00:00
Humperdinck - Hänsel und Gretel
Recorded at the Semperoper Dresden in 2006, the orchestra of the Sächsische Staatskapelle is directed by Michael Hofstetter in a production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel. Soloists are Irmgard, Vilsmaier, Hans-Joachim Ketelsen, Antigone Papoulkas and Iris Vermillion. The composer of Hansel and Gretel, Engelbert Humperdinck, wrote was born in Germany in 1854. In the 1890s, his sister, Adelheid Wette, had written a libretto based on the Grimm fairy tale, and asked her brother to set it to music as a Christmas entertainment for her children. Later, Engelbert and Adelheid decided to turn this modest home project into a full-scale opera. Hansel and Gretel, premiered on December 23, 1893 at Weimar, was an instant hit and remains an everlasting masterpiece. The composer Richard Strauss, who was the assistant conductor for the premiere, called it "a masterwork of the first rank."
01:50
Waldbühne 1999 - A Romantic Opera Night
This concert at the Waldbühne in Berlin celebrates the legacy of Wagner and his most famous successor, Richard Strauss. This concert features the Berliner Philharmoniker, soloist Ben Heppner, and is directed by James Levine, Metropolitan Opera's music director for nearly 40 years. Strauss's works on the evening program include Don Juan, op. 20; Cäcilie and Heimliche Aufforderung, Op. 27; Zueignung, Op. 10; Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streich; and the Waltz / Di Rigori Armato by Der Rosenkavalier. Wagner's works on the program include the prelude In fernem Land from Lohengrin; the prelude Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde; the prelude Walther's Preislied from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; and the Ride of the Valkyries from Die Wälkure. True to tradition, the Berliner Philharmoniker closes this Waldbühne concert with Paul Lincke's Berliner Luft.
03:48
The LSO performs Dvořák and Tchaikovsky
Sir Simon Rattle conducts the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) in a concert program consisting of Antonín Dvořák’s Scherzo Capriccioso in D-flat major, Op. 66, and selections from Act II of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet The Nutcracker (1892). Dvořák’s Scherzo Capriccioso (1883) reflects a period of personal crisis for the composer. The work betrays ever-changing moods and a constant sense of inner restlessness. In the music of The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky combined memorable melodies with colorful orchestration, which has enchanted listeners for decades. This performance was recorded at LSO St Luke’s in London, UK, on March 18, 2021.
04:47
De Falla - El sombrero de tres picos - Suite No. 2
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’.
05:00
CMIM Piano 2024 - Semi-final I: Jaeden Izik-Dzurko
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.
06:00
Mozart - Symphony No. 40, K. 550
Gianluigi Gelmetti conducts the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart in a performance of W. A. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G Minor (K. 550), directed for television by Janos Darvas. The work was composed in 1788 and is sometimes referred to as the "Great G minor symphony", with the Symphony No. 25 being the "Little G minor symphony". The two are the only of Mozart’s 41 symphonies that were written in a minor key. It is arguably the most popular of all of Mozart’s symphonies. The catchy opening melody became one of the most popular ringtones of mobile phones in the 90s. Scholars are not in agreement whether it was popular in Mozart’s own time. The composer performed it a few times and rewrote some parts of the score.
06:32
Rossini - Petite messe solennelle
Gioacchino Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle was written in 1863, "the last", the composer called it, of my "péchés de vieillesse" (sins of old age). For its first performance (1864) Rossini arranged the work with only two pianos and harmonium. Partly for fear that it would be done anyway after his death, Rossini discreetly orchestrated the Petite Messe Solennelle during 1866-67, without losing its candor and subtlety. The resulting version had its first public performance on 28 February 1869, three months after the composer's death. "Mr Chailly's genius for the Rossini style has ripened with the years. His performance has daring and velocity”. Chailly conducts the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Gewandhauschor and the Choir of the Leipzig Opera in an orchestral version from the Gewandhaus in Leipzig in 2008.
