Schedule

With Rolando Villazón directing and playing the title role, the world rushed for tickets to the Baden-Baden 2012 Pentecost-holiday opera. Following his directorial debut in 2011 (Werther, Lyon) the Mexican tenor went a step further, staging Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore and directing himself in the role of Nemorino. The film tells the story of this “story within a story” and reveals the creative process of staging the comic opera in two acts at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in April and May 2012. We follow Rolando Villazón in rehearsals with singers and actors, and in his exchanges with young conductor Pablo Heras-Casado on the way to a highly personal performance.

This performance was recorded during Mozart Week on January 27, 2006 in Salzburg, Austria, at the Großes Festspielhaus (Large Festival House) in celebration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 250th birthday. Under conductor Riccardo Muti, it features Thomas Hampson (baritone), Mitsuko Uchida (piano), Gidon Kremer (violin), Yuri Bashmet (viola), Wiener Singverein, and Wiener Philharmoniker. Pieces include Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major, K. 364, arias and scenes from Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, The Magic Flute and Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385 ("Haffner").

Misha Fomin performed romantic piano works at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in November 2020. His recital opened with Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 14/2 and Sonata No. 15, Op. 28 'Pastoral'. He continued the program with a performance of Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne Op. 9/1, Etude Op. 25/7, and Johannes Brahms's technically demanding 'Variations on a Theme by Paganini', Op. 35 (Book II). As an encore, Fomin performs Chopin/Liszt's Chant Polonais No. 5 'Meine Freunden'.

Europakonzert has been a tradition of the Berlin Philharmonic since 1991. Every year, the musicians commemorate the anniversary of the orchestra's founding (May 1st, 1882) and celebrate their heritage from the Old World. The Europakonzert of 1992 from El Escorial in Madrid was conducted by Daniel Barenboim and features the world-renowned tenor Plácido Domingo. The program consists of Giuseppe Verdi's Overture La Forza del Destino and Verdi's Lo l'ho perduta! from Don Carlos. Followed by excerpts from Hector Berlioz' La damnation de Faust and Franz Schubert's unfinished Symphony No. 7., the concert also features music by Richard Wagner: Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond from Die Walküre, Prelude to Act I from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and orchestral excerpts from Götterdämmerung.

Italian cellist Silvia Chiesa and Italian pianist Maurizio Baglini perform a wonderful recital of works by Ferruccio Busoni, Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. On the program are Busoni’s Kultaselle – 10 variations on a Finnish folksong; Liszt’s Two Elegies for cello and piano; Chopin’s Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op. 3; and Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in G minor for cello and piano, Op. 19. As an encore, the duo plays Leonard Bernstein’s iconic composition ‘Tonight’ from the musical West Side Story. This performance was recorded at Sala Verdi of the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, Italy, on November 4, 2024.

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.

Welsh soprano Margaret Price performs Gustav Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder. She is accompanied by the Orchester der Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele under the baton of Wolfgang Gönnenwein. Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder are a collection of five songs based on poetry of Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866). Mahler completed both a piano and an orchestral version of the first four songs during the summer of 1901, but he never got around to orchestrating the fifth song, “Liebst du um Schönheit” (‘Lovest thou but beauty’). Mahler wrote this overt love song for his bride Alma Schindler. This performance was recorded at the 1988 Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele.

In 1722, when Johann Sebastian Bach lived in Köthen, Germany, he published a book of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys. This collection became known as The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One, BWV 846–869. About two decades later, Bach compiled a second book in Leipzig, which became known as The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book Two, BWV 870-893. Bach intended these pieces for the clavier, which includes the harpsichord, clavichord, and organ. Despite this unclarity, these pieces are regarded as some of the most important works in the history of Western classical music. In this broadcast, Angela Hewitt plays Preludes and Fugues Nos. 13 to 24 (BWV 882-893) from Book Two of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, recorded at Wartburg in Eisenach, Germany, in 2010.

Iván Fischer leads his Budapest Festival Orchestra in an exciting concert program consisting of works by J. S. Bach, Béla Bartók, and Johannes Brahms. The program opens with Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048. This is followed by one of Bartók’s best-known pieces: Music for strings, percussion and celesta. Remarkable is the work’s instrumentation: Bartók divided the strings into two groups that are placed on opposite sides of the stage, to create antiphonal effects. The program ends with Brahms’s Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90. This performance was recorded at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary, on December 4, 2017.

