, as the composer used folk tunes in his work from Ukraine, then known as ‘Little Russia’. Completed in 1899, Elgar’s Enigma Variations is an orchestral work comprising a theme and fourteen variations, each variation being a musical sketch of one of the composer’s friends. This performance was recorded at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, in 2021.

In multidisciplinary project ‘Preludes - Danze al pianoforte’, dance and music come together in a wonderful and sophisticated show. Recognized Italian choreographer Massimo Moricone choreographed some of the most beautiful piano pieces by Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy, J. S. Bach, and Sergei Rachmaninoff, played by Italian pianist Costanza Principe. The protagonists are three Italy’s finest dancers: Anbeta Toromani, Alessandro Macario, and Amilcar Moret Gonzales. This performance was recorded at Teatro Romano di Verona, Italy, on July 25, 2023.

Violinists Francesca Dego and Domenico Nordio and pianist Andrea Bacchetti perform Serenade in A major, Op. 92 by Norwegian composer Christian Sinding (1856-1941). Together with Edvard Grieg, Sinding was Norway’s best-known composer at the turn of the century. Composing in the late Romantic style, Sinding’s oeuvre includes a large number of piano pieces, chamber music, and songs. The composer wrote two serenades for two violins and piano: Op. 56 and Op. 92. His Serenade Op. 92 dates from 1909 and consists, like his other Serenade, of five movements. This performance was recorded at Teatro Comunale Città di Vicenza, Italy, on December 2, 2013.

Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra mark 150 years since the death of Hector Berlioz with his tempestuous oratorio, La damnation de Faust. La damnation de Faust is a work born of the composer’s obsession with Goethe’s legendary tale. Once a righteous scholar, Faust allows himself to be corrupted by the devil, and drags the innocent around him into desperation and death. It’s a fable that defies definition – both a tragedy and dark comedy, with a central character both wise and despicable, and a play and epic poem in one.

Latvian maestro Mariss Jansons (1943-2019) was one of the world’s leading conductors. He served as Music Director of the Oslo Philharmonic from 1979 to 2000, during which time he transformed the orchestra into a front-rank ensemble. Under his leadership, the orchestra toured extensively and became a favorite at major festivals worldwide. The Oslo Philharmonic was celebrated for its fresh, open sound and for Jansons’s passionate interpretations of works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Richard Strauss, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Béla Bartók. In this episode of ‘In Rehearsal,’ Jansons guides the orchestra through the powerful Suite from Bartók’s pantomime ballet The Miraculous Mandarin, culminating in a performance at the Oslo Concert Hall.

Conductor Eduard Topchjan leads the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37. Russian-born pianist Maya Oganyan (*2005) makes her solo debut with the orchestra. Beethoven composed this concerto in 1800 and played the piano part himself at the piece’s premiere in 1803. Like two of his other major works –Symphony No. 5 and Piano Sonata No. 8 ‘Pathétique’ – this piano concerto is written in the key of C minor, which contributes to the work’s stormy character. As an encore, Oganyan performs Der Bote (‘The Messenger’) by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov. This performance was recorded at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall in Yerevan, Armenia, in 2021.

2024 marks the 100th anniversary of Gabriel Fauré's death. He is considered one of the most important and influential composers, having been the teacher of Maurice Ravel, Georges Enescu, Nadia Boulanger and many others. The Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo, with Florian Sempey as soloist, perform Gabriel Fauré's Requiem in the Basilique de Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, the largest surviving Romanesque church in France and one of the most important buildings in Romanesque architecture. This extraordinary concert is conducted by Kazuki Yamada, who is currently one of the most exciting young maestros. In spring 2023, he was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and is also Artistic and Musical Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo.

Russian conductor and pianist Mikhail Pletnev leads the Russian National Orchestra in performances of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's music. On the program are Suite for Orchestra after the opera 'The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya', and Musical Pictures for Orchestra from the opera 'The Tale of Tsar Saltan'. Part of the latter is the famous 'Flight of the Bumblebee'. This concert was recorded at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall of the Russian Philharmonic Society in 2017.