Schedule

Tenor Zhuohan Sun (China, 1993) and pianist Sara Pavlovic (Serbia, 1996) perform ‘Wanderlied’ from Robert Schumann’s Kerner-Lieder, Op. 35; ‘Der Abend kommt gezogen’ from Alphons Diepenbrock’s Drie ballades, Op. 1; Gabriel Fauré’s Prison, Op. 83, No. 1; ‘Ganymed’ from Hugo Wolf’s Goethe-Lieder; Franz Schubert’s Nacht und Träume, D. 827; Zaiyi Lu’s The bridge in my homeland; ‘Mit Myrten und Rosen’ from Schumann’s Liederkreis, Op. 24; ‘C’ from Francis Poulenc’s Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon, FP 122; and ‘Scheiden und Meiden’ from Gustav Mahler’s Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit, during the final round of the International Vocal Competition 2021 – Lied Duo. This performance was recorded at De Verkadefabriek in ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.

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.

Can we get into Beethoven’s creative mind, especially in the last phase of his life, when he was coping with severe hearing loss? Tom Beghin’s new recording of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas Opus 109, 110, and 111 is an artistic exploration of how Beethoven’s musicking was shaped by the work environment he created with the help of colleagues and friends. Not only does pianist Tom Beghin perform Beethoven’s trilogy of pianistic masterpieces on a magnificent new replica of Beethoven’s Broadwood piano, he uses a reconstruction of the Gehörmaschine that was mounted on the composer’s piano so he could continue to create music as his hearing declined. ‘You do hear better when you bring your head under this machine, don’t you?’ André Stein asked Beethoven. Two centuries later, we too can bring our heads under the machine and wonder: Do we hear Beethoven differently? Beghin draws us inside the hearing machine, where we feel as well as hear the essence of Beethoven’s rambunctious and irresistibly poetic musical vibrations. Inside the Hearing Machine invites us into the multisensory playground of a deaf composer for whom the machine was more than a hearing aid and who interacted with his instrument through much more than sound.

This documentary by Christoph Keller follows various participants and teachers participating in the International Summer Piano Academy.

The great clarinettist Paolo Beltramini plays a program of solo pieces for clarinet on Stingray Brava. In this broadcast, Beltramini performs C.P.E. Bach’s Solfeggietto, Béla Kovàc’s Hommage à Paganini, and Igor Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for Clarinet Solo. Paolo Beltramini is the only Italian clarinettist to have won first prize at the prestigious Prague Spring International Clarinet Competition (1996). As a duo with pianist Roberto Arosio, he won the International Chamber Music Competitions in Paris (1996) and Trapani (1997). These awards helped establish Beltramini’s reputation as one of the most interesting wind-instrument virtuosos on the international concert circuit. He was principal clarinettist with Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Swiss Orchestra della Svizzera italiana.

Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons leads the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in a performance of Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, ‘From the New World’. Dvořák wrote this famous symphony in 1893, during his three-year term as Director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York. The Conservatory had hired the nationalist composer to create a new, national style of art music for the United States. Dvořák took elements of African American and Native American music, including pentatonic melodies and syncopated rhythms, and applied them to his symphony. This performance was recorded at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, in 2017.

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. 6 in B-flat major, Op. 18 No. 6; and String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132. This concert performance was recorded at Philharmonie de Paris on November 24, 2020.

Star pianist Daniel Barenboim performs the first and second books of Isaac Albéniz’s piano suite Iberia. Composed between 1905 and 1908, Iberia is in four books of three pieces each. This masterpiece paints twelve musical portraits of Spanish regions, traditions, and atmospheres. This performance was recorded at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on August 19, 2000.

The Danish National Symphony Orchestra once again opens the gates to magical worlds with an enchanting concert program. Under the baton of German conductor Christian Schumann, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Concert Choir, and Danish National Junior Choir team up to perform music from the most popular fantasy movies, TV series and video games, including The Lord of The Rings, Game of Thrones, The Hobbit, The Witcher, and League of Legends. Featured soloists in this concert are Norwegian mezzo-soprano Tuva Semmingsen, Canadian-Portuguese soprano Cassandra Lemoine, Danish musician Bjørn Fjæstad, and British actor David Bateson. This performance was recorded at the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, in April 2023.

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in the 2016 edition of the Europakonzert. This time, it takes place at the beautiful Baroque church of Røros, a Norwegian mining town whose intact picturesque old town makes it a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The talented Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang is the star soloist in Mendelssohn’s songful Violin Concerto, Op. 64, which she plays with warmth, elegance and effortless virtuosity.

