Schedule

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.

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 classical pianist Costanza Principe (1993) started playing the piano at age 6, making her public debut at age 7. Before long she would be performing as a soloist with numerous prestigious orchestras in Italy, the UK, France, and South America. Seen here in 2021 at one of Italy’s oldest extant Renaissance theatres, the gorgeous Teatro Olimpico in the northern Italian town of Vicenza, Principe performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘Concerto italiano’ and ‘Ciaccona’, as transcribed for piano by Ferruccio Busoni.

Young Euro Classic is the world’s most important platform for international young orchestra musicians in the European classical music tradition, and for its development. For 17 days every summer, orchestras from all over the world perform at Berlin’s Konzerthaus, on Gendarmenmarkt. This performance features some highlights of the Young Euro Classic edition of 2016. On the program are well-known classical pieces, like the third movement of Vivaldi’s “Summer” from Four Seasons, Mussorgky’s “Night on Bald Mountain,” and “Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen. Tenor Alan Pingarrón sings “Gratia plena,” by Mario Talavera, and “Dime Que Si,” by Alfonso Oteo. On the program are also famous orchestral works like the Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, and the third movement of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3.

Experience a concert of high drama as conductor Nicolás Pasquet leads the Freixenet Symphony Orchestra of the Reina Sofía School of Music. The program opens with the heroic power of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Overture to Egmont, Op. 84. The concert culminates in a journey through fate and passion with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s monumental Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36. This performance was recorded at Sala Sinfónica of the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Spain, on October 3, 2024.

Christian Zacharias (piano), Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin), Tabea Zimmerman (viola) and Tilmann Wick (Cello) perform Mozart’s Piano Quartet No. 1 (K.478) at the Ludwigsburg Festival in 1988. Mozart received a commission for three quartets in 1785 from publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister. Hoffmeister thought the first quartet (K. 478) was too difficult and the public would not like it. He released Mozart from the obligation of completing the three quartets. However, nine months later, Mozart composed this second quartet anyway.

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. 1 in F major, BWV 1046. This concerto was written for strings, woodwinds, and brass, and features solos from each instrument group.

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.

Conrad van Alphen conducts Sinfonia Rotterdam in a performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Overture-Fantasy “Romeo and Juliet”. Van Alphen founded Sinfonia Rotterdam in 2000. Under his passionate leadership, this orchestra has developed into one of the Netherland’s best-known orchestras. Tchaikovsky based his composition on Shakespeare’s famous play “Romeo and Juliet”. After finishing a first version of Romeo and Juliet in 1870, Tchaikovsky rewrote sections of the composition twice, completing the third and final version ten years later. The Overture-Fantasy opens with a slow introduction, primarily led by the clarinets and bassoons. The composition is dominated by its famous love theme, representing the love between Romeo and Juliet. This beautiful theme is introduced in the first half of the piece, played by the English horn and violas, and recurs in different sections of the composition. At the end, the love theme is heard in minor mode, which emphasized the tragic element of the story of the two lovers.

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, Hector Berlioz’ ‘Symphonie Fantastique’. This ‘Fantastic Symphony’ is widely regarded as one of the most important and representative pieces of the early Romantic period. Leonard Bernstein once called it “the first musical expedition into psychedelia” because of its hallucinatory and dream-like nature. The German musicologist Wulf Konold describes the idea behind and the realization of this fascinating work.

The Valerius Ensemble, consisting of Carola Ligt (flute), Robert Windak (violin), Eva Šušlíková (viola) and René Geesing (cello) played a concert in Concordia, Enschede on April 23, 2018. The program consists of Mozarts Flute Quartet No. 1, K. 285 and the Romanzo from Von Dohnányi’s Serenade Op. 10. Caroli Ligt follows with her own composition “Moods.” The ensembles closes with Thomas-Mifune’s and Joseph Haydn’s “Südamerikanische Saitensprünge.”

The Zurich Opera House is one of the most renowned in Europe. Fifteen premieres are staged here every year - a significant achievement, when one considers just how much work goes into each individual production. In this exciting documentary, we go behind-the-scenes at the Zurich Opera House and follow the intensive progress of the new production of Gioachino Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Vesselina Kasarova in the role of Rosina. The film also shows preparations for other productions, such as a workshop for Richard Wagner's Siegfried directed by Robert Wilson, and a rehearsal for Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps with choreography by Heinz Spoerli. This film opens the curtain to understanding an opera house’s many exciting facets.

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.

This Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord No.6 BWV 1019 is the last of the set of sonatas that Johann Sebastian Bach composed before 1725, probably while working as chapel master in Köthen. He presumably wrote these sonatas for Prince Leopold and later adapted them for further use in Leipzig. Maybe this is why these pieces are well playable for amateurs, while every sonata still has the finesse that can offer a challenge to professional musicians. The different pieces are meant to be a set, just like the Brandenburg concertos, but this last sonata is different from the others in that it has five sections instead of four.

