Schedule

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.

American ‘Conductor Laureate’ Michael Tilson Thomas leads the London Symphony Orchestra in a program of romantic masterworks. The concert opens with Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1, featuring the brilliant Czech pianist Lukáš Vondráček as soloist. The evening concludes with the emotional journey of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. This performance was recorded at the Barbican Hall in London, UK, on May 15, 2022.

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 Johannes Brahms’s Tragic Overture in D minor, Op. 81, and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major, ‘Titan’. Brahms composed his concert overture during the summer of 1880. With its dark and tumultuous character, it could be regarded as the serious counterpart of his more joyful Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80. Mahler completed his first symphony eight years later, 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.

On the occasion of her 80th birthday, Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich explored chamber music repertoire in a wonderful concert, recorded at Château de Chantilly, France. The ‘Grande Dame’ of the piano is joined by various renowned artists. As part of this concert, violinist Tedi Papavrami, violist Lyda Chen-Argerich, cellist Mischa Maisky, and pianist Lily Maisky perform Johannes Brahms’s Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60.

With sublimely beautiful music that supports, intensifies, and enhances the drama every step of the way, the Piano Concerto No. 24, K 491 is solid drama from start to finish, with a minor harmonic structure reminiscent of Don Giovanni. In this performance, recorded at Schönbrunn palace in Vienna, Andre Previn is the soloist and conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

In this exquisite 2016 concert from Moscow's Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Russian National Orchestra and star-pianist Boris Berezovsky are led by conductor Mikhail Pletnev in a performance of magnificent works by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Winner of the 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Berezovsky interprets the works of Rimsky-Korsakov with a virtuosic power. The programme features The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya, suite for orchestra, as well as The Tale of Tsar Saltan, musical pictures for orchestra. It 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.

German conductor Peter Schreier conducts the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Luzerner Festwochenchor, and three vocal soloists in a performance of Joseph Haydn’s The Creation (‘Die Schöpfung’), Hob. XXI:2. The vocal soloists are soprano Edith Mathis, tenor Christoph Prégardien, and bass René Pape. Completed in 1798, Haydn’s magnificent oratorio depicts the creation of the world as described in the Bible’s Book of Genesis. Its libretto draws from Genesis, the Psalms, and John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost, and was prepared by the composer’s patron Gottfried van Swieten. The work is structured in three parts. The first four days of creation make up part one, dealing with the creation of the earth, its flora, and the celestial objects. The fifth and sixth day of creation form part two, dealing with the creation of animals and humankind. The third part focuses on Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This performance was recorded at the church of Jesuits in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1992.

At the behest of Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich, several classical music stars took part in this concert in aid of the Erasmus Fund for medical research in intensive care, recorded at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Belgium, on October 21, 2023. The concert pays tribute to the renowned cellist Aleksandr Khramouchin (1979) who suddenly passed away on May 13, 2023. As part of this concert, pianists Martha Argerich and Khramouchin’s widow Eliane Reyes perform Maurice Ravel’s Ma mère l'Oye. This five-part suite was written for piano four hands.

This documentary by Mark Perna shows the training and professional growth actions for opera singers, the promotion and enhancement of the cultural offer of the city and province of Modena and the maintenance and development of the Modenese musical tradition in the field of opera.

Italian pianist Alessandro Marangoni and Italian organist Paolo Oreni perform Marcel Dupré’s Variations on Two Themes for piano and organ, Op. 35. Designed by the organist himself, Oreni plays his ‘Wanderer’ organ in this performance, which is currently the largest existing transportable pipe organ. With its 1200 pipes and 42 stops, it has all the essential timbres needed for the organ repertoire. This performance was recorded at FabbricaPoggi in Pavia, Italy, on April 5, 2024.

With her superb technique, intelligence, taste and refinement, Carole Cerasi is the dream interpreter for Couperin‘s second book, Pièces de Clavecin. More so than the first part, which is a compendium of older compositions, this volume indicates the path the composer now wished to take: style and form become more modern, and there is room for evocative mood pieces and musical portraits.

Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen (1932) is internationally recognized as one of the grand masters of contemporary ballet. His over 150 ballets all bear his distinct signature, featuring a great clarity in structure, refined simplicity and an aversion to decorative frills. In the documentary ‘Hans van Manen – Moving to Music’ (2022), Van Manen reflects on his life, work, and the inspirations behind ballets charged with drama and eroticism. The film features excerpts from some of his most successful ballets, including the then-controversial Metaforen (1965), which featured the first male pas de deux, Adagio Hammerklavier (1973), and Sarcasmen (1981). Film director Reiner E. Moritz also included contributions of friends and colleagues, such as Ted Brandsen (Dutch National Ballet), Martin Schläpfer (Vienna State Ballet), and Van Manen’s partner Henk van Dijk, rounding off the portrait of the great choreographer.

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, Jordan conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, ‘Eroica’. Composed in 1803 and 1804, this symphony is regarded as a major turning point in Beethoven’s oeuvre as well as Western music history. Symphony No. 3 is longer in duration than any previous symphony. The customary long introduction is replaced by two powerful chords, followed by the introduction of the main theme by the lower strings. The slow second movement is a Funeral March, followed by a quick Scherzo. The fourth and final movement is dominated by a theme from Beethoven’s ballet music for ‘The Creatures of Prometheus’. This performance was recorded at Opéra Bastille in Paris, France, in 2014.

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, Piotr Pawlak (Poland, 1998) performs Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101, and Johannes Brahms’s Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5. This performance was recorded at Sala Verdi of the Conservatory of Milan, in July 2021.