Schedule

The dramatic events surrounding the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, in which approximately 3000 Protestants were murdered by Catholics, forms the setting for this historical ‘grand opera’ by Giacomo Meyerbeer. Protestant Raoul is in love with Catholic Valentine: an impossible love. Religion is not the only matter that keeps the two lovers apart, as Valentine has been promised to the Catholic Comte de Nevers, his enemy... This work enjoyed an incredible popularity after it premiered, but suffered oblivion shortly after. This production of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1991) marks a triumphant comeback for this timeless work, presented in a contemporary setting. Soloists: Angela Denning (Margarethe von Valois), Lucy Peacock (Valentine), Richard Leech (Raoul von Nangis), Hartmut Welker (Graf von Saint-Bris), Camille Capasso (Urban), Martin Blasius (Marcel). Conductor: Stefan Soltesz. Directed by John Dew.

During the years when Bach was in the service of the courts of Prince Leopold in Köthen, he had his own orchestra and was contracted to compose a great deal of instrumental music. This gave him an opportunity to try new techniques and to develop his own instrumental style. The six Brandenburg Concertos belongs to these masterpieces which he composed for a small ensemble . The joyously infectious performance of these masterpieces by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra demonstrates both the pleasure and the highest professional standard that can be reached with period instruments. Their decision to perform without a conductor is therefore quite deliberate, reviving a tradition practised right back in the 18th century.

Italian cellist and conductor Enrico Bronzi leads the Orchestra da Camera di Perugia in this intimate concert at the magnificent Basilica di San Pietro in the Italian city of Perugia, recorded on September 27, 2021. Opening the program is a cello performance by Bronzi with the Orchestra da Camera di Peruglia: the Andante cantabile from Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 13 in D major, Hob. I:13. Then, Italian pianists Linda Di Carlo and Marco Scolastra join the orchestra for a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Concerto for two pianos and orchestra in E-flat major, K. 365. Next up is Mozart’s concert aria "Ch'io mi scordi di te? ... Non temer, amato bene", K. 505, sung by Italian mezzosoprano Marina Comparato. Accompanied by Linda Di Carlo on piano, she closes the concert with the aria “Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Camille Saint-Saëns’s opera Samson and Delilah.

The Italian-Swiss ensemble Trio des Alpes, consisting of Hana Kotková (violin), Claude Hauri (cello), and Corrado Greco (piano), and the Orchestra da Camera di Mantova join forces in this performance of the Concertino for Piano Trio and String Orchestra, H. 232 by Czech composer Bohuslav Martin (1890-1959). Martin was a prolific composer, creating an oeuvre of almost 400 works. The four-movement Concertino was completed in 1933 and saw its first performance in 1936, by the Basler Kammerorchester under the baton of Paul Sacher. During the years 1931-1943, Martin wrote multiple concertante compositions. Many of these works were more or less influenced by the Baroque ‘concerto grosso’ form, in which a group of solo instruments is set against a large ensemble, a principle that appealed to the composer. This performance was recorded at Teatro Bibiena in Mantua, Italy, on January 21, 2016.

In Geneva, the Swiss city where she has spent most of her life, Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich invites her lifelong music partner, the cellist Mischa Maisky, to play chamber music. Between the pieces, Martha opens up to her daughter Annie Dutoit in an intimate interview that addresses both their relationship and the music. On the program are Ludwig van Beethoven’s 7 variations after "The Magic Flute"; Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 73; Frédéric Chopin’s Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op. 3; ‘Lerchengesang’ (No. 2) from Johannes Brahms’s 4 Gesänge, Op. 70; and ‘Largo’ from Chopin’s Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65. This broadcast was recorded on November 12 and 13, 2020, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Jeffrey Tate conducts the Mozarteum Salzburg Orchestra in a performance of Mozart’s “Paris” Symphony No. 31 (K. 297). Mozart composed the work in 1778, during his unsuccessful job-hunting time in Paris. The opening movement of the “Paris” symphony is one of the grandest and most thrilling sounds Mozart ever made from an orchestra. The composer used the clarinets for the first time in a symphony, having heard the new instrument earlier in Mannheim. With horns, trumpets, timpani, and a full section of woodwind with flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, it is the biggest orchestra the composer had used until then. This broadcast is directed by János Darvos.

The Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra delivers a program entirely devoted to Mozart at the Konzerthaus in Berlin under the direction of Hartmut Haenchen. In reduced form, the ensemble manages to bring to life the many characteristics of the music and the unique spirit of the famous composer, be it his gaiety of heart, his lyricism, his dramatic side or his polyphonic writing inspired. Criticism has always praised Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's stylistic assurance, transparency of textures and technical precision. The extraordinary sensitivity and ease of Stefan Vladar make him an ideal partner for Haenchen and his orchestra. The evening's program includes Divertimento, K. 113; the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 20, K. 466, and Symphony No. 41, K. 551.

The Veerhavenconcert is a classical open-air concert held every year in the attractive harbor of Rotterdam. Little boats and ships float on the water next to a transparent stage flanked by antique sailboats. In this edition from 2018, the Veerhavenconcert offers an accessible program with operatic works by Verdi, Ponchielli, and Puccini. Maxim Emelyanchec leads the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra and the Toonkunst Amsterdam choir. Soloists are Soojin Moon- Sebastian (soprano), Maria Riccarda Wesseling (mezzo-soprano), Paulo Ferreira (tenor) and Hawijch Elders (violin).

