Schedule

Designed by the German architect Werner March, Berlin's Waldbühne is an amphitheater that seats over 22,000 people. It was built between 1934 and 1936 for the Summer Olympics of 1936. Since WWII, the Waldbühne has been used for a variety of events, including boxing matches, film screenings, and classical and rock concerts. Annually, the Berlin Philharmonic performs a stunning open concert. In this broadcast of the 1996 edition, Claudio Abbado conducts the orchestra and invites bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, tenor Sergei Larin, and soprano Angela Gheorghiu to sing Verdi arias. This program also features Giuseppe Verdi's Overture Nabucco, duet Et lui (from Don Carlos), Fire chorus Fuoco di gioia, Jago's Credo, Gia nella notte (from Otello), Triumphal March, and chorus Gloria all' Egitto from Aida. You can also discover Vincenzo Bellini's Eccomi from I Capuleti e i Montecchi.

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. Furthermore, Vadim Repin, one of today’s most fascinating artists, features as soloist in Bruch’s Concerto for Violin No. 1, Op, 26. The orchestra concludes with a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, of which the second movement, Allegretto, gained instant popularity after its premiere in 1813 and remains a crowd favorite.

Italian cellist and conductor Enrico Bronzi leads the Orchestra da Camera di Perugia in this intimate concert at the magnificent Basilica di San Pietro in the Italian city of Perugia, recorded on September 27, 2021. Opening the program is a cello performance by Bronzi with the Orchestra da Camera di Peruglia: the Andante cantabile from Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 13 in D major, Hob. I:13. Then, Italian pianists Linda Di Carlo and Marco Scolastra join the orchestra for a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Concerto for two pianos and orchestra in E-flat major, K. 365. Next up is Mozart’s concert aria "Ch'io mi scordi di te? ... Non temer, amato bene", K. 505, sung by Italian mezzosoprano Marina Comparato. Accompanied by Linda Di Carlo on piano, she closes the concert with the aria “Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Camille Saint-Saëns’s opera Samson and Delilah.

Critics praise her, and the audience loves her. Kristine Opolais, the prima donna and the star of the New York Metropolitan Opera, performs in her home country Latvia.  She gives a splendid concert with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, at the Latvian National Opera, in 2017. The program includes arias from operas that made Kristine an international star. It includes mostly Italian music that will encourage you to dream about love and think about what is truly important. Enjoy the most beautiful arias and instrumental pieces of opera by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, Camille Saint-Saëns, Arrigo Boito, and Alfredo Catalani.

Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886) composed 13 symphonic poems, largely inspired by literary texts. The composer himself wrote piano duet arrangements for these pieces, showcasing his incredible ability of imitating a full orchestra on the piano. Liszt, one of the 19th century’s most important piano virtuosos, strongly influenced the further development of piano music. The Romantic period was the era of the virtuoso pianists: the piano was the instrument of choice for countless musicians and listeners alike. No house of standing could do without a piano: it was a status symbol. Piano music was played in concert halls, palaces, salons, churches and public houses alike. Liszt’s symphonic poem no. 4, ‘Orpheus’, breathes a meditative atmosphere. No. 3, ‘Les Préludes’, is best known in its symphonic version – the piano version presented here is rarely heard. The work dates back to the period 1848 – 1854 and was initially meant to serve as introduction to a choral cycle to be based on the texts of the poet Joseph Autran, ‘Les quatre éléments’: earth, air, water and fire. In this broadcast, the Italian piano duo of Marco Sollini and Salvatore Barbatano performs these Liszt piano works. These recordings were made at the beautiful 12th century church of San Marco in the small but picturesque village of Ponzano di Fermo, as part of the 2015 edition of the annual, itinerant festival ‘Armonie della sera’ in the Italian province of Le Marche.

Is citation plagiarism? Not in the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Composers cut, pasted, and conjured with existing melodies and created new works from historical material. The singer-researchers of Cappella Pratensis closely examine Josquin’s ingenious tricks of the trade and place him next to examples and followers like Busnois, Ockeghem, and Willaert.

Iván Fischer leads his Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO) in a concert program dedicated to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven. The program opens with the composer’s Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21. Afterward, Fischer conducts Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, in which Richard Goode features as the soloist. The acclaimed American pianist (1943) is known for his interpretations of the Beethoven repertoire. Goode recorded all five Beethoven piano concertos with the BFO and Fischer, earning him exceptional critical acclaim and a Grammy Award nomination. As an encore, Goode performs the Sarabande from J. S. Bach’s Partita in B-flat major, BWV 825. The program closes with Beethoven’s famous Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67. This performance was recorded at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary, on January 29, 2017.

