Schedule

For the Easter Festival 2017 in Baden-Baden, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker draw their inspiration from Tosca, the most well-known and most brilliant of all the Puccini operas. And that is deservedly so since Tosca is not merely a work of art, but also a gripping suspense-packed story. The opera premiered in 1900 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. The three-act opera is based on an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. For this performance, Philipp Himmelmann created a spectacular staging that offers a new view of this beloved classic. With Kristine Opolais as Tosca and Marcelo Álvarez as Mario Cavaradossi.

In this concert, Herbert Blomstedt conducts the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Kammerchor for the last time as the Gewandhaus Music Director at the Leipzig Bachfest 2005. After seven successful years in Leipzig, the maestro performs J. S. Bach's Mass in B minor (BWV 232), one of the greatest works of church music ever written. Soloists are Ruth Ziesak (soprano), Anna Larsson (alto), Christoph Genz (tenor), and Dietrich Henschel (bass). The mass is a musical setting of the complete Ordinary of the Latin Mass and is one of last compositions Bach completed, just one year before his death, in 1750. Blomstedt's reading of the work is conceived and executed on the highest level with the performance pulsating with life. Since 1999, the Leipzig Bachfest has been regarded as the world’s leading festival celebrating the music of Bach.

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, Claude Debussy’s ‘La Mer’. This masterpiece of suggestion and subtlety richly depicts the ocean. As a specialist in French Impressionism, the British pianist and writer Paul Roberts - also known from the BBC television series “Play It Again” - introduces Debussy’s work with great passion.

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) in Antonín Dvořák’s spirited Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 (Nos. 1-8). These 16 folk dances earned Dvořák, who was a relative newcomer when he wrote them, great success. Originally composed for piano four hands, the London Symphony Orchestra plays the orchestral version of these brilliant works. This performance was recorded at LSO St. Luke’s on Old Street in London, UK, on September 23, 2020.

Bass-baritone Matthias Hoffmann (Austria, 1991) and pianist Lisa Ochsendorf (Germany, 1991) perform ‘A. Very pleasant’ from Charles Ives’s song ‘Memories’; ‘Nachtwanderer’ from Hans Erich Pfitzner’s Fünf Lieder, Op. 7; ‘Nachts’ from Hans Sommer’s Zehn Lieder, Op. 9; ‘Da unten im Tale’ from Johannes Brahms’s Deutsche Volkslieder, WoO. 33; Henri Duparc’s Chanson triste; Bart Visman’s Vermeer's gold; ‘La maîtresse volage’ from Francis Poulenc’s Chansons gaillardes, FP 42; Franz Schubert’s Gruppe aus dem Tartarus, Op. 24, No. 1, D. 583; ‘Na smert’ chizhika’ (On the death of a linnet) from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Twelve Romances, Op. 21; and ‘Sprich, Scheherazade’ from Moritz Eggert’s Neue Dichter Lieben, 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.

Zoltán Kocsis (1952-2016) performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, KV 488. The Virtuosi de Praha are conducted by Jirí Belohlávek in a concert that took place in Prague in 1999. Mozart completed the concerto on March 2, 1786, around the time his Le nozze di Figaro premiered. The final rondo puts Mozart’s musical humour on full display. Themes are tossed back and forth between the soloist and orchestra as they chase each other through unexpected key changes.

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.

Armagh is one of the oldest cities of Ireland and also the place St-Patrick choose to build his first stone church. Nowhere in the world is the connection with Saint-Patrick more meaningful than in this city and the neighbouring counties in which he lived. This program brings the viewers to places most associated with Saint-Patrick and brings highlights of the annual concert, held in the cathedral that bears his name. Join composer and presenter John Anderson as he conducts a celebratory and reflective event honoring Saint-Patrick. A range of choirs unite in a unique evening of music and spoken words in the beautiful cathedral setting. Recorded March 9th, 2019.