By popular demand, Canada's Ballet Jörgen reprises the tragic tale of the Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia, 10 years after the ballet's premiere and 100 years after Anastasia's story. Created by acclaimed choreographer Bengt Jörgen, the ballet is set to an original score for orchestra by Russian composer Ivan Barbotin. He previously wrote the scores for two of Canada's Ballet Jörgen's most popular ballets: The Velveteen Rabbit and The Emperor’s New Clothes. Anastasia is both the tragic story of an innocent young girl and a modern myth: the exact events of that fateful summer of 1918 are shrouded in the mists of time. The ballet explores this lovable yet controversial main character's emotions, aspirations, and affections, as she is faced with a world in turmoil that undergoes an inevitable transformation. Anastasia is a sumptuous ballet performance, where costume and set design as well as the exquisite stage lighting reveal Canada's Ballet Jörgen's dedication to creative quality.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Italian violinist Laura Marzadori and Italian pianist Andrea Bacchetti performed a wonderful concert at Teatro Sociale di Camogli, Italy. On the program are Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sonata No. 18 in G major, K. 301; Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24; Manuel de Falla’s Suite Populaire Espagnole (transcription by Paul Kochaniski); Camille Saint-Saëns’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor, Op. 28; and ‘Méditation’ from Jules Massenet’s opera Thaïs. This performance was recorded on March 8, 2022.

Three of classical music's most beloved stars gather for a concert devoted entirely to Beethoven's music, recorded in 1995 at the Berliner Philharmonie by Barrie Gavin. Daniel Barenboim (piano), Yo-Yo Ma (cello) and Itzhak Perlman (violin) perform the Triple Concerto, op. 56 and the Fantaisie chorale, op. 80. Daniel Barenboim then takes the baton to conduct the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Choir of the Staatsoper and soloists Carola Höhn, Katharina Kammerloher, Andrea Bönig, Endrik Wottrich, Pär Lindskog, and René Pape.

In 1722, when Johann Sebastian Bach lived in Köthen, Germany, he published a book of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys. This collection became known as The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One, BWV 846–869. About two decades later, Bach compiled a second book in Leipzig, which became known as The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book Two, BWV 870-893. Bach intended these pieces for the clavier, which includes the harpsichord, clavichord, and organ. Despite this unclarity, these pieces are regarded as some of the most important works in the history of Western classical music. In this broadcast, Joanna MacGregor plays Preludes and Fugues Nos. 13 to 24 (BWV 858-869) from Book One of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, recorded at the Palau Güell in Barcelona, Spain, in 2010.

The beautiful Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg formed the background for the 1996 edition of the annual Europakonzert of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In honour of the Russian hosts, the concert opened with highlights from Prokofiev's 'Romeo and Juliet', followed by the Cavatina from Rachmaninoff's opera 'Aleko'. After the intermission, Kolja Blacher featured in the two 'Violin Romances' by Beethoven, followed by a performance of his 'Seventh Symphony'. The orchestra is led by maestro Claudio Abbado.

‘Iolanta’ and ‘Perséphone’ – A double bill consisting of two stage works that “represent an ideal of beauty, poetry and hope” forms this new production by Peter Sellars in Madrid from the Teatro Real from 2012. In both works, the progression from darkness to light acts as an initiation rite that completely transforms the existential attitude of the leading characters. This broadcast features ‘Iolanta’, a mature composition by Tchaikovsky, which was premiered in 1892. It contains all aspects of the composer’s mastery: beautiful melodies, clear structure, and genuine passion in its many varieties. The Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real are conducted by Teodor Currentzis. The soloists in this production are Ekaterina Scherbachenko (Iolanta), Alexej Markov (Robert), Pavel Cernoch (Vaudémont), Dmitry Ulianov (King René), Willard White (Ibn-Hakia), Vasily Efimov (Alméric), Pavel Kudinov (Bertrand), Ekaterina Semenchuk (Marta), Irina Churilova (Brigita) and Letitia Singleton (Irina Churilova).

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.

Violinist Daniel Rowland, violist Rachel Roberts, cellist Julian Arp, and pianist Diana Ketler perform Richard Strauss’s Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 13, as part of the Stiftfestival 2016 in the Dutch village of Weerselo. In his early years, Strauss tried to compose different types of chamber music works, including a piano quartet. The young composer started writing the Piano Quartet in C minor in the spring of 1884 and completed it one year later. The work is in four movements and shows considerable influence from Johannes Brahms. It premiered on December 8, 1885 in Weimar and was performed by members of the Halír Quartet with Strauss himself playing the piano part. The following year the work won the first prize given by the Berliner Tonkünstlerverein for a piano quartet. This performance was recorded at the Stiftkerk in Weerselo, the Netherlands.