Italian cellist Silvia Chiesa and Italian pianist Maurizio Baglini perform Frédéric Chopin’s Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op. 3. This performance was recorded at Sala Verdi of the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, Italy, on November 4, 2024.

Fabio Luisi conducts the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in this powerful performance taken from the 150th Anniversary celebrations of Denmark’s national composer, Carl Nielsen. Alongside Nielsen’s inscrutably ironic Symphony No. 6, this performance features world-renowned French pianist Lise de la Salle as soloist in Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 4. This lesser-known concerto saw three separate iterations throughout the composer’s life and is characterized by bold chromaticism and a distinctly Jazz-like quality. Luisi and de la Salle have prior experience with this piece, having previously performed and recorded it together. This performance was recorded at the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2017.

Pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, Argentina's most famous musician, brings a Latin American flavour to the Berlin Philharmonic's 1998 concert at the Waldbühne amphitheater. The concert opens with Maurice Ravel's famous Boléro, a one-movement composition for orchestra originally composed as a ballet. A straightforward composition, it is based on a rhythm that repeats throughout the whole piece, with two melodies alternating between different instruments. The steady tempo increases in loudness until the final crescendo. The second piece is Georges Bizet's Carmen Suite No. 1. Following a chilling introduction, the oboe plays an instantly recognizable theme. The program gets more exotic when guitarist John Williams takes the stage for a performance of Joaquín Rodrigo's famous Concierto de Aranjuez. The rest of the program consists of beautiful Latin American pieces: Mangoré - Una limosna por el amor de dios, "El ultimo canto", Ginastera - Estancia Suite, Op. 8a: IV Malambo, Lecuona - La Comparsa, Malagueña, Salgan - Don Agustín Bardi, Piazzolla - Adiós Nonino, Decarissimo, Gardel - El día que me quieras, Rodriguez - La Cumparista, Mores - El Firulete and ends with Paul Linke's Frau Luna and Berliner Luft.

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’.

Mengjie Han (*1989) performs Franz Liszt’s transcription of Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture, S.442, during the quarter finals of the Liszt Piano Competition 2014. Han studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague with Marlies van Gent, and with Jan Wijn at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. He has taken part in masterclasses with among others Paul Komen, Rian de Waal, Boris Petrushansky, Jacques Rouvier, Leslie Howard and Dmitri Bashkirov. He won First Prize at the Steinway Piano Competition, the Princess Christina Competition, and the International Piano Contest Maria Campina in Portugal. Mengjie Han regularly performs at home and abroad. He played at the Canal Festival and the International Steinway Festival in Hamburg. As a prize winner of the Princess Christina Competition he performed in Greece, South Africa, Tunisia, the United States and Canada. He is part of the Amatis Trio, with which he won the Audience Prize at the Canal Festival in 2013.

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. 2 in G major, Op. 18, No. 2; String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135; and String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131. This concert was recorded at Philharmonie de Paris on December 16, 2020.

Recorded at the Citibank Hall in São Paulo in 2015, Brazilian conductor, pianist, and composer Rogerio Tutti and his orchestra perform a mix of famous pop, jazz, and classical tunes. Ranging from Russian melodies by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff to warm Latin sounds by South American composers, discover medleys by Beethoven, Bizet, and Gershwin. The show features musical virtuosos such as saxophone player Derico and guitarist Marcos Pópolo.

On New Year’s Eve the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle invite us to join them together with Cecilia Bartoli, who graced their annual concert at the Philharmonie, Berlin with arias selected from her extraordinary repertoire. Also featured: exhilarating dances by Brahms and Dvořák that happily combine characteristics of their own idioms with Slavonic and Hungarian folk music. The program features following works: Rameau’s Dances Suite, Gavotte and Entr’acte from Les Boréades; Handel’s “Scherza in mar la navicella" from Lotario, “Ah che sol...M'adoro l'idol mio” from Teseo and “Lascia la spina” from Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. This is followed by orchestral performances such as Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances Op. 46/1, No. 4, Op.72/4 and Op. 46/3, Suite No. 2 from Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé and Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 1.

