Schedule

We live in the “renaissance of the piano”, as the New York Times put it in summer. A new generation has made the piano popular again: pianists with a passion for virtuosity and a willingness to expand their repertoire. In addition to the usual classics they perform formerly scorned works or they discover neglected composers. LEGATO is a series dedicated to presenting some of this new movement's most fascinating pianists - their individual approaches, their fresh ideas and their music. During this episode, the spotlights are on the Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky. He performs works by Medtner (Fairy Tales), Llywelyn (Mutata Consilia), Beethoven (Diabelli Variations), Godowsky (Alt Wien) en Liadov (Three Preludes).

Watch the series ‘Discovering Masterpieces’, your audio-visual concert guide to the great masterpieces of classical music. The series brings you 20 half-hour documentaries on 20 classical masterpieces: acclaimed experts, famous soloists and outstanding conductors take you on a journey back to the time and place of composition. In today’s documentary, Ludwig van Beethoven’s ‘Symphony No. 5’ is discussed. The piece has the character of an appeal from the very start, when the four-note “fate” motif casts a spell on listeners. The German musicologist Armin Koch analyses the work, while the German Beethoven expert Wulf Konold illustrates the ingenious variations of the “fate” motif on piano, and also explains other features of this magnificent work.

The 2007 Europa-Konzert takes place in Berlin, on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Under the theme "The Year 1882", the acclaimed orchestra is lead by conductor Sir Simon Rattle as it interprets Brahms’ “Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra”, his Fourth Symphony and Wagners’ “Prelude to Act I” from Parsifal - the piece that marked the orchestra's first recorded work of September 1913 under the baton of Alfred Hertz. The soloists are Lisa Batiashvili (violin) and Truls Mørk (cello), established as sought-after young virtuosos and appearing regularly with leading orchestras and in recitals throughout the world. The “Kraftwerk und Kabelwerk Oberspree (power and cable factory)”, the remarkable venue of this concert, is one of the most impressive historical industrial building from the late 19th century in Berlin. As its impressive presence is infused with Brahms and Wagner, there is an air of total commitment, only enhanced further by the unusual surroundings. The collaboration of Lisa Batiashvili and Truls Mørk ensures a moving performance of Brahms’s last orchestral work, his Double Concerto. Following this, Rattle and the orchestra continue to demonstrate their outstanding musicianship, delivering Wagner's amazingly fresh and dynamic Fourth Symphony.

Mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny (Canada/Oman, 1998) performs ‘Seguidilla’ from Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen; ‘Asie’ from Maurice Ravel’s song cycle Shéhérazade; and ‘Tanti affetti in tal momento’ from Gioachino Rossini’s opera La donna del lago, during the semi-finals of the Aria division of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2022 (CMIM). She is accompanied by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jacques Lacombe. This performance was recorded at the Montreal Symphony House.

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.

Israeli violinist Itzhak Perlman and the Berlin Philharmonic perform the Violin Concerto, Op. 61 by Ludwig van Beethoven under the direction of Daniel Barenboim. Beethoven dedicated his Violin Concerto to his colleague Franz Clement, a prominent violinist of the time. The first of the piece was presented in Vienna in 1806. The piece was only interpreted a handful of times during the following decades. However, the work took a new lease of life in 1844, when the young violinist Joseph Joachim, barely 12 years old, performed with the London Philharmonic Society, under the direction of Mendelssohn. Since then, Beethoven's Violin Concerto has been one of the most important concertos in the classical repertoire. This work, renowned for its wide range of cadenzas, poses a great technical and intellectual challenge, brilliantly picked up by Perlman and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmonic during the 2008 edition of the Europakonzert, held in the renowned hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. The first edition of the Europakonzert was in 1991, and since then, the founding of the Berlin Philharmonic on May 1st in 1882 is annually celebrated with a concert in a European city of cultural significance. The orchestra opens with an outstanding performance of Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements.

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’.

Soprano Harriet Burns (United Kingdom, 1989) and pianist Ian Tindale (United Kingdom, 1990) perform Franz Schubert’s Verklärung, D. 59; Clara Schumann’s Er ist gekommen in Sturm und Regen, Op. 12, No. 2; ‘L’heure exquise’ from Reynaldo Hahn’s Chansons grises, and ‘Le printemps’ from Hahn’s Douze rondels; ‘Herzeleid’ from Robert Schumann’s Sechs Gesänge, Op. 107; ‘Le corbeau et le renard’ from André Caplet’s Trois fables; Alphons Diepenbrock’s Die Liebende schreibt, RC 20; ‘Seranilla de la zarzuela’ from Judith Weir’s A Spanish liederbooklet; Muriel Herbert’s Renouncement; and ‘Waldmädchen’ from Hugo Wolf’s Eichendorff-Lieder, during the final round of the International Vocal Competition 2019 – Lied Duo. This performance was recorded at Theater aan de Parade in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.

