Schedule

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.

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.

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.

An expressionistic serenade as the prelude to a thrilling festival week: this was the task assigned to Manfred Cordes and Weser-Renaissance Bremen. In Giovanni De Macque – one of the finest madrigalists of the period around 1600 – they found the perfect partner. De Macque, born in Valenciennes, was trained in Naples and evolved from conservative to experimental, writing multicoloured, evocative music on texts about ecstasy and broken hearts.

On May 1, 1882, fifty members of the former Bilse Kapelle refused to sign their new contracts and formed their own democratically-governed ensemble. Today still, the present-day Berlin Philharmonic continues to elect its new members and principal conductors. Isabel Iturriagagotia and Paul Smaczny accompanied the Berlin Philharmonic after chief conductor Claudio Abbado announced in February 1998 that he would not be renewing his contract after 2002. Maestros in Democracy, the most extensive documentary ever produced about the Berlin Philharmonic, shows the new candidates for Abbado's position in rehearsal with the orchestra, revealing the various working practices of Lorin Maazel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle and Zubin Mehta. Later in the film, after several nail-biting rounds of voting, full of expectation and excitement, the orchestra has to come to a decision...

The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia is joined by acclaimed Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky in an interpretation of works by Rachmaninov and George Gershwin. Conductor Konstantin Khvatynets directs this concert, filmed at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow. The programme includes George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini and is produced by the Moscow Philharmonic Society, which Saint Petersburg-born composer Dmitri Shostakovich himself once described as playing a significant role "in the development of musical life [in Russia]. It is a kind of university which is attended by millions of music lovers and thousands of musicians.” The Moscow Philharmonic Society was founded in 1922 by then-Commissar for Culture, Anatoly Lunacharsky, and has over the years come to be Russia's leading concert organizing institution.

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. During the competition’s final round, Su Yeon Kim (South Korea, 1994) performs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s transcription of the “Preludio” from J. S. Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006; Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109; and Frédéric Chopin’s Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58. This performance was recorded at Sala Verdi of the Conservatory of Milan, in July 2021.

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.

Riccardo Frizza conducts the Orchestra Gli Originali and the Coro Donizetti Opera in a performance of Geatano Donizetti’s comic opera L’elisir d’amore (‘The Elixer of Love’, 1832). L’elisir d’amore is perhaps the most famous work in Donizetti’s extensive repertoire. It tells the story of the poor peasant Nemorino who is in love with the beautiful landowner Adina. After hearing about the legend of Tristan and Isolde, the desperate Nemorino wonders if a love potion would help him to gain Adina’s love. He seeks help of the travelling quack Dr. Dulcamara, from whom he purchases a bottle of magic elixir. Directed by Frederic Wake-Walker, this 2021 production is unique as it features the complete, original score as reconstructed by Alberto Zedda based on Donizetti’s autographs. In addition, the orchestra plays on historical instruments to recreate the sound of Donizetti’s orchestra. Among the soloists are Caterina Sala (Adina), Javier Camarena (Nemorino), Florian Sempey (Belcore), Roberto Frontali (Dulcamara), Anaïs Mejías (Giannetta), and Manuel Ferreira (Master of ceremonies). This performance was part of the Donizetti Opera Festival, recorded at Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, Italy, in 2021.

Since 1972 the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker have been a prominent institution in international musical life. Listeners around the world are invariably fascinated by the wide range of the unique and intoxicating timbres that these twelve cellos can produce, whether they are playing classical music, jazz, tango or avant-garde. Their mixture of seriousness and humour, of depth and lightness, appeals to audiences of all ages. Recorded in the Philharmonie Berlin on occasion of the 40th anniversary of the ensemble; soloists: Annette Dasch (soprano), Till Brönner (trumpet).

Leonard Bernstein, David Bowie, Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, they have all once narrated the world-famous symphonic fairy tale 'Peter and the Wolf' (1936), composed by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). In this work, every character is illustrated by a different instrument (or section), with its own musical theme. Peter, for example, is represented by the strings, his grumpy grandfather by the bassoon, the cat by the clarinet, and the bird by the flute. As the narrative progresses and the characters interact with each other, the musical themes beautifully entwine. This performance (2018) is narrated and conducted by Marin Alsop. The musical accompaniment is provided by the Britten-Pears Orchestra.

This concert is the result of the collaboration between the Giuseppe Nicolini Conservatory of Piacenza and the Giuseppe Verdi of Milan as part of the project "MIlanoPIACEnza ... suonare insieme.” On the program are works by the Dutch conductor and composer Johan de Meij. “Echoes of San Marco” is a tribute to the Venetian Renaissance composer Giovanni Gabrieli (1555-1612). Echoes of San Marco opens with a quote from Gabrieli’s “Canzon Septimi Toni” from the “Sacre Sinfoniae”, and is just like the original work composed for two choirs of brass instruments. “Fellini” is composed for solo saxophone and orchestra and is a tribute to Italian film director Federico Fellini (1920-1993). De Meij composed the work for saxophone player Hans de Jong, who during this concert is dressed as a melancholic clown to intensify the dreamy and imaginary worlds present in Fellini’s films. This concert is recorded at the Sala dei Teatini of the Teatri di Piacenza in 2018. Directed by Pietro Tagliaferri.

Five-strong vocal ensemble amarcord is joined by an extra alto and two soprano voices for this unusual concert at Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church. As amarcordplus, the ensemble presents a program focused on the city of Leipzig, which includes sacred madrigals by Johann Hermann Schein, motets from Heinrich Schütz’s collection Geistliche Chor-Music, as well as two motets by the most famous Thomaskantor: Johann Sebastian Bach. Moreover, various sacred works by lesser-known contemporaries Philipp Heinrich Erlebach and mononymous composer Liebhold are performed, in addition to compositions by other members of the Bach family, including Johann Michael Bach and Johann Christoph Bach. This performance was recorded on May 1, 2020.

Testing Mozart is a 60 minute film about the Mozart effect; the power of Mozart's music to fight disease and increase the mental ability of listeners. It is common knowledge that cows give more milk and tomatoes grow bigger when Mozart is played, but what effect does his music have on humans? In this journey into the worlds of music and medicine, Testing Mozart examines the latest scientific discoveries that shed new light on the influence the composer’s work has on the brain. The documentary by award-winning director Frederick Baker explains why Mozart is so special. Produced in 2006 as part of Mozart Year, this captivating documentary caters to a wide audience and introduces neophytes to the work of Mozart.

Santtu-Matias Rouvali conducts the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Choir in a performance of Carl Orff's cantata Carmina Burana. Vocal soloists are Ylva Stenberg, Brett Sprague, and Olle Persson. Carmina Burana, composed in 1935 and 1936, is based on 24 poems from a medieval manuscript of the same name. The piece's full title is "Songs from Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magical images". It was first performed at the Oper Frankfurt on June 8, 1937. This concert was recorded at Gothenburg Concert Hall (Konserthuset) in Sweden in 2018.

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.

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.