Schedule

Italian conductor Speranza Scappucci leads the Philharmonia Zürich and the Chorus of the Opernhaus Zürich in a performance of Gaetano Donizetti’s tragic opera ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ (1835). Salvatore Cammarano based his libretto on Sir Walter Scott’s novel ‘The Bride of Lammermoor’ (1819). Set in 17th century Scotland, the opera tells the story of Lucia, who falls in love with Edgardo, her family’s arch enemy. Lucia’s brother Enrico, however, forces her to marry a man she does not love instead, driving the young woman insane. Highpoint of the opera is Lucia’s famous ‘mad scene’, in which the technically demanding aria ‘Il dolce suono’ is heard. In this scene, Lucia’s voice is accompanied by a glass harmonica, adding to its eeriness. Among the soloists are Irina Lungu (Lucia), Massimo Cavalletti (Enrico Ashton), Piotr Beczała (Edgardo di Ravenswood), Andrew Owens (Lord Arturo Bucklaw), Oleg Tsibulko (Raimondo Bidebent), Roswitha Christina Müller (Alisa), and Iain Milne (Normanno). This performance was recorded at the Opernhaus Zürich, Switzerland, in 2021.

Stefano Conticello leads the Orchestra of Teatro Comunale di Bologna in a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart program. The concert opens with the Overture from Mozart’s popular opera “The Magic Flute”. This is followed by Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503, with Maurizio Baglini as the featured soloist. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 is just one of the twelve great piano concertos he composed during 1784 and 1786. The concert ends with Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385, also known as the “Haffner Symphony”. On the occasion of the ennoblement of Sigmund Haffner in 1782, the prominent Salzburg Haffner family of businessmen and philanthropists commissioned Mozart to compose a new piece. Mozart agreed, and initially wrote a serenade before recasting it as a symphony a few months later: the “Haffner Symphony”. This performance was recorded at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Italy.

In September 2016, we celebrated the birthday of one of Japan's best-known conductors: Seiji Ozawa. Renowned for his advocacy of modern composers, Ozawa founded the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto in 1992. As of 2015, it is better known as the Seiji Ozawa Festival. Seiji Ozawa appeared on stage himself with 63 Saito Kinen Orchestra members, passionately conducting Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 and No. 7. Beethoven's Second Symphony was mostly written during the composer's stay at Heiligenstadt, at a time when his deafness was becoming more pronounced. The work premiered in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on April 5, 1803. The Seventh Symphony premiered with Beethoven himself conducting in Vienna in 1813 at a charity concert for wounded soldiers. The Allegretto was the most popular movement and had to be encored.

French conductor Adrien Perruchon and the Flanders Symphony Orchestra take us on a musical journey to Mexico with this performance of Aaron Copland’s El Salón México (1936). Inspired by a visit to the colorful night club of the same name in Mexico City, Copland composed the vibrant orchestral work, incorporating Mexican folk tunes. This performance was recorded at Concertgebouw Brugge in Belgium, on March 1, 2017.

Celebrated German violinist Isabelle Faust performs J. S. Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor (BWV 1004). The work is part of the composer’s well-known Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001-1006). Partita No. 2 is made up of four dance movements, concluded by its famous Chaconne, a monumental piece within the violin repertoire. In this Chaconne, Bach develops a series of continuous variations from a theme, exploring a complex range of harmonic possibilities. This performance was recorded at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany, in 2020.

The Orchestra Mozart, founded in 2004, is supposed to give young, talented musicians a possibility to play in a world-class orchestra being conducted by one of the outstanding conductors of our time. Claudio Abbado, the artistic director, is responsible for its profile, inviting musicians and chamber ensembles of international reputation. The Orchestra Mozart, conducted by Claudio Abbado, with their leader Giuliano Carmignola is playing Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. Recorded at the Teatro Municipale Valli, Reggio Emilia. "Does the world need another set of Brandenburgs? Yes, when they are as freshly minted and as adventurously sonorous as this marvellous set from Abbado's young period-style Orchestra Mozart" (The Observer).

The Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda (*1975) is particularly noted for his performances of newly discovered works by Felix Mendelssohn. Moreover, Prosseda is particularly praised for his interpretations of W. A. Mozart, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin. He won major prizes in several piano competitions and has frequently performed with some of the world’s most important orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. In this recital, Prosseda performs Alexander Scriabin’s Nocturne Op. 9, No. 2, Alan Berg’s Piano Sonata, Op. 1, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111. This performance was recorded at Teatro alle Vigne in Lodi, Italy, in 2015.

Pianist Arisa Onoda (Japan, 1996) performs Ferruccio Busoni’s transcription of J. S. Bach’s ‘Chaconne’ from Partita No. 2 for violin, BWV 1004; Frédéric Chopin’s Barcarolle in F-sharp, Op. 60; and ‘Noctuelles’ and ‘Alborada del gracioso’ from Maurice Ravel’s Miroirs, 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.

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 play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218. Leading violinist Grimal features as the soloist. With the exception of the first violin concerto, Mozart composed his other four violin concertos in 1775 at a time when he was concertmaster at the Salzburg court. Among his five concertos, Violin Concerto No. 4 is one of the best-known. This performance was recorded at Cité de la Musique, France, in 2014.

Tenor Zhuohan Sun (China, 1993) and pianist Sara Pavlovic (Serbia, 1996) perform ‘Ehetanzlied’ from Alexander von Zemlinsky’s Sechs Lieder und Gesänge, Op. 10; ‘Nell’ from Gabriel Fauré’s Trois mélodies, Op. 18; ‘Net, tol'ko tot, kto znal’ (None but the lonely heart) from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Six Romances, Op. 6; Franz Schubert’s Die Mutter Erde, D. 788; Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold; ‘Bonne journée’ from Francis Poulenc’s Tel jour, telle nuit, FP 86; and ‘Der Jäger’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder, 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.

The Danish National Symphony Orchestra takes us on a spectacular symphonic space journey in an out-of-this-world concert program of film music. Under the direction of Dutch conductor Antony Hermus, the orchestra guides us through the musical universe, performing a selection of music from iconic sci-fi movies, such as Avatar, Gravity, Interstellar, and Star Wars, written by major composers such as John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and James Horner. Featured soloists in this concert are Tuva Semmingsen, Christine Nonbo Andersen, Steffen Bruun, and David Bateson. This performance was recorded at the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, in August 2021.

Japanese violinist Naoya Nishimura and Italian pianist Andrea Bacchetti perform an intimate recital recorded at the Munetsugu Hall in Nagoya, Japan. On the program are Arcangelo Corelli’s Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 5 No. 12, “La Folia”; Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, “Spring”; Manuel de Falla’s 7 Canciones populares españolas; Maurice Ravel’s Sonata for violin and piano; Camille Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor, Op. 28; Niccolò Paganini’s Cantabile in D major, Op. 17; and Antonio Bazzini’s Scherzo fantastique, Op. 25, “La Ronde des Lutins”. This performance was recorded on June 22, 2019.

Italian cellist Silvia Chiesa and Italian pianist Maurizio Baglini perform Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in G minor for cello and piano, Op. 19. This performance was recorded at Sala Verdi of the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, Italy, on November 4, 2024.

From August 28 to September 6, 2015, the Early Music Festival Utrecht focused on England, my England. On the basis of the festival theme, presenter Lex Bohlmeijer takes the viewer in a two-part documentary on an intriguing journey through England of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque, and relates this to the city of Utrecht. Episode 1 offers a peek into the inner city churches of Utrecht, visiting the source of inspiration if this year's festival: the English estate Boughton House, where the Duke of Buccleuch shows us around.

Roberto Giordano performs Chopin's Ballade No. 1, Op. 23. The sketches of the work date back to 1831 during Chopin's eight-month stay in Vienna. The first ballade was completed in 1835 after the composer moved to Paris. The main section of the ballade is built from two main themes which return in different keys after which a thundering chord introduces the Presto con fuoco, which eventually ends the piece in a fiery double octave scale run down the keyboard. The work gained popularity after appearing on the soundtrack to the 2002 Roman Polanski film The Pianist, where it is played by Janusz Olejniczak.