Soprano Erika Baikoff (United States, 1994) and pianist Gary Beecher (Ireland, 1993) perform Franz Schubert’s ‘Suleika I, Was bedeutet die Bewegung’, Op. 14, No. 1 (D. 720); Die Blumensprache, Op. 173, No. 5 (D. 519); and, Die Gebüsche, D. 646; ‘Lied vom Winde’ and ‘Der Knabe und das Immlein’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder; ‘Fleur jetée’ from Gabriel Fauré’s Quatre melodies, Op. 39; ‘C’ from Francis Poulenc’s Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon, FP 122; ‘Les lilas qui avaient fleuri’ from Lili Boulanger’s Clairières dans le ciel; Johanna Bordewijk-Roepman’s ‘Oranje may-lied’; and, ‘Eti letniye nochi’ (These summer nights) from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Twelve romances, Op. 14, 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.

Indian conductor Zubin Mehta (1936) became Music Director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) in 1977 and was appointed Music Director for Life in 1981. On July 18, 1996, Mehta led the IPO in its first-ever performance of Richard Strauss’s tone poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28. Renowned as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of the great symphonic repertoire—especially the Romantic works of Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss—Mehta had conducted this popular masterpiece many times before. However, this was the first occasion he rehearsed it from the very beginning with the orchestra. This episode of ‘In Rehearsal’ offers an intimate look at the dialogue between Mehta and the musicians as they explore Strauss’s tone poem together.

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, Ying Li (China, 1997) performs Claude Debussy’s Images, book I; Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1; and Franz Liszt’s Paraphrase from Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’. This performance was recorded at Teatro EDI Barrio’s in Milan, in February 2020.

Every year in late August, the renowned Early Music Festival takes place in the Dutch city of Utrecht. It is the world's largest festival focused on early music, attracting an audience of over 70 thousand visitors. Due to the corona pandemic, the 2020 edition of the festival took place in an alternative form, offering an alternative program that included live concerts as well as daily livestreams of concerts and archive recordings. As part of this festival edition, forte pianist Artem Belogurov and cellist Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde present a program devoted to works by Ludwig van Beethoven. The duo met in Amsterdam in 2015, performing many recitals at several European and North American festivals and in concert halls. On the program are Beethoven's Variations for cello and forte piano on ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’ from W. A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, WoO 46, Rondo in C major for fortepiano, Op. 51 no. 1, Rondo in G major for fortepiano, Op. 51 no. 2, and Sonata in F major for cello and fortepiano, Op. 5 no. 1. This concert was recorded at St. Gertrude's Chapel in Utrecht on August 27, 2020.

Beethoven's Hair traces the unlikely journey of a lock of hair cut from Ludwig van Beethoven's corpse, and unravels the mystery of the composer’s tortured life and death. The film begins in modern times, when some Beethoven enthusiasts purchase the hair at a Sotheby's auction. The story then investigates the lock's previous owners. Eventually, science reveals Beethoven's “medical secret”. Set to a lush score of some of Beethoven's most glorious music, the film explores the world of forensic testing, throwing into sharp relief the romance of 19th-century Vienna and the horrors of 20th-century Nazi Germany. Directed by Larry Weinstein.

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 perform Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36. The composer wrote the symphony between 1877 and 1878, and dedicated it to Nadezhda von Meck – an exceptionally wealthy widow and great admirer of Tchaikovsky’s music, whom the composer described as ‘my best friend’. Tchaikovsky explained in his letters that the symphony is characterization of the nature of fate. The work opens with a powerful motif in the horns and bassoons representing fate. The second movement expresses melancholy, whereas the third presents ‘fleeting images that pass through the imagination when one has begun to drink a little wine’. Although the ‘fate’ motif reappears toward the end of the final movement, the movement has a festive character. This performance was recorded at La Cité de la musique in Paris in 2016.

After recording all 32 Ludwig van Beethoven piano sonatas to celebrate the composer's 250th birth anniversary, celebrated Italian pianist Riccardo Schwartz decided to record solo piano works by Robert Schumann. Davidsbündlertänze (Dances of the League of David), Op. 6, is a group of eighteen pieces for piano composed in 1837, named after Schumann's fictional music society Davidsbündler. In these, the active and the passive aspects of Schumann’s personality, represented by the characters Florestan and Eusebius, engage in musical dialogues about contemporary music. Acclaimed pianist Riccardo Schwartz (1986) has performed as a soloist with many world-renowned conductors, including Gustav Kuhn and Yuri Temirkanov. His acclaimed performances include recitals and concertos for piano and orchestra in many prestigious concert halls.

