Schedule

Claudio Abbado leads the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in a performance of Arnold Schönberg’s symphonic poem 'Pelleas und Melisande', Op. 5. With the encouragement of Richard Strauss, Schönberg composed the work during 1902-1903. The piece is inspired by a play about a doomed love by Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck. Written in the key of D minor, Pelleas und Melisande is one of the composer’s early tonal works in the late Romantic style. The work is scored for a large orchestra and is in one continuous movement that lasts approximately 38 minutes. This performance was recorded at the Musikverein Vienna, Austria, in 2006.

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.

On the occasion of her 80th birthday, Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich explored chamber music repertoire in this wonderful concert, recorded at Château de Chantilly, France. The ‘Grande Dame’ of the piano is joined by various renowned artists. As part of this concert, Argerich, violinist Tedi Papavrami and cellist Mischa Maisky perform Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49.

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.

The shy and elusive Grigroy Sokolov is one of the greatest pianists of our time. His performances leave critics and audiences alike speechless, like they don't quite believe what they have just experienced. In 2015, he played a beautiful recital with works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, and Claude Debussy that took place at the Festival La Roque D'Anthéron in Aix-en-Provence. And just as he was wont to do, Sokolov delivered an unforgettable, magical musical moment. On the program: Bach – Partita for keyboard No. 1, BWV 825, Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Schubert – Sonata in a minor op. 143, Schubert – Six Moments Musicaux. The encores are Chopin – Mazurka in A minor, Chopin – Prelude No. 15 and Debussy – Prelude Canope.

Karita Mattila (soprano), Violeta Urmana (alto), Thomas Moser (tenor), Eike Wilm Schulte (bass), Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor: Claudio Abbado. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125. 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. In 2000, the orchestra played at home in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall.

Stefano Demicheli conducts the Ensemble Talenti Vulcanici and soloists Nicola Cianncio (bass) and Catherine Jones (cello) in a varied baroque music program, recorded at Chiesa di Santa Caterina da Seina in Naples, Italy. On the program are Alessandro Scarlatti's Quante i boschi han piane (from his serenade Erminia); Nicola Fago's Contro colpi di fortuna (from the opera Il faraone sommerso); Nicola Porpora's Idre, arpie, draghi e leoni (from his serenade La Iole); Angelo Ragazzi's Sonata a quattro, no. 1 in G major; Alessandro Scarlatti's cantata Nel mar che bagna al bel Sebeto; Giovanni Bononcini's Quanto abbraccia il mar (from Euleo festeggiante); Georg Frideric Handel's Precipitoso il mar che freme (from his cantata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo); Nicola Porpora's Concerto for Cello and Strings in G major; Nicola Fago's Miei fidi armatevi (from his cantata Il faraone sommerso); and Giovanni Bononcini's Per molti lustri (from Euleo festeggiante).

At the behest of Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich, several classical music stars took part in this concert in aid of the Erasmus Fund for medical research in intensive care, recorded at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Belgium, on October 21, 2023. The concert pays tribute to the renowned cellist Aleksandr Khramouchin (1979) who suddenly passed away on May 13, 2023. As part of this concert, trumpetist Sergei Nakariakov and pianist Maria Meerovitch perform Lensky’s aria from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin.

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 starts with Tchaikovsky's Fantasy Overture from "Roméo et Juliette". The second piece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is his famous Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major K. 216 played by the German violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann. During his career he played with a lot of famous orchestras and conductors such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Mariss Jansons. He has a great passion for chamber music and plays a lot of recitals with the Italian pianist Enrico Pace. The concert 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.

Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda (1975) performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 5, KV. 283. 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.

Dance featured prominently in the work of French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), painter of Parisian nightlife, entertainment, circuses, and balls. With his ballet ‘Toulouse-Lautrec’, Kader Belarbi, choreographer and director of dance of the Théâtre du Capitole of Toulouse, uses the work of the French artist to craft a new dialogue between painting and dance, impressively reviving the artist and his works. The fine and melodious music of the ballet, written by film composer Bruno Coulais, is performed by accordionist Sergio Tomassi and pianist Raúl Rodríguez Bey. This production features star dancer Ramiro Gómez Samón, who is on stage for the whole duration of the two-hour ballet, as Toulouse-Lautrec. Among the performers of the Ballet du Capitole are Alexandra Surodeeva, Natalia de Froberville, Marlen Fuerte Castro, and Solène Monnereau. This performance was recorded at Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, France, in October 2021.

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.

During the New Year’s Gala 2010, the Berlin Philharmonic perform under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, whose infectious energy and exceptional artistry have made him one of the most sought-after conductors by orchestras and opera companies around the world. They welcome mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča, who has become one of the world’s most famous singers within just a few years. On the program are various works by French composers, like Berlioz’ Le Carnival Romain, Overture, Op. 9 and D’Amour l’ardente flamme’ from La Damnation de Faust (Op. 24), Saint-Saëns’ ‘Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix’ and ‘Danse Bacchanale’ from his opera Samson et Dalila and the ‘Habanera’, ‘Seguidilla’ and ‘Chanson Bohème’ from Bizet’s Carmen. The concert concludes with de Falla’s Suite No. 2 from the ballet ‘El sombrero de tres picos’.

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.