Schedule

Gioachino Rossini's opera La Cenerentola ('Cinderella'), with a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti, was first performed in February 1816 following the success of Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Interestingly, much like its predecessor, the first performance of the opera was received with some hostility, but the work soon became popular throughout Italian theaters and beyond. The opening of La Cenerentola is one of the most famous Rossini pieces, evoking a spirit of lightness and freshness. The work’s originality lies in the violent contrast between the heroin’s tenderness and the plot’s sentimentalism mixed with Rossini’s virtuosity and unbridled sense of humor. This 2015 performance of La Cenerentola at the Opéra de Rennes is conducted by Darrell Ang and features the Symphonic Orchestra of Brittany and choir of the Opéra de Rennes and José Maria Lo Monaco, Daniele Zanfardino, Marc Scoffoni and Bruno Pratico.

Evgeny Kissin enchants with a magnificent piano recital of works by Chopin, Schumann and Debussy at the 25th anniversary edition of the Swiss Verbier Festival in 2018. The Russian pianist's recitals are always a highlight of the Verbier festival. Always played to a full house, they are anticipated by the audience. This year was no exception with a programme devoted to Debussy Preludes on the occasion of the centennial of the composer’s death and, above all, to Schumann’s seldom played Sonata No.3 Op.14. Schumann composed the piece in 1836 but revised it in 1853. Kissin carefully scrutinized both versions and has allowed himself to borrow the best from both. The 30-minute long work is challenging both physically and technically, ending in a spectacular finale.

Celebrate St. Patrick 2020 was filmed in March 2020 at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Choirs from far and near seized the opportunity to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and perform with local Irish musicians for the congregation of this historic cathedral. The concert merges sacred music, traditional Irish instruments and music from the Irish diaspora. Performances from the highly acclaimed Voices of Ireland, jig dancers, and the rendition of Christ Be Beside Me by the combined choirs are among the many emotional highlights. Readings from the words of St. Patrick and footage of Ireland's glorious landscape make Celebrate Saint Patrick 2020 a feast for the ears and eyes!

Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto leads the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in a performance of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite. Originally commissioned as a ballet for the legendary dancer Martha Graham, Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring (1944) has since become an American classic. While first scored for a thirteen-piece ensemble, Copland later arranged the work for a full orchestra. This performance was recorded at Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, in 2021.

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.

The Berliner Philharmoniker is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany and is ranked as one of the best orchestras in the world. In 1990, orchestra members played beautiful chamber music, such as Ludwig van Beethoven's Octet in E-flat major and Antonin Dvořák's Serenade in D minor. Even though both compositions were written for wind instruments, Beethoven reworked and expanded his String Quartet No. 1 for this composition. The performance was recorded at the famous Jaspis-Hall in the New Chambers, besides Sanssouci, the Summer Palace of Friedrich the Great.

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. 8 in F major, Op. 93. Beethoven wrote the work in 1812 upon completion of his Symphony No. 7. The composer conducted the February 27, 1814 première at a concert in Vienna that also included a reprise performance of his Symphony No. 7 and his 15-minute orchestral piece Wellington’s Victory, Op. 91. The shortest of Beethoven’s nine symphonies, Symphony No. 8 lacks a truly slow movement. Instead it has a second movement, Allegretto scherzando, that features a steady ‘ticking’ rhythm maintained by the woodwinds throughout the movement. This is thought to be an imitation of the Andante movement of Joseph Haydn’s ‘Clock’ Symphony. Jordan’s performance was recorded at Opéra Bastille in Paris, France, in 2015.

Pianist Vadim Repin and Violist Murad Hüseynov perform Gara Garayev's Violin Sonata and 24 Preludes for Piano. Recorded at La Grange au Lac. Written and directed by Juliette Swierczewski and recorded at La Grange au Lac. Although Garayev is a 20th century composer, his music nonetheless carries allusions to romantic music. Murad, the main actor, will represent one of those characters carried by solitude that can be found in the romantic paintings of Friedrich. The overall atmosphere of the musical program is rather melancholic, tending either towards a certain musical lightness, or, on the contrary, towards drama. The production is a cinematographic accompaniment of the music and its performers.

Baritone Geng Lee (China, 1994) and pianist Nils Basters (Germany, 1989) perform Henri Duparc’s Chanson triste; ‘Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen’ and ‘Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen’ from Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Op. 48; ‘Litany’ from John Musto’s Shadow of the Blues; Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold; ‘Hôtel’ from Francis Poulenc’s Banalités, FP 107; and ‘Ging heut’ Morgen über’s Feld’ from Gustav Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, 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.

In the summer of 2019, the Utrecht Early Music Festival explored the musical legacy of Naples: a cultural metropolis of contradiction and solidarity. In the documentary 'Napoli – Music’s Forgotten Capital', festival co-curator Thomas Höft unearths riveting tales from this multi-faceted city.

Alexander Ullman (1991, United Kingdom) performs Franz Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 (S125) during the final of the 11th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, held in TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht 2017. The competition actively presents, develops and promotes piano talents from around the world. In doing so, it has become one of the prominent gateways to the international professional classical music scene for young musicians. The International Franz Liszt Piano Competition was founded in 1986 in the Netherlands and since has built a reputation as one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions.

Before Porpora, Scarlatti and Pergolesi ruled the Neapolitan music scene there was Gaetano Greco, one of the finest music teachers and composers of his day. Andrea Buccarella, a young harpsichordist from Rome (also performing in the Festival with his Abchordis Ensemble), pairs Greco’s most beautiful toccatas and famous Ballo di Mantua with works by his pupil Durante, who with his ‘quattro stagioni’ explores every nook and cranny of the keyboard.

“The Unanswered Ives” is the first documentary about American modernist composer Charles Ives (1874-1954). Ives was among the first generation of American composers that achieved international acclaim. Born in 1874, in Danbury, Connecticut, Ives took music lessons at a young age, becoming a church organist at the age of 14. Following his graduation from the music department at Yale University, the young composer decided to pursue a career outside of the arts. He started working in insurance, co-founding an innovative and highly successful insurance company. It was in his spare time that Ives composed his ambitious music, in which he experimented with advanced features including polytonality, twelve-tone technique, and quarter tones. The documentary film “The Unanswered Ives” (2018) sheds light on Ives’s life and work in all its facets, exploring his aural world by showing music performances in churches, concert halls, open-air venues, and a circus tent. Using interviews with relatives, insurance brokers, musicologists, and musicians, documentary filmmaker Anne-Kathrin Peitz explores the question “who was Charles Ives?"