Schedule

Italian cellist Silvia Chiesa and Italian pianist Maurizio Baglini perform a wonderful recital of works by Ferruccio Busoni, Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. On the program are Busoni’s Kultaselle – 10 variations on a Finnish folksong; Liszt’s Two Elegies for cello and piano; Chopin’s Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op. 3; and Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in G minor for cello and piano, Op. 19. As an encore, the duo plays Leonard Bernstein’s iconic composition ‘Tonight’ from the musical West Side Story. This performance was recorded at Sala Verdi of the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, Italy, on November 4, 2024.

Pianist Antonio Chen Guang (China, 1994) performs Reflets dans l’eau from Claude Debussy’s Images (book I); Barbara Assiginaak’s Mzizaakok Miiniwaa Mzizaakoonsak (Horseflies and Deerflies); Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110; Ferruccio Busoni’s transcription of J. S. Bach’s Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639; and Franz Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No. 1, S. 514 (Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke), during the solo recital of the two-part semi-final round of the Piano Edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2024 (CMIM). This performance was recorded at Bourgie Hall in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Marin Alsop conducts the Britten-Pears Orchestra in a performance of Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. This performance took place at Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape Bridge in the UK in 2017. The Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme was founded over 40 years ago by the composer and Peter Pears, to provide high-level performance training for the world’s best emerging professional musicians. Ever since the 1946 the educational film ‘Instruments of the Orchestra’, generations have been inspired by Britten’s much-loved classic. It is one of the best-known pieces by the composer and is often associated with two other works in the context of children's music education: Saint-Saëns' The Carnival of the Animals and Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.

Soprano Heidi Baumgartner (Austria, 1998) and pianist Asuka Tagami (Japan, 1991) perform Franz Schubert’s Suleika I, Op. 14 No. 1, D. 720; ‘Er ist’s’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder; Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold; ‘Sua katselen’ (Looking at you) from Kaija Saariaho’s Leino-Laulut (Leino songs); and ‘Pantomime’ and ‘Apparition’ from Claude Debussy’s Quatre chansons de jeunesse, during the semi-finals of the International Vocal Competition 2021 – Lied Duo. This performance was recorded at Het Noordbrabants Museum in ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.

Few Italian theatres can boast of being an absolute point of reference for national and world culture. The Teatro Regio in Turin is both a symbol of excellence in the national operatic tradition and a prestigious stage hosting operas, ballets, concerts, and musicals of great substance. This short documentary offers a behind-the-scenes tour of the Teatro Regio Torino and bears witness to the enviable reputation that has prevailed since its opening in 1740.

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. 7 in F major, Op. 59, No. 1, known as “Razumovsky”; String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130; and the monumental Great Fugue, Op. 133. This concert performance was recorded at Philharmonie de Paris on October 12, 2020.

Pianist Anthony Ratinov (USA, 1997) joins the CMIM ensemble, consisting of three principal strings players of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, in a performance of the first movement, Sostenuto assai – Allegro ma non troppo, of Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 47. This performance took place during the chamber music round of the two-part semi-final of the Piano Edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2024 (CMIM). It was recorded at the Bourgie Hall of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Marin Alsop conducts the Britten-Pears Orchestra in a performance of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals. Recorded at Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape Bridge in the UK, 2018. Saint-Saëns composed the work in a small Austrian town in 1886, following a disastrous concert tour. It is originally scored for two pianos, two violins, violas, cellos, double bass, flutes, piccolos, clarinets, glass harmonica, and xylophone. From the beginning, Saint-Saëns regarded the piece as an amusing work. It has become one of his best-known works and is played in various adaptions for different ensembles.

French conductor Adrien Perruchon leads the Flanders Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Maurice Ravel’s famous Boléro. The Boléro, one of the world’s most popular classical pieces, was commissioned by Russian dancer Ida Rubinstein. She asked the composer to create ballet music of a Spanish character. Ravel’s 1928 composition is inspired by the bolero, a Spanish dance in 3/4 time that originated from the 18th century. Ravel’s piece is characterized by a prominent, unchanging rhythm played on the snare drum, which continues throughout the piece. This performance was recorded in Belgium at Concertgebouw Brugge on March 1, 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. 5 in A major, Op. 18, No. 5; String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4; and String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major, Op. 127. This concert was recorded at Philharmonie de Paris on December 17, 2020.