Soprano Vassia Alati (the Netherlands/Greece, 1992) and pianist Yuto Kiguchi (Japan, 1989) perform ‘C’est l’extase langoureuse’ from Claude Debussy’s Arriettes oubliées, L. 63, and ‘Fantoches’ from Debussy’s Fêtes galantes, L. 86; Bart Visman’s Het goud van Vermeer; ‘Lerchengesang’ from Johannes Brahms’s Vier Gesänge, Op. 70; Franz Schubert’s Gruppe aus dem Tartarus, Op. 24, No. 1, D. 583; ‘Now the leaves are falling fast’ from Benjamin Britten’s On this island, Op. 11; and ‘I gria zoi’ (Old mother life) from Manolis Kalomiris’s Mayovotana (Magic herbs), 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.

Hartmut Haenchen conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Dutch National Opera in a production of Richard Wagner's opera Das Rheingold, the first opera of the four-part cycle 'Der Ring des Nibelungen'. Richard Wagner, perhaps the greatest innovator of the opera genre in the nineteenth century, aimed for the creation of a ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ in which theatre, music and words are united. The opera cycle was composed between 1853 and 1874, and consists of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung. Noteworthy about Wagner's operas is his use of the so-called ‘Leitmotiv’, a recurrent melodic motif that stands for a certain idea or character. Moreover, Wagner uses unconventional harmonies and very extensive orchestral instrumentation. The entire cycle is still performed annually at the Bayreuth Festival, where it premiered in 1876. This 2014 performance was recorded at Het Muziektheater Amsterdam under the artistic direction of Pierre Audi. Among the soloists are Thomas Johannes Mayer, Vladimir Baykov, Marcel Reijans, Stefan Margita, and Werner van Mechelen.

In this splendid 2013 concert from the Church of Verbier, Switzerland, Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos and Chinese pianist Yuja Wang join forces to interpret three sonatas by Johannes Brahms. Leonidas Kavakos rose to fame in 1985, when he became the youngest musician to ever win the first price of the prestigious Sibelius Competition. With Yuja Wang, an accomplished artist at young age herself, he forms a masterful duo of chamber music interpretation. The programme features Brahm's Sonata for Piano and Violin, No. 1 in G major, Op. 78, also known as the "Regensonate," Sonata for Piano and Violin, No. 2 in A major, Op. 100, the "Thuner Sonata," a portrait of the Swiss lake of Thun's peaceful scenery. It comes to a fiery and passionate finale with Brahm's Sonata for Piano and Violin, No. 3 in D minor, Op 108.

Celebrated German violinist Isabelle Faust performs J. S. Bach’s Sonata No. 3 in C major (BWV 1005). The work is part of the composer’s well-known Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001-1006). Sonata No. 3 includes an extensive fugue in which Bach employs many contrapuntal techniques. In this wonderful performance, Faust shows her mastery of Bach’s technically challenging piece. This performance was recorded at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany, in 2020.

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, Ying Li (China, 1997) performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sonata No. 13 in B-flat major, K. 333, and Béla Bartók’s Sonata, BB 88, Sz.80. This performance was recorded at Nuovo Teatro Ariberto in Milan, in June 2021.

Olivier Latry is the current holder of the Great Organ of Notre Dame. Between its original religious function and the interest of composers of all times, the great organ Cavaillé-Coll reveals its absolute modernity. Latry is considered one of the greatest organists of his generation, both in France and internationally. He sees himself as an ambassador of French music from the 17th through the 20th centuries as well as an advocate for the art of improvisation. Pieces played in the film are: Pierre Cochereau’s Boléro, Louis Vierne’s Carillon of Westminster and Scherzo from Symphony No. 2, Alexandre Guilmant’s Sonata No. 1, Charles-Marie Widor’s Gothic Symphony, Marcel Dupre’s Cortège, Litanie and J. S. Bach’s Passacaille & Fugue.