Russian pianist Dina Ivanova performs Franz Liszt’s Totentanz, S. 525, during the Solo finals of the 11th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, held at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Totentanz (Dance of Death) is one of Liszt’s many works that reflect the Romantic composer’s fascination with death. The piece is a series of variations on the macabre Gregorian Dies irae theme.

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.

Roberto Prosseda (1975) performs Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 5 (KV. 283) and four Impromptus Op. 90 by Franz Schubert. The performance ends with Chopin's technically demanding Ballade No. 4, Op. 52. Prosseda is particularly noted for his performances of newly discovered works by Mendelssohn and has recorded a nine-CD series for Decca of the piano works of Mendelssohn. Since 2012, Prosseda also gives lecture-concerts with the robot pianist TeoTronico, as educational or family concerts, to demonstrate differences between a literal production of music and human interpretation.

Over the course of 19 days, the best youth orchestras in the world led by great conductors, and flanked by virtuoso soloists, guaranteed exciting and inspiring concert performances at the Young Euro Classical 2017. The festival is known to be the most important platform for international young orchestra musicians in the European classical music tradition, and for its development. This highlight version is a collection of infectiously energizing and outstanding performances by musicians from across the globe. Their repertoire includes renowned classical works as well as local composers. On the program: Verdi - La forza del destino, Beethoven - Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1, Tchaikovsky - Six Romances, Kohji - Georgian, Mingrelian Songs, Weinberg - Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes Op. 47 and Wong - As the Heart Soars.

Violinist Kristof Barati and Pianist Lucas Debargue pair for the first time in a duo concert at the 25th anniversary edition of the Swiss Verbier Festival in 2018. Although this was their inaugural collaboration, the two young artists found a perfect understanding around this romantic programme. The two featured works were written very few years apart from one another (Brahms’ first sonata for violin and piano in 1879 and Franck’s sonata in A in 1886). The Brahms sonata was recorded by Kristof Barati a few years ago, while Franck’s is known to be a favourite of Lucas Debargue. The virtuoso piano part suits his gigantic hands and the fantasy of the third movement his love for improvisation. The cyclic form and the many echoes between the piano and violin parts unite the two artists, like accomplices in possession of the best assets to bring in all the emotion these romantic works have to offer. The listener is suddenly in a position to re-discover the scores and cannot but join the admiration marks that escape from the audience in between the movements. A very moving performance which deserves its benchmark status.

Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda (1975) performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 5, KV. 283. Prosseda is particularly noted for his performances of newly discovered works by Mendelssohn and has recorded a nine-CD series for Decca of the piano works of Mendelssohn. Since 2012, Prosseda also gives lecture-concerts with the robot pianist TeoTronico, as educational or family concerts, to demonstrate differences between a literal production of music and human interpretation.

The Waldbühne in Berlin, one of the most appealing outdoor amphitheatres on the European continent, is the home of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s summer concerts. With over 22.000 in attendance, they are some of the most popular classical music concerts in the world. This year the outstanding orchestra under the baton of Neeme Järvi take us on a trip to Arabian “Thousand and One Nights”, with soloist Janine Jansen, a rising star who quickly gained the reputation of one of the foremost young violinists on the international concert stages. On the program are Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Symphonic Suite, op. 35, Grieg's 'Peer Gynt' Suite No.1, op. 46, excerpts from Nielsen's Aladdin Suite for Orchestra op. 34, Saint-Saëns's Introduction und Rondo capriccioso and "Meditation” from 'Thais' by Massenet.

This performance was recorded during Mozart Week on January 27, 2006 in Salzburg, Austria, at the Großes Festspielhaus (Large Festival House) in celebration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 250th birthday. Under conductor Riccardo Muti, it features Thomas Hampson (baritone), Mitsuko Uchida (piano), Gidon Kremer (violin), Yuri Bashmet (viola), Wiener Singverein, and Wiener Philharmoniker. Pieces include Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major, K. 364, arias and scenes from Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, The Magic Flute and Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385 ("Haffner").

During the New Year’s Gala 2010, the Berlin Philharmonic perform under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, whose infectious energy and exceptional artistry have made him one of the most sought-after conductors by orchestras and opera companies around the world. They welcome mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča, who has become one of the world’s most famous singers within just a few years. On the program are various works by French composers, like Berlioz’ Le Carnival Romain, Overture, Op. 9 and D’Amour l’ardente flamme’ from La Damnation de Faust (Op. 24), Saint-Saëns’ ‘Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix’ and ‘Danse Bacchanale’ from his opera Samson et Dalila and the ‘Habanera’, ‘Seguidilla’ and ‘Chanson Bohème’ from Bizet’s Carmen. The concert concludes with de Falla’s Suite No. 2 from the ballet ‘El sombrero de tres picos’.

