Schedule

Polish conductor Marta Gardolińska conducts the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) in a concert program consisting of Lili Boulanger’s D’un Martin de Printemps, Marc-André Dalbavie’s Concerto for Flute, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36. The luminous optimism of the young Boulanger is poles apart from the raw passion and white-hot melodies of Tchaikovsky’s semi-autobiographical symphony. LSO principal flute Gareth Davies brings out all the dazzle and daring of Dalbavie's 21st-century classic. The program closes with Prayer for Ukraine by composer Valentin Silvestrov. This concert was recorded at LSO St Luke’s in London, UK, on May 18, 2022.

The Valerius Ensemble, consisting of Robert Windak (violin), Michael Rein (violin), Eva Šušlíková (viola), Judith Chapman (cello) and Ingo Lylofs (piano) played a concert in Muziekcentrum Enschede on April 15, 2018. On the concert program are the Allegro Moderato from Glières String Quartet No. 2 and the Scherzo, Intermezzo, and Finale from Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, Op. 57. The work is one of the more popular chamber music works by the composer and a year after its premiere it was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1941.

In this splendid concert, exceptional Russian pianists Nikolay Lugansky and Vadim Rudenko join forces in a program for two pianos comprising works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Maurice Ravel, Anton Arensky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Nikolai Kapustin. Both pianists, laureates of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1994, have received international recognition. They perform regularly in a duo. On the program: Mozart’s Sonata for two pianos in D major, K. 448/375 A; Ravel’s La Valse (arr. for two pianos); Arensky’s Suite No. 1 for two pianos, Op. 15; and Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 1 (Fantasy) for two pianos, Op. 5. As an encore, the duo performs ‘Romance’ from Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 2 for two pianos, Op. 17, followed by ‘Overture’ from Nikolai Kapustin’s Sinfonietta, Op. 49. This performance was recorded at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia, on November 25, 2021.

He may not be completely forgotten, but today Giovanni Maria Trabaci is no household name either. Unjustly, since this productive organ virtuoso wrote not only a ton of vocal music but also more than 150 keyboard compositions. With its daring chromaticism and experimental thematic structures, this repertoire points resolutely in the direction of Frescobaldi. Festival artist in residence Marco Mencoboni selects Trabaci’s boldest works.

In retrospect, the version for solo dance of Stravinsky’s Sacre du printemps can be interpreted as a bleak, oppressive dance about his own life. The ballet is one of the late works by Uwe Scholz, one of the most important choreographers of the twentieth century. During his short life, this wunderkind created over 100 ballets, including major stage successes such as Die Schöpfung, Die Grosse Messe and Bruckner 8. Scholz is regarded as a sensitive, highly musical artist with a fine sense of humor, but he was consistently plagued by an excruciating sense of perfectionism, self-doubt and fear. At times, this made work impossible for him. “Sometimes the great artist’s path does not lead to laurel-wreathed solitude, but to deep despair,” writes the ballet critic Klaus Geitel looking back on Scholz’s life. The film Soulscapes is a highly personal, moving portrait of Uwe Scholz, who died on November 21, 2004, at the age of 45. In one of his last interviews with the director Günter Atteln, Scholz talks about himself and his work with unprecedented candor. “I’m drawn to symphonic music from the classical and romantic periods,” he says. “I simply need these soulscapes.”

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.

A colourful Christmas concert by the South Netherlands Philharmonic with Tchaikovsky’s famous First Piano Concerto. Chief conductor Dmitry Liss showcases, together with master pianist Boris Berezovsky, a true, Russian spirit. In such a way as to evoke what an American critic had said about one of his previous Tchaikovsky interpretations: “Liss expressed an absolute authority over the orchestra and the audience. He displayed a dialogue with eternity”.

J. S. Bach’s six Brandenburg Concerto’s belong to his best-known works. The composer wrote these concertos between 1711 and 1720 and dedicated them in 1721 to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg. In celebration of the pieces’ 300th anniversary, Czech harpsichordist and conductor Václav Luks and the renowned Baroque ensemble Collegium 1704 recorded all six Brandenburg Concertos on historical instruments in 2021. The concertos are based on the Italian concerto grosso form, in which a group of solo instruments is set against a large ensemble. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos feature remarkable combinations of solo instruments and virtuoso solos. In this performance at the Hall of Mirrors in the Köthen Castle, Germany, Luks and his Collegium 1704 present Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049. This concerto features solos from two recorders and a violin. The recorders play a prominent role in the concerto’s second movement, while the violin dominates the fast first and third movements.

