Schedule

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.

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.

Today’s Brussels Philharmonic concert focuses on the diverse musical styles that characterized the first half of the 20th century. In addition to the impressionism of Claude Debussy's Jeux (1913), conductor Michel Tabachnik's ensemble focuses on one of the leading composers of modern music: Igor Stravinsky. His first ballet music, Firebird (1910), is a highlight of the concert. The concert opens with Anton Webern’s Five Pieces for Orchestra Op. 10 (1913). These five, ultra-short pieces are not thematically connected, nor do they include traditional formal plans or tonal relationships - prepare for a listening challenge!

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.

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.

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.

Léon Spierer conducts the Orquesta Sinfonica de Minería during the Concerto de San Silvestre. Soloist is soprano Jéssika Arévalo. The second and last part of this anniversary concert, shown in this program, opens with the Adagio from Joseph Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony No. 45 (Hob I:45) and concludes with Antonin Dvořák's Symphony No. 8, Op. 88. The symphony was completed in 1889 and saw its premiere the following year. In contrast to Dvořák's other works from this period, the music is cheerful and optimistic.

Pianist Jakub Kuszlik (Poland, 1996) performs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, during the final round of the Piano Edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2024 (CMIM). Kuszlik is accompanied by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under the baton of Xian Zhang. This performance was recorded at Maison symphonique de Montréal.

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 play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216. Leading violinist Grimal features as the soloist. With the exception of the first violin concerto, Mozart composed his other four violin concertos in 1775 at a time when he was concertmaster at the Salzburg court. Violin Concerto No. 3 opens with a theme the composer borrowed from the aria ‘Aer tranquillo’ of his then recent opera Il re pastore. In the beautiful Adagio, the strings are muted and the oboes make way for the flutes, which only sound in the second movement. The finale movement has a dance-like character. This performance was recorded at Cité de la Musique, France, in 2014.

Soprano Alisa Fedorenko (Russia, 1999) and pianist Evgenii Sergeev (Russia, 1986) perform ‘Mandoline’ and ‘À Clymène’ from Gabriel Fauré’s Cinq melodies “de Venise”, Op. 58; ‘Lied der Delphine’ from Franz Schubert’s Zwei Szenen aus dem Schauspiel ‘Lacrimas’, D. 857; ‘Son’ (A dream) from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Six Romances, Op. 38; ‘Elfenlied’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder; ‘Staccato’ from Rodion Shchedrin’s Three solfege exercises; and Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold, 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.

Léon Spierer conducts the Orquesta Sinfonica de Minería during the Concerto de San Silvestre. Soloist is soprano Jéssika Arévalo. The first part of this anniversary concert, shown in this program, features the following works: Johann Strauss Jr.'s Wiener Blut, Op. 354, "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß" from Franz Léhar's musical comedy Giuditta, the Ouverture from Gioachino Rossini's opera Barber of Seville, "Vilja's Lied" from Franz Léhar's musical comedy Die Lustige Witwe, Johann Strauss Jr.'s An der Schönen Blauen Donau, Op. 314, "Carceleras" from Ruperto Chapi's Las Hijas del Zebedeo, and Johan Strauss's Sr.'s famous Radetzky March, Op. 228. This concert was recorded at Academia de Música del Palacio de Minería, Mexico City.

The extraordinarily talented pianist Elena Bashkirova has been president of the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Foundation in Leipzig since October 2020, succeeding legendary conductor Kurt Masur. In this concert at the Mendelssohn House in Leipzig, Bashkirova is joined by soprano Juliane Banse, flutist Emmanuel Pahud, cellist Claudio Bohórquez, clarinettist Karl-Heinz Steffens, and pianist Ohad Ben-Ari in a chamber music program dedicated to the music of Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny Hensel. The program opens with Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 49. This is followed by a selection of songs: Mendelssohn’s Schilflied ‘Auf dem Teich, dem regungslosen’, Op. 71 No. 4, and Reiselied ‘Der Herbstwind rüttelt die Bäume’, Op. 34 No. 6; Hensel’s Vorwurf, Op. 10 No. 2; Verlust, Op. 9 No. 10; and Sehnsucht, Op. 9 No. 7; Mendelssohn’s ‘Allnächtlich im Traume seh ich dich’, Op. 86 No. 4; ‘Die Liebende schreibt’, Op. 86 No. 3; and Nachtlied ‘Vergangen ist der lichte Tag’, Op. 71 No. 6. The program continues with Mendelssohn’s Seven Songs without Words, for piano four-hands (Op. 62 Nos. 1-6, and Op. 67 No. 1), and comes to a close with Mendelssohn’s Three pieces for clarinet, violoncello and piano (arr. Ernst Naumann), comprising Prelude, Op. 35 No. 4, Songs without Words, Op. 53 No. 2, and Duet, Op. 38 No. 6. This performance was recorded in November 2020.

