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PG02:33:002022HD

Frédéric Chaslin (1963) leads the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège in a performance of Léo Delibes’s tragic opera Lakmé (1883). Written to a libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille, the opera is set in nineteenth-century British India and tells the story of Lakmé, who falls in love with Gérald, a British officer. However, Lakmé’s father, the Brahmin priest Nilakantha, vows revenge after he discovers that Gérald has trespassed on their sacred ground. Like many of his contemporaries, Delibes was fond of exoticism, evoking foreign lands and cultures in the tradition of Georges Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles (1863) and Camille Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila (1877). Delibes’s opera features the celebrated “Flower Duet,” sung by Lakmé and her servant Mallika as they gather flowers by the river, and also the wonderful coloratura aria “Bell Song” (Air des Clochettes). Among the soloists are Jodie Devos, Philippe Talbot, Lionel Lhote, Pierre Doyen, and Marion Lebègue. This production was recorded at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, Belgium, in 2022.

G02:28:002003HD

In Summer Night Music - Love Songs, artists from all over the world contribute their favourite love songs to an unusual and exciting event uniting classical, jazz, and world music. Among the classical musicians are the Gewandhaus Orchestra, cellist Mischa Maisky, and The King’s Singers. Other world stars include jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and flamenco cantaora Mayte Martin. The variety of musicians and genres appeals to a wide audience, aiming to create a grand open-air atmosphere that every music lover will remember.

G00:22:002012HD

Mexican conductor José Areán leads the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in a performance of Gustav Mahler’s song cycle ‘Songs of a Wayfarer’ (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen). Baritone Jorge Lagunes is the soloist. Written in 1884-1885, the work consists of four songs, each based on one of the composer’s own poems, detailing a young man's unfortunate love and resulting journey through the world. Mahler uses the orchestra not just for accompaniment but to create a rich, immersive emotional landscape, with musical phrases that build and recede with great power and transparency. This performance was recorded at Sala Nezahualcóyotl of the Centro Cultural Universitario in Mexico City, in 2012.

G00:35:002011HD

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’.

06:00
Mozart - Symphony No. 36, K. 425
G00:34:001991HD
Jeffrey Tate conducts the English Chamber Orchestra in a performance of W. A. Mozart’s “Linzer” Symphony No. 36 (K. 425). The broadcast is directed by János Darvas. Mozart composed the work in 1783, during his short stay in the Austrian town of Linz, on the way home from Vienna to Salzburg. The symphony was written in an impressive span of only four days to accommodate a local concert. The premier took place on November 4 and premiered in Vienna the year after. The introduction of trumpets and drums in the second movement is an unusual feature of the piece. The closing Presto is provided with some contrapuntal passages to contrast the homophonic texture.

G01:49:002004HD

Sigiswald Kuijken conducts baroque ensemble La Petite Bande and the Ex Tempore choir at the St. Nicolas Church in Leipzig in this recording from Bachfest 2004, a leading music festival for the performance of the Bach family's music. This concert opens with J. S. Bach’s Ascension Oratorio “Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen” (BWV 11). Written in 1735, this short work ended up being the composer’s final contribution to the genre. Due to its brevity, the oratorio was accidentally classified as a cantata in the Bach Gesamtausgabe of 1852. Next is “Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu” (Wq 240), an oratorio by Bach’s most famous son, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Soloists are Sophie Karthäuser (soprano), Patrizia Hardt (alto), Christoph Einhorn (tenor), Christoph Genz (tenor), Jan van der Crabben (baritone), and Stephan Genz (bass).

G00:58:002020HD

Italian pianists Roberto Prosseda and Alessandra Ammara perform W. A. Mozart's Sonata for two pianos in D major, K. 488, Felix Mendelssohn's Sonata for two pianos in D major, MWV S 1, and George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, during an off-season concert recorded at Fazioli Concert Hall in Sacile, Italy in June 26, 2020.