Pianist Arisa Onoda (Japan, 1996) performs Joseph Haydn’s Sonata in G major, Hob. XVI:40; Barbara Assiginaak’s Mzizaakok Miiniwaa Mzizaakoonsak (Horseflies and Deerflies); Guido Agosti’s transcription of Igor Stravinksy’s The Firebird Suite (Danse infernale, Berceuse, and Finale); and Frédéric Chopin’s Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58, during the solo recital of the two-part semi-final round of the Piano Edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2024 (CMIM). This performance was recorded at Bourgie Hall in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Olivier Latry is the current holder of the Great Organ of Notre Dame. Between its original religious function and the interest of composers of all times, the great organ Cavaillé-Coll reveals its absolute modernity. Latry is considered one of the greatest organists of his generation, both in France and internationally. He sees himself as an ambassador of French music from the 17th through the 20th centuries as well as an advocate for the art of improvisation. Pieces played in the film are: Pierre Cochereau’s Boléro, Louis Vierne’s Carillon of Westminster and Scherzo from Symphony No. 2, Alexandre Guilmant’s Sonata No. 1, Charles-Marie Widor’s Gothic Symphony, Marcel Dupre’s Cortège, Litanie and J. S. Bach’s Passacaille & Fugue.

Venezuelan-born conductor Giovanni Guzzo leads the Camerata Fundación EDP of the Reina Sofía School of Music in a spirited concert. The program opens with the ethereal ‘Danza degli spiriti beati’ (Dance of the Blessed Spirits) from Christoph Willibald Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice, featuring flutist Matthew Raymond Origel. The concert continues with vocal masterworks, including J.S. Bach’s brilliant cantata aria ‘Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!’, BWV 51, featuring soprano Marlin González Zúñiga and trumpeter Marc Ferrando Pelegrí, and W.A. Mozart’s joyous motet Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165, sung by soprano Carla Isabel Gómez del Pulgar. The concert concludes with one of the great classical works: Mozart’s dramatic Symphony No. 40 in G minor. This performance was recorded at Auditorio Sony of the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, Spain, on December 18, 2024.

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in the 2016 edition of the Europakonzert. This time, it takes place at the beautiful Baroque church of Røros, a Norwegian mining town whose intact picturesque old town makes it a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The talented Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang is the star soloist in Mendelssohn’s songful Violin Concerto, Op. 64, which she plays with warmth, elegance and effortless virtuosity.

The 2017 Reate Festival in Rieti, Italy staged two short operas composed by Nino Rota. Known chiefly for his cinema soundtracks and his lifelong relationship with iconic directors such as Federico Fellini, Francis Ford Coppola and Luchino Visconti (to name but a few), Rota was a musical enfant prodige who composed sacred music as well as operas from a very young age. Endowed with a streak of freedom, creativity and imagination that allowed him to forge his own unique style, he succeeded in merging the great Italian operatic tradition of Rossini, Puccini and Verdi with a contemporary musical language, setting himself apart from his contemporaries in the process. La notte di un nevrastenico premiered at the Piccola Scala in 1960; the libretto is by Riccardo Bacchelli. It’s a short farce with a tragic, unexpected ending. This version was performed by the Reate Festival Orchestra under the baton of Gabriele Bonolis.

Raúl Delgado conducts the Orquesta Sinfonica de Minería in a concert program dedicated to Mexican composers. This program, which includes the second part of the concert, features the following works: Blas Galindo's "Sones de Mariachi", Arturo Marquez's Danzón No. 2, José Pablo Moncayo's "Huapango", and Genero Codina's "March of Zacatecas". This concert was recorded at the Academia de Música del Palacio de Minería in Mexico City in 2019.

Antoni Wit conducts the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of Chopin's Piano Concertos No. 1, Op. 11 and No. 2, Op. 21. Soloists are Nikolai Demidenko and Evgeny Kissin. After performing the first concerto, Demidenko encores with Chopin's Mazurka Op. 17/4. Kissin closes the concert with Chopin's Etude Op. 10/12 and the Waltz in E minor, Op. post. This concert was part of the celebration of Chopin's 200th anniversary in 2010. Chopin composed the second concerto one year before the Concerto No. 1 and completed both works at the age of 20, before leaving his home country Poland and moving to Paris.

Conductor Herbert Blomstedt and the Gewandhausorchester take us on a musical journey to the Czech Republic in this 2020 concert from Leipzig’s Gewandhaus. The program includes Symphony in D major, Op. 23, by Bohemian composer Jan Václav Hugo Voríšek. Although the composition – Voríšek’s only symphony – was never performed during the composer’s lifetime, it has become one of his most-performed works today.

This dance concert - performed in the languages of both music and movement - features, in addition to works by Liszt, some of the finest pieces of Hungary's national romanticism that served to inspire them, antecedents of sacred music reaching as far back as the Gregorian period and compositions by contemporaries who influenced Liszt: Paganini and Chopin. Liszt Mosaics is founded on three thematic pillars. Although all three directly evoke Liszt - with emblematic aspects of his life's work: Liszt the Hungarian, Liszt the priest and Liszt the virtuoso - they speak at least as much to us as people of the 21st century. The Hungarian State Folk Ensemble was established in 1951 and has traveled to over 40 countries, playing authentic folk music and folk dances.

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.

Every year, the greatest conductors and finest orchestras travel to the Swiss city of Lucerne to perform symphonies. This documentary tells the story of this legendary festival, where Arturo Toscanini conducted the inaugural concert in 1938 and which was revived by Claudio Abbado in 2003. Several luminaries discuss the history of the Lucerne Festival. Claudio Abbado shares his view on the festival, and cellist Natalia Gutman and clarinetist Sabine Meyer, who have been part of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra for years, offer their vision.