07:57
Antonio Manna: Il basso napolitano
Stefano Demicheli conducts the Ensemble Talenti Vulcanici and soloists Nicola Cianncio (bass) and Catherine Jones (cello) in a varied baroque music program, recorded at Chiesa di Santa Caterina da Seina in Naples, Italy. On the program are Alessandro Scarlatti's Quante i boschi han piane (from his serenade Erminia); Nicola Fago's Contro colpi di fortuna (from the opera Il faraone sommerso); Nicola Porpora's Idre, arpie, draghi e leoni (from his serenade La Iole); Angelo Ragazzi's Sonata a quattro, no. 1 in G major; Alessandro Scarlatti's cantata Nel mar che bagna al bel Sebeto; Giovanni Bononcini's Quanto abbraccia il mar (from Euleo festeggiante); Georg Frideric Handel's Precipitoso il mar che freme (from his cantata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo); Nicola Porpora's Concerto for Cello and Strings in G major; Nicola Fago's Miei fidi armatevi (from his cantata Il faraone sommerso); and Giovanni Bononcini's Per molti lustri (from Euleo festeggiante).
08:56
CMIM Piano 2024 - Semi-final II: Jakub Kuszlik
Pianist Jakub Kuszlik (Poland, 1996) performs Barbara Assiginaak’s Mzizaakok Miiniwaa Mzizaakoonsak (Horseflies and Deerflies); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Fantasia No. 3 in D minor, K. 397; and Johannes Brahms’s Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5, 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 the Bourgie Hall of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
10:03
Giovanni Sebastiano: The Italian Influence on Bach
Renowned soloists Nancy Argenta (soprano) and Guillemette Laurens (alto) perform music by J. S. Bach with the Baroque ensemble I Barocchisti under Diego Fasolis. Bach's arrangement of G. B. Pergolesi's Stabat Mater was recorded in Italy at the Villa Medici Giulini, built in 1643. The room, with its great acoustics, was named Zuccarelli Hall after Francesco Zuccarelli who made the frescos adorning the walls and depicting the beautiful local landscape in the late 18th century. In addition to the performance, this program includes a short documentary about the Italian influence on J. S. Bach's music.
11:04
Monteverdi - Madrigals, Book I
Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) composed nine books of madrigals in half a century, which helped transform the genre from the polyphonic, a cappella madrigals of the late Renaissance to the ‘concertato’ madrigals of the early Baroque, shifting the style’s focus to the ability of music to express emotions contained in a text. In 2011, British tenor Paul Agnew and renowned Baroque ensemble Les Arts Florissants started recording eight books of Monteverdi’s madrigals. In this program, Agnew leads Les Arts Florissants in the madrigals of Book I. Published on New Year’s day of 1587, Book I consist of seventeen madrigals for five voices. This performance was recorded at the Cité de la musique in Paris, France, in 2011.
11:47
Dvořák - Symphony No. 8, Op. 88
The Berliner Philharmoniker is one of the world’s finest orchestras, its fame stretching all the way to Japan. Unsurprisingly, this 2000 concert, recorded at Tokyo’s magnificent Suntory Hall, was a resounding success. Mariss Jansons conducts a beautiful program that includes Antonin Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8, Carl Maria von Weber’s Overture to Oberon, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto featuring star violinist Hilary Hahn (*1979)
12:28
Mozart - Requiem in D minor, K. 626
Daniel Harding leads the Orchestra and Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and four vocal soloists in a magnificent performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K. 626. The soloists are soprano Christiane Karg, mezzosoprano Sara Mingardo, tenor Matthew Swensen, and bass Gianluca Buratto. The Austrian Count Walsegg commissioned Mozart to compose a Requiem in July 1791 to commemorate his late wife, Anna. At the time, Mozart was busy working on his operas La clemenza di Tito and The Magic Flute. By the time he started on the Requiem, in the fall of that same year, his health was seriously declining. Mozart passed away in December 1791, leaving the Requiem uncompleted. His pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr completed Mozart’s swan song in the form known today, based on Mozart’s sketches and possibly verbal instructions. This performance was recorded at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, in 2021.
13:21
Beethoven - String Quartet No. 5, Op. 18, No. 5
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. Quatuor Ébène explored every facet of Beethoven's string quartet repertoire: from the youthful Opus 18 string quartets to the Razumovsky, Harp, and Serioso quartets (Opus 59, 74, and 95) from his middle period, and finally, the depth of his late quartets (Opus 127 to 135). This program features Quatuor Ébène performing Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 5 in A major, Op. 18, No. 5; String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4; and String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major, Op. 127. This concert was recorded at Philharmonie de Paris on December 17, 2020.