Pianist Seungmin Shin (South Korea, 2004) performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sonata in B-flat major, K. 281; Frédéric Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52; and Sonata tragica from Nikolai Medtner’s piano cycle Forgotten Melodies, Op. 39 No. 5, 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.

Before Porpora, Scarlatti and Pergolesi ruled the Neapolitan music scene there was Gaetano Greco, one of the finest music teachers and composers of his day. Andrea Buccarella, a young harpsichordist from Rome (also performing in the Festival with his Abchordis Ensemble), pairs Greco’s most beautiful toccatas and famous Ballo di Mantua with works by his pupil Durante, who with his ‘quattro stagioni’ explores every nook and cranny of the keyboard.

For over six decades, Pierre Boulez had a greater influence on the development of contemporary music than anyone else. Already in his younger days, he gained a reputation as a doughty champion of the avant-garde. With his compositions, interpretations and ideas, he indelibly shaped the international music scene – not only as a composer and conductor, but also as a music philosopher and teacher. This documentary by Gunter Atteln and Angelika Stiehler pays tribute to him on the occasion of his 85th birthday on March 26, 2010. For the previous five summers, Pierre Boulez and highly gifted young musicians from all over the world had converged for intensive rehearsal weeks. Over this period, they learned from the maestro and one another, discussing and playing selected compositions. Subsequently, they presented the fruits of their labour in a number of outstanding concerts. To convey the fascination for contemporary music, this documentary captures the perspectives of Pierre Boulez and the young conductors, composers, and musicians involved. Their infectious enthusiasm gives viewers an emotional access to the world of new music.

Les Dissonances is a collective of artists founded by violinist David Grimal in 2004. The conductorless ensemble consists of musicians from the most prestigious European orchestras, international soloists, and young talents. In this performance, Les Dissonances present Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, ‘Eroica’. Admiring the ideals of the French Revolution, Beethoven initially dedicated the symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte. However, upon hearing that Napoleon had crowned himself Emperor, Beethoven violently erased Napoleon’s name from the manuscript. Composed in 1803-04 in a style that breaks with tradition, the symphony is regarded as a turning point in Beethoven’s oeuvre as well as Western music history. Symphony No. 3 is longer in duration than any previous symphony. The work opens with two powerful chords that replace the more customary long introduction. The lower strings then introduce the main theme. 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 de Dijon, France, in 2012.

The Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda (*1975) is considered one of today’s leading interpreters of Felix Mendelssohn’s piano repertoire. Prosseda’s discovery of unknown Mendelssohn compositions made the headlines throughout Europe and led to several releases on the celebrated Decca label. In the current recital, recorded in 2015 at Teatro alle Vigne in Lodi, Italy, Prosseda performs a selection of Felix Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte) (Op. 19 No. 1, Op. 38 No. 2, Op. 38 No. 6, Op. 53 No. 2, Op. 30 No. 6, and Op. 62 No. 2), Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, and Fantasie, Op. 28.

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.

Renato Palumbo conducts the Orchestra and Choirs of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège in a performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny). Verdi and his librettist Francesco Maria Piave based the work on a Spanish musical drama by Angel de Saavedra, ‘Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino’. Composed for the imperial Russian opera in St. Petersburg, La forza premiered there in 1862. Verdi later revised the work, with the definitive version debuting at La Scala in Milan in 1869—the version most often performed today. La forza del destino tells the tragic story of nobleman Don Alvaro and Leonora, whose love is forbidden by Leonora’s father, the Marquis of Calatrava. When the lovers attempt to elope, a fatal accident leads to the Marquis’s death, setting off a relentless chain of events shaped by destiny. Among the soloists are Marcelo Álvarez, María José Siri, Simone Piazolla, Michele Pertusi, Enrico Marabelli, and Nino Surguladze. This production was recorded at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, Belgium, in 2021.

The ensemble YES Camerata (Young European String Camerata) and violinist William Hagen perform The Red Priest and the Tanguero at the Academiezaal in the Belgian city of Sint-Truiden in 2017. The concert program includes The Four Seasons of Antonio Vivaldi (1679-1741) and Las quatros estaciones porteñas of Astór Piazzolla (1921-1992), in a transcription of Leonid Desyatnikov. YES Camerata is a young dynamic string ensemble that performs without a conductor. The young American violinist William Hagen was the third winner of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth competition in 2015.