G00:40:002024HD

Pianist Michelle Candotti (Italy, 1996) performs Frédéric Chopin’s Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60; Franz Liszt’s Paraphrase de concert sur Ernani II, S. 432; and Béla Bartók’s Piano Sonata, Sz. 80, during the first round of the Piano Edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2024 (CMIM). This performance was recorded at the Bourgie Hall of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

G01:32:002018HD

On November 14, 1987, a promising conductor made his Berlin Philharmonic debut with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 6: Simon Rattle. In retrospect Rattle says, “I felt that I was finding my voice on that day.” Mahler’s multifaceted work is now again on the program when Sir Simon appears for the last time as chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker in the Philharmonie in 2018. The wheel comes full circle. Mahler's Symphony No. 6 is often referred to by the nickname Tragische ("Tragic"). Mahler composed work during a happy time in his life, as he had married his wife Alma in 1902 and became father of his second daughter. This contrasts with the tragic and even nihilistic last movement of the symphony.

G01:11:002024HD

This chamber music concert is part of the ‘Solistas del Siglo XXI’ concert series of the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid. First, Quinteto Zéphyros performs Leoš Janáček’s Mládí (‘Youth’) for wind sextet. This is followed by French flautist Paul Taffanel’s Wind Quintet in G minor, performed by Quinteto Scarlatti de Casa de la Moneda. The program closes with Sergei Prokofiev’s Quintet in G minor, Op. 39, played by Quinteto Cosan. This performance was recorded at Auditorio Sony of the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, Spain, on May 11, 2024.

G00:12:002019HD

Throughout the centuries, the Italian city of Naples has proved to have a remarkably favorable climate for artistic innovation. The presence of the royal or vice royal courts, the practice of music in churches, fraternities, and charitable institutions, financial support from well-to-do citizens, and the popularity of song and dance in public life made for an extraordinarily diverse musical landscape.

G00:31:002020HD

Acclaimed classical music talent scout Antonio Mormone (1930-2017) lives on as the name-giver of the Premio Internazionale Antonio Mormone (PIAM), awarded to the winner of the Italian music competition of the same name. The first edition of this competition, which was held in various venues in Milan from 2019 to 2021, was dedicated to the piano. As part of this competition, Su Yeon Kim (South Korea, 1994) performs various works by Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1; Mazurka, Op. 2, No. 2 and 4; Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39; and Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 34 No. 1. The recital comes to a close with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Gigue in G major, KV 574. This performance was recorded at Teatro EDI Barrio’s in Milan, in January 2020.

G00:29:002015HD

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. 8 in F major, Op. 93. Beethoven wrote the work in 1812 upon completion of his Symphony No. 7. The composer conducted the February 27, 1814 première at a concert in Vienna that also included a reprise performance of his Symphony No. 7 and his 15-minute orchestral piece Wellington’s Victory, Op. 91. The shortest of Beethoven’s nine symphonies, Symphony No. 8 lacks a truly slow movement. Instead it has a second movement, Allegretto scherzando, that features a steady ‘ticking’ rhythm maintained by the woodwinds throughout the movement. This is thought to be an imitation of the Andante movement of Joseph Haydn’s ‘Clock’ Symphony. Jordan’s performance was recorded at Opéra Bastille in Paris, France, in 2015.

G02:13:002010HD

András Schiff (Budapest, 1953) is one of the world's most distinguished pianists, breathing life into pieces with sheer magic. Schiff, a guardian of almost-forgotten ideals of piano playing, is more than a great pianist: he is an expert with insight that goes beyond the piano music, delving deeper into the wider field and macro culture. This makes him the perfect candidate to play and explain the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, whose music has an enormous performance tradition spanning over two centuries. In the current recital, filmed as part of the Bachfest 2010, Schiff performs all of Bach’s “French” music, that is, the so-called French Suites and the French Overture ; for his generous encore, he completes the Clavierübung II with the entirety of the Italian Concerto.

G00:57:002014HD

One of today’s most distinguished conductors, Franz Welser-Möst conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in a performance featuring works from the oeuvre of Johannes Brahms. The concert begins with the Academic Festival Overture, written in honor of the University of Breslau, which awarded the composer an honorary doctorate in philosophy. This is followed by Brahms only Violin Concerto (in D major), described by violinist Joseph Joachim, whom it was originally written for, as one of the four great German violin concerti. This performance features violin soloist Julia Fischer. It was recorded at Severance Hall in Cleveland, USA, in 2014.

