Schedule

Russian pianist Nikolay Lugansky has received world-wide praise for his interpretations of the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff. In this wonderful recital, the great pianist presents works by the Russian Romantic composer as well as Ludwig van Beethoven and Alexander Glazunov. Lugansky opens his concert with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2, ‘Moonlight’, followed by Alexander Glazunov’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in E minor, Op. 75. Then Lugansky performs a selection of works by Rachmaninoff: Rachmaninoff’s piano transcription of J. S. Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E major; a selection of Études-Tableaux (Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 8, Op, 33, and Nos. 5 and 6, Op. 39); Lilac (Op. 21, No. 5); Prelude in C minor, Op. 23 No. 7; and Rachmaninoff’s transcription of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Lullaby (Op. 16 No. 1). This performance was recorded at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia, on June 4, 2021.

René Pape perfectly embodies the new generation of opera singers: with a current and relaxed appearance, he craves new challenges and demonstrates an openness to ambitious experimentation. In the musical film My Heart Is Burning, René Pape sings and plays various roles that showcase the impressive versatility of his voice and the many facets of his personality. Directed by Sibylle Muth.

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.

J. S. Bach’s six Brandenburg Concerto’s belong to his best-known works. The composer wrote these concertos between 1711 and 1720 and dedicated them in 1721 to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg. In celebration of the pieces’ 300th anniversary, Czech harpsichordist and conductor Václav Luks and the renowned Baroque ensemble Collegium 1704 recorded all six Brandenburg Concertos on historical instruments in 2021. The concertos are based on the Italian concerto grosso form, in which a group of solo instruments is set against a large ensemble. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos feature remarkable combinations of solo instruments and virtuoso solos. In this performance at the Hall of Mirrors in the Köthen Castle, Germany, Luks and his Collegium 1704 present Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050. Remarkably, the harpsichord appears as a solo instrument here, along with the flute and violin, rather than as an accompanying instrument. The piece is therefore considered one of Bach’s very first keyboard concertos.

‘Beware the armed man!’ The warning about ‘L’homme armé’ sounds twice as powerful from the mouth of Josquin Desprez: he twice used the popular medieval melody as the basis for composing a mass. Earlier in this Festival, the Missa super voces musicales was performed by Marco Mencoboni and Katharina Bäuml; today Lionel Meunier is the duty chef, with the brilliant Missa Sexti toni, in which the melody keeps popping up all over the place.

The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence Musical May) is Italy’s oldest opera and arts festival. It was founded in 1933 with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas. Over the years, the scope widened, and orchestral concerts have long been an integral part of the festival. As part of the festival’s 2021 edition, Sir John Eliot Gardiner leads the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a wonderful concert program that includes Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17, ‘Little Russian’, and Edward Elgar’s Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, better known as the Enigma Variations. Written in 1872, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 bears the nickname ‘Little Russian’, as the composer used folk tunes in his work from Ukraine, then known as ‘Little Russia’. Completed in 1899, Elgar’s Enigma Variations is an orchestral work comprising a theme and fourteen variations, each variation being a musical sketch of one of the composer’s friends. This performance was recorded at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, in 2021.

Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan and the Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris recorded all of Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies in 2014-2015. In this program, maestro Jordan presents Beethoven’s final symphony: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125. He conducts the Orchestre and Choeurs de l’Opéra national de Paris and four vocal soloists Ricarda Merbeth (soprano), Daniela Sindram (mezzosoprano), Robert Dean Smith (tenor), and Günther Groissböck (bass). Beethoven composed his last Symphony when his hearing had all but gone, between 1822 and 1824. Symphony No. 9 is the longest and most ambitious of Beethoven’s symphonies. Most striking is the piece’s finale movement, which includes a choir and four vocal soloists singing a setting of Friedrich Schiller’s poem ‘An die Freude’ (Ode to Joy). This performance was recorded at Opéra Bastille in Paris, France, in 2015.

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.

Cellist Nicolas Altstaedt performs J. S. Bach's Suite No. 5 in C minor for cello solo, BWV 1011. This performance was recorded at St. Mary’s Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

The documentary Summertime at the Domaine Forget introduces internationally renowned treasure: Domaine Forget festival in Saint-Irénée, Québec. Domaine Forget is one of Canada's leading music academies and hosts this annual festival to promote music and dance. Every summer, 500 music students from around the world gather for an intensive course program featuring: masterclasses, individual lessons, chamber music sessions, lectures, and special workshops.

Maestro Herbert Blomstedt makes his debut with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra at 2020’s Lucerne Festival conducting Ludwig van Beethoven’s celebrated Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, “Eroica”. The sprightly Swedish conductor celebrated his 93rd birthday just one month before this performance. This remarkable performance was recorded at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Center (KKL), Switzerland, in August 2020.

Bernard Haitink conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden, 2015. On the program is Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68. The composer wrote his Symphony No. 6 between 1802 and 1808. Nicknamed "Pastoral Symphony," this piece is one of the few examples of program music for the German composer. Unlike other Beethoven symphonies, this piece has not four, but five movements, each with a programmatic title.

Mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska (Canada, 1993) and pianist Michael Sikich (United States, 1993) perform ‘The sailor’s song’ from Joseph Haydn’s Six original canzonettas, Book 2 – Hob. XXVIa; Franz Schubert’s Auf dem See, Op. 92 No. 2 (D. 543); ‘Botschaft’ from Johannes Brahms’s Fünf Lieder, Op. 47; ‘Röselein, Röselein!’ from Robert Schumann’s Sechs Gesänge, Op. 89; ‘A girl’ and ‘Pan is dead’ from Robert Heppener’s Four songs on poems by Ezra Pound; ‘La Flûte de Pan’ and ‘La chevelure’ from Claude Debussy’s Trois chansons de Bilitis, L. 90; Pauline Viardot’s ‘Haï luli!’; and ‘Produzhdeniye vesnï’ (Spring awakening), and ‘Kreytserova sonata’ (Kreutzer sonata) from Dmitri Shostakovich’s Satirï (Satires – Pictures of the past), Op. 109, 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.

Antoni Wit conducts the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of Chopin's Piano Concertos No. 1, Op. 11 and No. 2, Op. 21. Soloists are Nikolai Demidenko and Evgeny Kissin. After performing the first concerto, Demidenko encores with Chopin's Mazurka Op. 17/4. Kissin closes the concert with Chopin's Etude Op. 10/12 and the Waltz in E minor, Op. post. This concert was part of the celebration of Chopin's 200th anniversary in 2010. Chopin composed the second concerto one year before the Concerto No. 1 and completed both works at the age of 20, before leaving his home country Poland and moving to Paris.