This exclusive live concert production presents a unique selection of movie classics - from Sergio Leone’s iconic Spaghetti Westerns to modern mafia masterpieces by Francis Ford Coppola and the cult movies of Tarantino. The Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir are conducted by Sarah Hicks in this premiere performance of authentic soundtracks by composer legends Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota, Sonny Bono, and Bernard Herrmann. Soloists for this performance are Tuva Semmingsen (mezzo), Christine Nonbo Andersen (soprano), Hans Ulrik (saxophone) and Mads Kjølby (guitars). Recorded at the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2018.

Fidelio (originally titled "Leonore, oder Der Triumph der ehelichen Liebe," which translates to "Leonore, or the Triumph of Marital Love"), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. This 2018 opera film from the Swiss Theater St. Gallen is based on Jan Schmidt-Garre's highly acclaimed stage production of Beethoven's Fidelio. Otto Tausk conducts the Sinfonieorchester and choir of St. Gallen, as well as many wonderful soloists in a beautifully designed set by Nikolaus Webern. The producers carefully filmed and edited several performances, and by using additional footage of starring soloist Jacquelyn Wagner as Leonore, the captivating stage production is enhanced and transformed into a unique cinematic experience.

At the age of seven, Argentine pianist Martha Argerich made her debut with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15, a piece that would accompany her throughout her career. The celebrated pianist performs this signature piece at the Lucerne Festival with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under the baton of Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt, who makes his festival debut with the orchestra. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36, is also on the program. This performance was recorded at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Center (KKL), Switzerland, in August 2020.

To strengthen faith and stimulate piety: this was the role of music according to Pope Benedictus XIV, who in the 18th century carried out radical church reforms. Festival resident Giulio Prandi closely examines the religious repertoire of this period from a double perspective: that of traditional counterpoint, as in Domenico Scarlatti’s ‘Madrid’ Mass, and that of the modern, theatrical style of Perez and Jommelli.

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.

Azerbaijan-born artist Seljan Nasibli moved to England at an early age, where she was encouraged to take up music. Although Nasibli chose to sing jazz, her Oxford teachers heard an operatic tendency in her voice and advised to train classically. Nasibli completed her studies at The Royal College of Music, where she graduated with a master's degree in Vocal Performance. In this episode of Stingray Originals, Nasibli performs three of Giacomo Puccini's most beautiful arias: 'Signore, ascolta!' and 'Tu, che di gel sei cinta' from the opera Turandot, and 'Quando m'en vo' (Musetta's Waltz) from the opera La bohème.

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.

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.

Conductor Jan Latham-Koenig leads the Flanders Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16. French pianist Pascal Amoyel features as the soloist. Grieg composed the work in 1868, drawing inspiration from Norwegian folk music. It is the composer’s only concerto. The work premiered on April 3, 1869 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Edmund Neupert as the soloist, and was received enthusiastically. The Norwegian premiere followed a few months later. This performance was recorded at Concertgebouw Brugge, Belgium, on April 21, 2016.

Franz Welser-Möst conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in this performance of Brahms' Symphony No. 4. This is the final of the composer's short selection of symphonic works. Described by music critic Malcolm Macdonald as one of the “supreme creative acts of the Romantic era,” Brahms' Fourth Symphony is endowed with a strong undercurrent of subdued melancholy. It seems to pine for an irretrievable past. The past lives on majestically in this work, particularly in the sighing theme of the first movement reminiscent of Baroque practice, and, above all, in the use of the Baroque form of the chaconne in the last movement, around which Brahms spins over 30 variations on a solemn, stately theme. This performance was recorded at Severance Hall in Cleveland, USA, 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.

Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the Berliner Philharmoniker in a wonderful performance of the symphonic poem Vltava (The Moldau) from Bedřich Smetana’s Má Vlast (My Country). This performance was part of the Waldbühne Concert 2016 in Berlin.

Péter Csaba leads the Spanish Orquesta Sinfónica Freixenet del Encuentro in this inaugural concert of the Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander. The program opens with Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the left hand in D major, featuring Uzbekistani-born American pianist Stanislav Ioudenitch as the soloist. Composed between 1929 and 1930, the work was commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein, an Austrian concert pianist who continued his career after losing his right arm during the First World War. The program closes with Ravel’s famous Boléro. One of the world’s most popular classical pieces, the Boléro is characterized by a prominent, unchanging rhythm played on the snare drum, which continues throughout the piece. This performance was recorded at Sala Argenta of the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria in Santander, Spain, on July 7, 2023.

Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) was undoubtedly one of the most important figures in modern music. In this performance by the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, Boulez displays his masterful understanding of 20th century music as he traces the revolutionary harmonic development of musical modernism in three key "modern classics": Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, “Prelude” (1859), Arnold Schönberg's Pelleas und Melisande (1903), and Alban Berg's Violin Concerto (1935). The Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra was founded through conductor Claudio Abbado's initiative in 1986. It consists of musicians under the age of 26 from all over Europe. The soloist in Berg's Violin Concerto is Akiko Suwanai, the youngest first-prize recipient (1990) in the history of Moscow's International Tchaikovsky Competition.

The Berliner Philharmoniker is one of the world’s finest orchestras, its fame stretching all the way to Japan. Unsurprisingly, this 2000 concert, recorded at Tokyo’s magnificent Suntory Hall, was a resounding success. Mariss Jansons conducts a beautiful program that includes Antonin Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8, Carl Maria von Weber’s Overture to Oberon, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto featuring star violinist Hilary Hahn (*1979)

Works: Andante lagrimoso, S.173/9, Étude d'exécution transcendante No. 12, S.139/12, Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude, S.173/3. Pianist Peter Klimo studied with Nelita True at the Eastman School of Music in New York and with Peter Frankl at the Yale School of Music in New Haven. He continued his studies with Tamás Ungár at Texas Christian University (TCU). Aside from playing recitals, Peter Klimo enjoys performing as a lied accompanist and with chamber music ensembles. His performance during a masterclass given by Graham Johnson enabled him to take private lessons in lied accompaniment and chamber music with Jean Barr. In 2011, he won First Prize at the Eastman Piano Concerto Competition; a year later he won Second Prize for pianist accompanists at the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition, which is held annually at Eastman. He has performed in venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and at festivals such as the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival.

This very special concert event celebrates the diversity and richness of Canada through the eyes and ears of its people. Ensemble Made in Canada’s Mosaique Project features a commissioned suite of piano quartets by 14 Canadian composers, each inspired by a region of our vast country. Their album release and two-year National tour culminate in St. Catharines’ stunning Partridge Hall! The ensemble consists of Elissa Lee (violin) Sharon Wei (viola), Rachel Mercer (cello) and Angela Park (piano) and is rapidly gaining recognition as Canada’s premier piano quartet.

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 starts with Tchaikovsky's Fantasy Overture from "Roméo et Juliette". The second piece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is his famous Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major K. 216 played by the German violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann. During his career he played with a lot of famous orchestras and conductors such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Mariss Jansons. He has a great passion for chamber music and plays a lot of recitals with the Italian pianist Enrico Pace. The concert 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.

After more than thirty years at the top Ensemble Daedalus is saying goodbye to the concert stage. That demands a fitting farewell. Roberto Festa sought and found music that mirrors his journey over three decades. With Italian carnival songs and morescas by Renaissance composers such as Barbetta, Banchieri, and Falconieri, this farewell will be above all a party, with – true to tradition – first-rate performers, such as his traveling companion Marco Beasley.

On 22 April 2016, Yehudi Menuhin would have celebrated his 100th birthday. One of his most famous students - and one of his best friends - is violinist Daniel Hope. For him, Yehudi Menuhin was the reason he become a violinist. At first, his mother became the secretary of Menuhin when Daniel Hoe and his parents moved to London. Hope grew up in Menuhin's house and learned not only to love music, but also to make the violin a part of his life. Playing the violin every day is like walking every day, or drinking and eating. He played with Menuhin some of Bartok's Duos which was, according to Hope, an introduction to Bartok’s extraordinary music. A piece of Bartok had to be part of this program as well as Ravel's Kaddish, the encore Daniel Hope choose when Menuhin conducted his last concert in Düsseldorf. But this concert starts with Elgar's Violin Concerto. Hope plays with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under the baton of Iván Fischer.