Italian conductor Andrea Vitello leads Ensemble BIOS in a performance of ‘Someone Out There is Praying for Peace (Let Us Not Be the Reason), III’, by contemporary Canadian composer Rita Ueda. This piece is written for strings and shō, a Japanese free-reed mouth organ, played here by Naomi Sato. Ensemble BIOS specializes in 20th and 21st century music. This performance was recorded at Chiesa di San Cristo in Brescia, Italy.

The compelling documentary How to Get Out of the Cage (2012) by award-winning filmmaker Frank Scheffer presents an intimate portrait of John Cage (1912-1992), one of 20th century's most important composers. From 1982 to 1992, Scheffer worked with Cage on numerous occasions, which resulted in unique archives of historical audio-visual material, including interviews, musical performances, and images of locations related to the composer’s life and work. In all Scheffer’s works related to Cage, he used the old Chinese method of chance operations based on the Yi Jing – as often used by Cage himself in his compositions. Instead of using chance operations, Scheffer edited the film in the usual way that is based on choice.

Under the direction of Conrad van Alphen, the Sinfonia Rotterdam Orchestra performs Haydn's Symphony No. 45 at the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in The Hague. This piece is nicknamed "Farewell" because of a funny anecdote. Haydn and his musicians stayed every year from May to October at the magnificent Esterháazy Palace, at the request of Prince Nicholas. In early November 1772, the prince announced his intention to remain at the palace for two more months. The musicians then told Kapellmeister Haydn their disagreement with this forced extension of their stay. The solution proposed by Haydn was to compose a piece delivering a clear message: at the end of the last movement of the Symphony, the musicians were called to blow the candles on their lectern and leave the room one after the other. Prince Nicholas understood the message; the next day a car was waiting for the musicians to take them home.

Having achieved incredible success with consistently sold-out concerts, the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival is renowned for its exceptional repertoire of performances by top soloists who otherwise seldom share a stage. This program presents highlights of the 2008 edition, of which the theme centered on the exploration of the “national spirit” of music.

The Royal Ballet Flanders performs a beautiful program with ballets by choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Jeroen Verbruggen. The Symphonic Orchestra of the Opera Vlaanderen is conducted by Yannis Pouspourikas. Ravel remains a source of inspiration for many choreographers. Cherkaoui and rising talent Verbruggen take their vision of Ravel's music to the stage with the Ballet Flanders. Verbruggen draws his inspiration from Ravel's ”Pavane pour une infante défunte” and from ”Ma mère l'Oye.” Cherkaoui also translates Ravel into dance, opting for the colorful ”Pictures at an Exhibition” composed by Mussorgsky, which was orchestrated by Ravel to become the most widely performed orchestration of this work. Among the star dancers are Nancy Osbaldeston, Alexander Burton, and Drew Jacoby. Recorded in the Opera Antwerp in 2016 and directed by Andreas Morell.

The Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra delivers a program entirely devoted to Mozart at the Konzerthaus in Berlin under the direction of Hartmut Haenchen. In reduced form, the ensemble manages to bring to life the many characteristics of the music and the unique spirit of the famous composer, be it his gaiety of heart, his lyricism, his dramatic side or his polyphonic writing inspired. Criticism has always praised Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's stylistic assurance, transparency of textures and technical precision. The extraordinary sensitivity and ease of Stefan Vladar make him an ideal partner for Haenchen and his orchestra. The evening's program includes Divertimento, K. 113; the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 20, K. 466, and Symphony No. 41, K. 551.

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 play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218. Leading violinist Grimal features as the soloist. With the exception of the first violin concerto, Mozart composed his other four violin concertos in 1775 at a time when he was concertmaster at the Salzburg court. Among his five concertos, Violin Concerto No. 4 is one of the best-known. This performance was recorded at Cité de la Musique, France, in 2014.

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.

One of the world's most important festivals of Early Music takes place in the Dutch city of Utrecht every summer. World-class musicians, who specialize in the music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque, gather in Utrecht to illustrate the magic of the music of the distant past. In 2017, the focus was on the music from the Reformation period. The documentary 'Sing, fight, cry, pray' serves as an introduction to this period, explaining why theologian Martin Luther attached his Ninety-five Theses to the door of a church in the German town of Wittenberg in 1517.