Schedule

At the age of 24, following his successes in Rome, Alessandro Scarlatti was appointed royal Kapellmeister in Naples, in 1684. There he had to deal with jealousy and contempt from those involved in the local music scene. Scarlatti came up with the best possible answer to this harassment by enjoying a brilliant career lasting nearly thirty years and producing a phenomenal oeuvre in the process. Bart Naessens chooses his favourite keyboard works from Scarlatti’s oeuvre.

The Indomitable Bow is a marvelous documentary film, offering a unique portrait of Mstislav Rostropovich. The Russian cellist is known to have been a formidable personality as well as a complex, deeply political musician constantly engaged in a whirlwind of activities. Including unreleased documents, archive films, interviews and concert performances from this key figure of the 20th century, The Indomitable Bow is a remarkable testimony of the life and work of the legendary “Slava.” The film was produced 2018 by Pierre-Olivier Bardet and Pierre-Martin Juban, and directed by Bruno Monsaingeon.

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 opens with Bohemian composer Jan Václav Hugo Voríšek’s Symphony in D major, Op. 23 (1821). 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. Also on the program is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504. This work, which premiered while Mozart was visiting Prague in 1787, is often referred to as the ‘Prague Symphony’.

In time for his 65th birthday in 2007, pianist Daniel Barenboim rounded off a cycle of Ludwig van Beethoven piano concertos. Recorded live at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr in May 2007, this recording reflects both a very individual and unusual reading of Beethoven’s music and Barenboim's life-long dedication to the composer. Beethoven’s masterpieces have been a key part of Barenboim’s repertoire throughout his career. Simultaneously conducting and playing the piano, Barenboim leads the Staatskapelle Berlin in a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58. Although solo concertos were traditionally opened by the orchestra, Beethoven let the soloist open his piano concerto before the orchestra came in – an idea that had been applied by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in his Piano Concerto No. 9.

Soprano Heidi Baumgartner (Austria, 1998) and pianist Asuka Tagami (Japan, 1991) perform Franz Schubert’s Suleika I, Op. 14 No. 1, D. 720; ‘Er ist’s’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder; Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold; ‘Sua katselen’ (Looking at you) from Kaija Saariaho’s Leino-Laulut (Leino songs); and ‘Pantomime’ and ‘Apparition’ from Claude Debussy’s Quatre chansons de jeunesse, 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.

After its 1882 premiere at the second Bayreuth Festival, Wagner's Parsifal was not interpreted elsewhere for three decades. Since the Metropolitan Opera in New York took on the epic tale on the quest for the holy grail, the work has steadily increased in popularity and been interpreted all over the world. However, few interpretations of Richard Wagner's Parsifal received as much critical acclaim as did Nikolas Lehnhoff's version for the English National Opera in 1999. Critics at The Guardian described the production as "one of the best interpretations [they] had ever seen." Lehnhoff, who was once an assistant to Wieland Wagner, opera director and grandson of the legendary composer, gives new life to the epic tale without forceful renovation - simply by shining a light on often neglected supporting characters. From the stage of the German Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin presents Lehnhoff's splendid interpretation of Parsifal under the baton of Kent Nagano, recorded in 2004. Among the soloists are Thomas Hampson (Amfortas), Bjarni Thor Kristinsson (Titurel), Matti Salminen (Gurnemaz), Christopher Ventris (Parsifal), Tom Fox (Klingsor), and Waltraud Meier (Kundry).

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.

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’.

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. 2 in F major, BWV 1047. This piece features trumpet, violin, recorder, and oboe solos. Especially outstanding are the high, virtuoso trumpet parts.

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. This program features Quatuor Ébène performing Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 18, No. 2. This concert was recorded at Philharmonie de Paris on December 16, 2020.

Soprano Sophia Burgos (USA, 1991) and pianist Daniel Gerzenberg (Germany, 1991) perform Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold; ‘Nixe Binsefuss’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder, and ‘Die Bekehrte’ from Goethe-Lieder; ‘C’est l’extase langoureuse’ from Claude Debussy’s Ariettes oubliées; ‘Crépuscule’ from Gabriel Fauré’s La chanson d'Ève; ‘Asturiana’ from Manuel de Falla’s Siete canciones populares españolas; and ‘The night in silence under many a star’ from George Crumb’s Apparition, 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.

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.

Beethoven’s last three sonatas – Opus 109, 110 and 111 – explore the intimate meanders of the human soul, from despair to transfiguration. At the time of their composition, Beethoven was already locked in himself by his deafness. This deeply affected his relationship to others and to the world. This "psychological framework" is explored by director Mariano Nante, setting pianist Alexandre Tharaud in a film inspired by the universe of Tarkovski. Filmed in abandoned castles, and lit by director of photography Yorgos Arvanitis, this work evokes solitude and introspection and offers an inner journey through images and music.

On the occasion of her 80th birthday, Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich explored repertoire for piano and violin in this wonderful concert, recorded at Château de Chantilly, France. The ‘Grande Dame’ of the piano is joined by various renowned artists, including pianists Evgeny Kissin, Theodosia Ntokou, and Cristina Marton-Argerich, and violinist Maxim Vengerov. On the program are Dmitri Shostakovich’s Concertino for two pianos, Op. 94; Frédéric Chopin’s Impromptu No. 3, Op. 51, Polonaise No. 6, Op. 53 “Heroic”, and Waltz No. 6, Op. 64 No. 1; Camille Saint-Saëns’s Polonaise for two pianos, Op. 77; César Franck’s Sonata for violin and piano in A major; and Fritz Kreisler’s Liebesleid and Schön Rosmarin. This performance was recorded on June 12, 2021.