We have François Couperin to thank for some of the most stunning pages found in 18th-century harpsichord literature. Numbering more than 220 solo pieces, his four collections contain much of Couperin’s finest work. We found four keyboard heroes, each of whom was free to browse through his or her favourite volume. Today Aurélien Delage tackles the encyclopedic first volume – the calling card of a musical all-rounder.

Iphigénie en Tauride (1779) is a four-act tragic opera by German-born composer Christoph Willibald Gluck. Written for the French stage, the work’s premiere in 1779 at the Parisian Royal Academy of Music was a great success. Iphigénie en Tauride is one of the composer’s ‘reform operas’, meaning that the music was to follow the drama and its expression. Nicolas-François Guillard’s libretto is based on Claude Guimond de La Touche’s play of the same name, but ultimately it derives from Euripides’s famous ancient Greek drama. Set shortly after the Trojan War, Iphigénie, who was to be sacrificed by her father Agamemnon, is saved and carried off by the goddess Diana to Tauris, where Iphigénie becomes Diana’s high priestess. Diego Fasolis conducts the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and the Chœur d’Angers Nantes Opéra in this production. Among the soloists are Marie-Adeline Henry (Iphigénie), Charles Rice (Oreste), Sébastien Droy (Pylade), Jean-Luc Ballestra (Thoas), and Élodie Hache (Diane). This performance was recorded at the Grand Théâtre d’Angers, France, in 2020.

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.

GayBird Leung has worked in the Hong Kong music industry since 1996 as a music director, composer, and producer for over a hundred music productions, concerts and theatres. He continues to explore the realm of music creation, investigating potential formats of electronic music performance that enhance the music experience. The Zephyr Quartet, consisting of Emma Perkins (violin), Emily Tulloch (violin), Jason Thomas (viola) and Hilary Kleinig (cello) are Australia's leading genre-defying explorers of dynamic cross-art form music focused collaborations. During this showcase at Classical: NEXT 2019 in Rotterdam, they perform GayBird Leung's composition “Music in Anticlockwise” (2017).

Award-winning documentary ‘Knowledge is the Beginning’ (2005) tells the story of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. German film maker Paul Smaczny followed the orchestra since its inception in 1999, when Israeli conductor/pianist Daniel Barenboim and Palestinian writer Edward Said started this initiative to bring together young musicians from across the political divide in the Middle East. The documentary shows how prejudices are surmounted during rehearsals, concerts, and laid-back post-concert celebrations. It also demonstrates what problems crop up and how music can help people of different views to find common ground. Footage of summer workshops in Weimar and Seville, Barenboim’s visits to Ramallah and Jerusalem in 2004, and the orchestra’s 2005 European tour add to the attraction of this insightful film.

Cellist Nicolas Altstaedt performs J. S. Bach's Suite No. 5 in C minor for cello solo, BWV 1011. This performance was recorded at St. Mary’s Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Les Dissonances is a collective of artists founded by violinist David Grimal in 2004. The conductorless ensemble consists of musicians from the most prestigious European orchestras, international soloists, and young talents. In this performance Les Dissonances perform Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759, also known as the ‘Unfinished Symphony’. Schubert started composing the work in 1822, but only completed the first two movements. The first movement, Allegro moderato, has a dark, mysterious mood, which contrasts with the beautiful second movement in E major, Andante con moto. Schubert only penned a couple of measures of the third movement, a Scherzo, in full score. It is not known why the composer never finished his symphony. Although it is not complete, it has become one of Schubert’s most popular compositions. This performance was recorded at Cité de la musique in Paris, France, in 2013.

Conductor Conrad van Alphen leads Sinfonia Rotterdam and the Laurenscantorij choir in a sublime performance of Gabriel Fauré’s celebrated Requiem. They are joined by soloists Ilse Eerens (soprano) and Martijn Cornet (baritone). Fauré composed the first version of his ‘Un petit requiem’ in 1887-88. In 1893, a second version premiered, adding the Offertoire and Libera me to the original five movements. The definitive version for full orchestra was finally premiered in 1900. This performance was recorded at De Doelen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on September 26, 2015.

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.

Italian pianist Andrea Molteni (1998) performs Frédéric Chopin’s Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49. Molteni began studying the piano at the age of six. He graduated with honors and honorable mention at the Conservatorio di musica Giuseppe Verdi di Como, and was awarded a master’s degree Magna cum Laude in Advanced Performance Studies by the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano. He has performed at the Wiener Saal of the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Scriabin Museum in Moscow, National Opera Center in New York, and several other international venues. This performance was recorded at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Ohio, USA, in 2022.