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 Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21. This symphony shows Beethoven’s loyalty to the model of Joseph Haydn’s and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s late symphonies, yet reveals his attempt to distinguish himself from his predecessors. For instance, the work opens with a slow introduction that refuses to reveal the piece’s key. Equally remarkable are the unusual prominence of the woodwinds, and the scherzo-like tempo of the third movement bearing the indication ‘minuet’. This performance was recorded at Opéra Bastille in Paris, France, in 2014.

Claude Debussy’s symphonic sketches for orchestra known collectively as ‘La Mer’ evoke a richly varied vision of the sea. The first part (‘De l’aube á midi sur la mer’) calls up a morning and afternoon at sea, the second (‘Jeux de vagues’) echoes the play of the waves, and the third and final part (‘Dialogue du vent et de la mer’) conjures the communing voices of wind and waves. Debussy knew his sea, the Mediterranean, intimately both from childhood visits to Cannes and from his Italian travels later in life.

Raúl Delgado conducts the Orquesta Sinfonica de Minería in a concert program dedicated to Mexican composers. This program, which includes the second part of the concert, features the following works: Blas Galindo's "Sones de Mariachi", Arturo Marquez's Danzón No. 2, José Pablo Moncayo's "Huapango", and Genero Codina's "March of Zacatecas". This concert was recorded at the Academia de Música del Palacio de Minería in Mexico City in 2019.

András Schiff (Budapest, 1953) is one of the world's most distinguished pianists, breathing life into pieces with sheer magic. Schiff, a guardian of almost-forgotten ideals of piano playing, is more than a great pianist: he is an expert with insight that goes beyond the piano music, delving deeper into the wider field and macro culture. This makes him the perfect candidate to play and explain the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, whose music has an enormous performance tradition spanning over two centuries. In the current recital, filmed as part of the Bachfest 2010, Schiff performs all of Bach’s “French” music, that is, the so-called French Suites and the French Overture ; for his generous encore, he completes the Clavierübung II with the entirety of the Italian Concerto.

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.

The Mexico City Ballet (MXCB) is a contemporary ballet company made up of highly experienced international dancers, residents of Mexico City. International guest dancers help celebrate the anniversary gala of the Mexico City Ballet, featuring the fantastic works of MXCB’s resident choreographer, Yazmín Barragán. On the program are ‘Strong Ties’ by choreographer Alan Marín; ‘TS’ by Michel Cutri; ‘Ondine’ by Barragán; ‘Ritual’ by Edgar Sagarra; and lastly ‘The Debate’ and ‘Recursivo’, again by Barragán. This performance was recorded at Teatro de la Ciudad in Mexico City, in 2020.

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.

Italian pianist Andrea Bacchetti appears both as conductor and soloist in this concert recorded at Teatro Chiabrera in the Italian city of Savona. He is accompanied by I Musici di Parma. On the program are J. S. Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E major, BWV 878 (The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, No. 9), Joseph Haydn's Piano Concerto No. 11 in D major (Hob. XVIII: 11), Bach's Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 889 (The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, No. 20), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491, and Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 871 (The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, No. 2). This performance was recorded on January 17, 2025.

Piano soloist Boris Berezovsky is accompanied by the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Sladkovsky in a performance of Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto no. 1, Op. 1. Rachmaninov composed his first concerto while studying at the Moscow Conservatory at the age of 18. The concert opens with 'Heavenly Movement', a composition by the young Russian composer Elmir Nizamov (*1986). This concert was recorded at the Tchaikovksy Concert Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic Society on April 28, 2017.

Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto leads the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in a performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67. Written in 1936, Peter and the Wolf is a short, narrated orchestral suite, telling the story of a brave boy named Peter, who lives with his grandfather on the edge of a forest. With the help of his animal friends, Peter outsmarts a villainous wolf and captures it, eventually leading it to the zoo. Maestro Prieto gives an introduction to the different parts of the suite. In each part, each character is represented by a different instrument or instrument section, offering a vivid introduction to the orchestra's instrumental families. This performance was recorded at Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, in 2021.

Emmanuelle Haim conducts Le Concert d’Astrée in a rendition of G. F. Handel’s two-part oratorio “Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno” (The Triumph of Time and Truth). The work with a libretto by Benedetto Pamphili was first performed in Rome, in 1707. Director Krzysztof Warlikowski has taken Handel’s first oratorio, written when the composer was only 22 years old, on in a deep, tender staging. In this oratorio, the characters Time and Disillusion try to convince Beauty to abandon Pleasure for less fleeting gratifications. Sabine Devieilhe is unquestionably the star that carries the show, always impressive in technique, range and timbre. Her sparring and harmonizing with Franco Fagioli is magnificent. Other soloists are Michael Spyres and Sara Mingardo. Recorded at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2016.