Russian violinist, conductor and composer Aleksey Igudesman and British-Korean pianist and composer Hyung-ki Joo started their dynamic duo in 2004, when they created their show “A Little Nightmare Music,” a humorous take on Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.” Since then, they have been performing at international festivals and touring internationally, often collaborating with artists from within and outside of the classical genre. “Big Nightmare Music” adds an orchestra to their two-man show. On top of favorites from their duo show, like Mozart Bond, Alla Molto Turca, and Cleaning vs. Riverdancing, the show boasts several uproarious sketches, tailor-made for a symphony orchestra, drawing everyone into their act, from the first violinist to the last percussionist. Their 2017 performance at the Grieghallen in Bergen, Norway, is conducted by Andrew Litton.

Italian pianist Alessandro Marangoni and Italian organist Paolo Oreni perform Marcel Dupré’s Variations on Two Themes for piano and organ, Op. 35. Designed by the organist himself, Oreni plays his ‘Wanderer’ organ in this performance, which is currently the largest existing transportable pipe organ. With its 1200 pipes and 42 stops, it has all the essential timbres needed for the organ repertoire. This performance was recorded at FabbricaPoggi in Pavia, Italy, on April 5, 2024.

Ukrainian conductor Kirill Karabits leads the London Symphony Orchestra in a stunning performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. The soloist is soprano Lucy Crowe. Mahler’s Fourth Symphony opens with the sound of sleighbells and melodies of childlike innocence. But between this deceptively playful opening and the serene finale – a child’s vision of Heaven – lies a world of profound emotion and beauty. With soprano Lucy Crowe lending her vocal radiance to this extraordinary finale, the symphony’s journey to bliss is complete. This performance was recorded at the Barbican Hall in London, UK, on December 8, 2021.

Barbara Hannigan, soprano and conductor, won the Grammy for “Best Classical Solo Vocal Album CRAZY GIRL CRAZY (Gershwin, Berg and Berio) 2018 and took home the Grammy for “Artist of the Year” in 2022. In autumn 2023 she made her long-awaited conducting debut with the Cleveland Orchestra. The programme featured an interesting mix of old and new with Haydn´s Symphony No. 44 in E-minor, Vivier´s Lonely Child', Ligeti´s 'Lontano' and Death and Transfiguration by Richard Strauss.

Antoni Wit conducts the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra in performance of Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 21. Evgeny Kissin features as the soloist. 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.

In May 2019, the new principal conductor of the Gewandhaus, Andris Nelsons, presented Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 with his orchestra in combination with Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with outstanding violinist Baiba Skride as the soloist. In this composition, the violin does not allow itself a break, continually tells its dark story and gets into a vicious circle of ostinato Passacaglia bass lines again and again falls into beguilingly beautiful singing. Tchaikovsky initially thought his 'Symphony of Fate' was a failure and believed himself to be at the end of his creative powers. It was probably the composer's nature, plagued by self-doubt, that made it almost impossible for him to develop a self-confident attitude to his own creative power. Between this two works, Skride performs Stravinsky's Elegy for Solo Violin.

Pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko (Canada, 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.

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.

In a 2019 performance from the Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven, Hartmut Haenchen conducts the philharmonie zuidnederland for this performance of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7. The German-born conductor, who became a Dutch citizen through naturalisation, was chief conductor at the Dutch National Opera, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra before he was finally knighted for his services to the Dutch music landscape. The majestic opening theme of the first movement of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 foreshadows a momentous work, lasting over 20 minutes. The doubt and turmoil felt throughout the Adagio, the second movement, are supposedly Bruckner's response to the news of the death of his idol, Richard Wagner. Bruckner's use of Wagner tubas and double bass tubas creates an even more solemn and grandiose air within the Adagio. Trumpet signals refer to crowing cockerels as they interrupt the grim and clamorous Scherzo. In the Finale, Bruckner employs a persistent rhythmic pulse that starts softly yet builds up towards the explosive final bars.

Five-strong vocal ensemble amarcord is joined by an extra alto and two soprano voices for this unusual concert at Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church. As amarcordplus, the ensemble presents a program focused on the city of Leipzig, which includes sacred madrigals by Johann Hermann Schein, motets from Heinrich Schütz’s collection Geistliche Chor-Music, as well as two motets by the most famous Thomaskantor: Johann Sebastian Bach. Moreover, various sacred works by lesser-known contemporaries Philipp Heinrich Erlebach and mononymous composer Liebhold are performed, in addition to compositions by other members of the Bach family, including Johann Michael Bach and Johann Christoph Bach. This performance was recorded on May 1, 2020.

Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan and the Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris recorded all of Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies in 2014-2015. In this program, Jordan conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, ‘Eroica’. Composed in 1803 and 1804, this symphony is regarded as a major turning point in Beethoven’s oeuvre as well as Western music history. Symphony No. 3 is longer in duration than any previous symphony. The customary long introduction is replaced by two powerful chords, followed by the introduction of the main theme by the lower strings. The slow second movement is a Funeral March, followed by a quick Scherzo. The fourth and final movement is dominated by a theme from Beethoven’s ballet music for ‘The Creatures of Prometheus’. This performance was recorded at Opéra Bastille in Paris, France, in 2014.