In this six-part documentary on the life and work of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, director Liloye Boubli takes viewers on a journey through the life and work of this legend of Brazilian classical music. The composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1887. Growing up during a time of immense social change in Brazil – with the abolishment of slavery in 1888, this was a time of social revolution and far-reaching modernizations – Villa-Lobos went on to become one of South America's best-known composers of all time. In this second episode, Liloye Boubli dives deeper into the oeuvre of Villa-Lobos, exploring his musical influences and scrutinizing the anatomy of some of his most famous compositions, particularly his early "Pequena Suíte" for cello and piano. This collection of dances and short pieces in six movements is indicative of the composer's heartfelt adoration for Johann Sebastian Bach.

Julijana Sarac performs the first/third movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 21 (“Waldstein”). The work was completed in 1804 and is considered one of Beethoven's greatest and most technically challenging piano sonatas.

For over two decades, the Berlin Philharmonic has celebrated its creation on May 1 with the annual Europakonzert, which in 2010 was held in Oxford. Led by Daniel Barenboim, the orchestra performed a program including Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1.

Chamber music ensemble The Philharmonics pays tribute to the music of Vienna in this March 9, 2011 concert from Vienna's Café Sperl. The ensemble, which consists of musicians from the Vienna Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic, performs arrangements of five popular waltzes by Johann Straus II. Among them are Kaiser-Walzer, Op. 437, and Schatz-Walzer, Op. 418, from the operetta The Gypsy Baron. In May 1921, the likes of Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern wrote these chamber music arrangements to raise funds for their Society for Private Musical Performances. Although both the concert and the auction of the scores were very successful, the Society eventually went under. In addition to these pieces by Strauss, The Philharmonics perform works by Fritz Kreisler, Leopold Godowsky, as well as The Philharmonics's first violinist, Tibor Kováč. The program comes to an end with Godowsky’s tribute to the city: Alt Wien.

On December 24, 2011, one of the world’s most renowned classical orchestras, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, celebrated the 75th anniversary of its founding. The film portrays the orchestra and its eventful history against the backdrop of Israel and the holocaust. Interwoven with individual biographies and archival footage, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s 75 years of history are brought back to life in concerts featuring Arturo Toscanini, Arthur Rubinstein, Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim and Itzhak Perlman. We also get the opportunity to watch the Israel Philharmonic in rehearsals, concerts and on tour

The Valerius Ensemble, consisting of Carola Ligt (flute), Robert Windak (violin), Eva Šušlíková (viola) and René Geesing (cello) played a concert in Concordia, Enschede on April 23, 2018. The program consists of Mozarts Flute Quartet No. 1, K. 285 and the Romanzo from Von Dohnányi’s Serenade Op. 10. Caroli Ligt follows with her own composition “Moods.” The ensembles closes with Thomas-Mifune’s and Joseph Haydn’s “Südamerikanische Saitensprünge.”

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. 3 in G major, K. 216. 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. Violin Concerto No. 3 opens with a theme the composer borrowed from the aria ‘Aer tranquillo’ of his then recent opera Il re pastore. In the beautiful Adagio, the strings are muted and the oboes make way for the flutes, which only sound in the second movement. The finale movement has a dance-like character. This performance was recorded at Cité de la Musique, France, in 2014.

For twenty years, the Berlin Philharmonic has celebrated its 1882 founding with a concert at a major European venue, and the 2011 event takes place at the magnificent Teatro Real in Madrid. Under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, the renowned orchestra performs Joaquín Rodrigo’s beloved Concierto de Aranjuez, Emmanuel Chabrier’s exuberant España, and Sergey Rachmaninov’s dramatic Second Symphony. For the first piece, the orchestra is joined by famous flamenco guitarist Cañizares, whose virtuosity and sensitivity are on full display in this multi-faceted and subtle work. The soloist's virtuosity, his technique, harmony, strength and sensitivity have distinguished Cañizares as a unique artist, considered one of the great flamenco musicians of the turn of the century. Above anything else, however, Cañizares praises simplicity and purity of sound, transmitting a message with a high emotional impact, as is proven in this splendid concert.

Every year, the Europakonzert is hosted by the Berliner Philharmoniker in a notorious concert hall or on a special location. This years concert is performed at the magnificent Royal Albert Hall in London. The Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink closes with Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring which he wrote in 1913 for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The première caused a lot of sensation and near-riot in the audience because of the avant-garde nature, music and choreography of the piece. The Rite of Spring is now considered as one of the masterpieces of classical music history and has influenced many 20th-century music composers. The encore is Tchaikovsky's Flower Waltz from the Nutcracker.

The award-winning Imperial Ice Stars are 26 Olympic, World, European and National Championship skaters, who jointly hold over 250 competition medals, performing theatrical ice dancing on a frozen theatre stage. The Imperial Ice Stars have received five-star praise from critics and standing ovations from audiences at some of the world's most prestigious venues - London’s Royal Albert Hall and Sadler's Wells, Singapore's Esplanade Theatre, Montreal's Place des Arts and Cape Town's Artscape. This stunning performance, filmed at the Melbourne Theatre Company in Australia, offers a new look on the secular tale of Sleeping beauty, with the original music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893).