PG00:36:002010HD

More than just a tribute to the Ballets Russes, this version of Sheherazade by Jean-Christophe Maillot, resonates as the reunion between choreography and the fictive or real beings which have nourished his artistic universe over his thirty year career. Amongst the characters inhabiting his memory, the beautiful Sheherazade will have often danced before the choreographer's eyes, but the real tête-à-tête with the princess from the Thousand and One Nights has been postponed for a long time. This performance is recorded at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 2010. Solists of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo are Bernice Coppieters, Gaëtan Morlotti, Leart Duraku, Olivier Lucea, Alexis Oliveira, Georges Oliveira.

G01:39:002017HD

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.

G00:55:001997HD

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.

G00:08:002019HD

For this exceptional recital, recorded in 2019 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Camille (cello) and Julie Berthollet (violin) are accompanied by pianist Guillaume Vincent and the Ensemble Appassionato under the direction of Mathieu Herzog. The two musical sisters have chosen a repertoire which crosses genres and eras to explore the expressive palette of the violin and cello, from the baroque of Vivaldi to the jazzy notes of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grapelli. Among the works on the program are Brahms Hungarian Dances No. 5 and No. 6, Karl Jenkins' Palladio, 'Theme from Forrest Gump' by Alan Silvestri, Schumann's Piano Quintet, Op. 44, The Red Violin by Corigliano, Hungarian Rhapsody, op. 68 by Popper, Minor Swing by Reinhardt/Grappeli and Csárdás by Monti.

G01:17:002004HD

The Lucerne Festival Orchestra performs Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 under the direction of Claudio Abbado. This unique orchestra was formed as part of the annual festival in Lucerne, Switzerland.

G00:20:002016HD

In this exquisite 2016 concert from Moscow's Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Russian National Orchestra and star-pianist Boris Berezovsky are led by conductor Mikhail Pletnev in a performance of magnificent works by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Winner of the 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Berezovsky interprets the works of Rimsky-Korsakov with a virtuosic power. The programme features The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya, suite for orchestra, as well as The Tale of Tsar Saltan, musical pictures for orchestra. It is produced by the Moscow Philharmonic Society, which Saint Petersburg-born composer Dmitri Shostakovich himself once described as playing a significant role "in the development of musical life [in Russia]. It is a kind of university which is attended by millions of music lovers and thousands of musicians.” The Moscow Philharmonic Society was founded in 1922 by then-Commissar for Culture, Anatoly Lunacharsky, and has over the years come to be Russia's leading concert organizing institution.

G00:25:002022HD

Luca Vignali (oboe), Angelo De Angelis (clarinet), Carmine Pinto (horn), Eliseo Smordoni (bassoon), and Linda Di Carlo (piano) perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Quintet for piano and winds in E-flat major, K. 452. The work premiered at the Viennese Burgtheater on April 1, 1784, with the composer himself at the piano. Shortly after the performance, Mozart wrote to his father Leopold, “I consider it the best work I have ever written…”. Striking is the Quintet’s unusual instrumentation, which presented the composer with a challenge “as single winds, as opposed to pairs, pose problems of blend”. Therefore, Mozart explored numerous different permutations of instruments to produce various sonorities, and used short phrases and motifs for variety. This performance was recorded at Perugia’s Auditorium Santa Cecilia, Italy, on June 23, 2022.

G01:24:002020HD

Argentinian conductor and harpsichordist Leonardo García Alarcón leads his ensemble Cappella Mediterranea in a program of Italian Baroque music. The ensemble performs some of the finest Baroque pieces composed by Francesco Cavalli, a prominent composer in 17th-century Venice, and two of his famous students, Barbara Strozzi and Antonia Bembo. Argentinian soprano Mariana Flores presents the vocal works. On the program are ‘Mira questi due lumi’ from Cavalli’s Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo, ‘Dimmi, Amor, che farò’ from L'Oristeo, ‘Sinfonia della notte’ from L’Egisto, and ‘E vuol dunque Ciprigna’ from Ercole Amante; ‘M’ingannasti in verità’ from Bembo’s Produzioni armoniche consacrate a Luigi XIV; Strozzi’s Sino alla morte, Che si può fare, Lagrime mie, L’amante segreto, and è Pazzo il moi core; Biagio Marini’s La Romanesca; Tarquinio Merula’s Aria Sopra La Cieccona; and Dario Castello’s Sonata Seconda. This performance was recorded at the magnificent Église Notre-Dame of Sablé-sur-Sarthe, France, on August 26, 2020.