This gala concert at Prague's beautiful Estates Theatre is one of the highlights of Mozart Year 2006. Conducted by Manfred Honeck, the Czech Philharmonic performs W. A. Mozart's finest compositions connected to the city of Prague in general or to the Estates Theatre in particular. Among them is Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, which premiered in Prague in 1791. This 2006 recording features clarinettist Sharon Kam. Mozart's Prague Symphony is invariably on the program. The Overture to Don Giovanni is also associated with the Estates Theatre, which is where Mozart conducted it in 1787.

Christa Ludwig offers a last performance before taking her leave of the opera and concert stage. In a final Lieder recital from the Wiener Musikverein, honouring the city that has seen her greatest triumphs and that has been her spiritual home, Ms. Ludwig performs a select repertoire of Beethoven, Schubert, Mahler and Wolf. She had given her first recital at this historic venue in 1965, only six years after her debut at the Metropolitan Opera. Now, before a huge audience of understandably adoring classical music lovers, she returns to the stage of numerous solo triumphs with a carefully chosen program of Lieder. Ludwig is accompanied by pianist Charles Spencer. The concert takes place at the Wiener Musikverein in 1994.

This exclusive live concert production presents a unique selection of movie classics - from Sergio Leone’s iconic Spaghetti Westerns to modern mafia masterpieces by Francis Ford Coppola and the cult movies of Tarantino. The Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir are conducted by Sarah Hicks in this premiere performance of authentic soundtracks by composer legends Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota, Sonny Bono and Bernard Herrmann. Soloists for this performance are Tuva Semmingsen (mezzo), Christine Nonbo Andersen (soprano), Hans Ulrik (saxophone) and Mads Kjølby (guitars). Recorded at the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2018.

The film Jaroussky sings Bach & Telemann is a portrait of a very special vocalist, and of two exceptional composers. When Philippe Jaroussky - whose angelic voice seems almost timeless, not belonging to any one epoque or decade - sings works by Telemann and Bach, it becomes abundantly clear that the sheer emotional force and the purifying power of their music have not diminished over the centuries. The works performed in this film are Telemann's Jesus liegt in letzten Zügen and Sinfonia from Brockes-Passion; Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus, and Bach's Sinfonia from Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis and Ich habe genug.

Roberto Prosseda (1975) performs Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 5 (KV. 283) and four Impromptus Op. 90 by Franz Schubert. The performance ends with Chopin's technically demanding Ballade No. 4, Op. 52. Prosseda is particularly noted for his performances of newly discovered works by Mendelssohn and has recorded a nine-CD series for Decca of the piano works of Mendelssohn. Since 2012, Prosseda also gives lecture-concerts with the robot pianist TeoTronico, as educational or family concerts, to demonstrate differences between a literal production of music and human interpretation.

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, maestro Daniel Harding leads the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a wonderful concert program featuring Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major, ‘Titan’. Mahler completed his first symphony in 1888. Originally a five-movement piece, the composer discarded the second movement ‘Blumine’ some years later, resulting in the final four-movement version we know today. This performance was recorded at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, in 2021.

Hannu Lintu conducts the Gulbenkian Orchestra in a Finnish flavoured concert program, since the concert features Cantus Articus, Op. 61 by Einojuhani Rautavaara, and Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2. Furtermore, Daniil Trifonov (1991) is star soloist in Schumann’s Piano Concerto, Op. 54, which was premiered in 1841 by Clara Wieck, wife of the composer. Trifonov rose to fame after winning prizes at both the Tchaikovsky International Chopin competition in Moscow as well as the Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw. Trifonov has been called "arguably today's leading classical virtuoso,” and “without question the most astounding pianist of our age." This concert is recorded at the Grand Auditorium of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation of Lisbon, in 2018.

Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda performs Frédéric Chopin's technically challenging Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52. Completed in 1842, this piece is celebrated as a masterpiece within the Romantic piano repertoire, renowned for its intricate structure and profound emotional depth. This performance was recorded at the stunning baroque palace Villa Contarini in Piazzola sul Brenta, Italy, in 2006.

Millions of television viewers in Germany, France, Portugal, Greece and Finland experienced live the moving open-air concert within the highly symbolic surrounding of the Alhambra in Granada. Music as a language of peace – this vision unifies the young musicians of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra who come from Israel, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Europe. They perform side by side in the orchestra formed in 1999 by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said. The orchestra has taken on the complex challenge of performing music to promote peace. Soloists are Kyril Zlotnikov and Nabil Shehata. On the program are Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3, Bottesini's Fantasia on a theme by Rossini, Brahms' Symphony Nr. 1 and Vorspiel and Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.

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.

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).