Quarteto Radamés Gnattali performs Heitor Villa-Lobos's String Quartet No. 7 at the Palácio do Catete in Rio de Janiero, Brasil. The ensemble was founded in 2006 and consists of Carla Rincón and Francisco Roa (violins), Fernando Thebaldi (viola), and Hugo Pilger (cello). The quartet, which specializes in Brazilian music, focuses on educational activities. Their recording of all of Villa-Lobos string quartets is a major achievement and was very well received by international music critics. Except for his Bachianas brasileiras, the performance of many of the Brazilian's compositions is limited to Latin America. Highly regarded as a composer, conductor and educator in his native country, Villa-Lobos has operas, symphonies, concertos, piano repertoire, choral music, and seventeen string quartets to his credit.

This year the Berlin Philharmonic and their musical director Sir Simon Rattle welcome the New Year together with multi-awarded Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin. Kissin's musicality, the depth and poetic quality of his interpretations, and his extraordinary virtuosity have placed him at the forefront of today's pianists. This concert he will feature as star soloist in a performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16. Furthermore, the Berlin Phillharmonic performs Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance No. 1, Op. 46, Grieg’s Symphonic Dance No. 2, Op. 64, an orchestrated version of Alborada del gracioso by Ravel, R. Strauss’ Salome’s Dance Salome, excerpts from Stravinsky’s The Firebird and Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 1.

Watch the series ‘Discovering Masterpieces’, your audio-visual concert guide to the great masterpieces of classical music. The series brings you 20 half-hour documentaries on 20 classical masterpieces: acclaimed experts, famous soloists and outstanding conductors take you on a journey back to the time and place of composition. In today’s documentary, Bela Bartok’s ‘Concerto for Orchestra’ is discussed. This piece is one of the most frequently performed works of the twentieth century. Pierre Boulez explains how he interpreted this composition with the Berlin Philharmonic. He also describes its fascination against the backdrop of Bartok’s biography.

Wouter Bergenhuizen (1988, The Netherlands) performs Die drei Zigeuner (S383), Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth (S382bis) and La lugubre gondola (S134bis) during semi-final II (chamber music) of the 11th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, held in TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht 2017. The competition actively presents, develops and promotes piano talents from around the world. In doing so, it has become one of the prominent gateways to the international professional classical music scene for young musicians. The International Franz Liszt Piano Competition was founded in 1986 in the Netherlands and since has built a reputation as one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions.

Created by Antonio Gades in collaboration with Carlos Saura, this matchless production shows how the explosive power and intensity of feeling in traditional Spanish flamenco can bring vividly to life the sultry passion, earthy emotion, love and rivalry that is Carmen. Vanesa Vento lives and breathes Carmen, emphasizing the many faces of this character, female, passionate and freedom fighter, but fickle in love as she shamelessly flirts with men she likes, inspiring desire, rivalry and jealousy amongst both the men and other women. But Carmen’s gypsy wildness becomes her own downfall when she discards Don José’s (Ángel Gil) love for that of the bullfighter (Jairo Rodríguez), as possessed by a piercing despair Don José kills her.

Conrad van Alphen conducts Sinfonia Rotterdam in a performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Overture-Fantasy “Romeo and Juliet”. Van Alphen founded Sinfonia Rotterdam in 2000. Under his passionate leadership, this orchestra has developed into one of the Netherland’s best-known orchestras. Tchaikovsky based his composition on Shakespeare’s famous play “Romeo and Juliet”. After finishing a first version of Romeo and Juliet in 1870, Tchaikovsky rewrote sections of the composition twice, completing the third and final version ten years later. The Overture-Fantasy opens with a slow introduction, primarily led by the clarinets and bassoons. The composition is dominated by its famous love theme, representing the love between Romeo and Juliet. This beautiful theme is introduced in the first half of the piece, played by the English horn and violas, and recurs in different sections of the composition. At the end, the love theme is heard in minor mode, which emphasized the tragic element of the story of the two lovers.

Aleksandr Khramouchin (cello) and Eliane Reyes (piano) perform Sergei Prokofiev’s Cello Sonata, Op. 119. Prokofiev was so impressed by young cellist Mstislav Rostropovich’s performance of a sonata written by the composer’s long-time friend Nikolai Miaskovsky, Prokofiev was determined to compose a cello sonata of his own for Rostropovich. The result was Prokofiev’s Cello Sonata, Op. 119 (1949), which saw its premiere at the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in 1950, with Rostropovich as the soloist. Prokofiev’s musical partnership with Rostropovich influenced some of his other cello works as well. His Symphony-Concerto in E minor for cello and orchestra, Op. 125 (1950-1952) is another product of this collaboration between composer and cellist. The current performance was recorded as part of the Musicorum Festival at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels, Belgium, 2021.