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18A02:21:002018HD

Hamlet is a grand opera in five acts by the French composer Ambroise Thomas (1811-1896), with a libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier. It is based on a French adaptation by Alexandre Dumas and Paul Meurice of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Thomas’ operas Mignon (1866) and Hamlet (1868) were largely neglected during the 20th century but experienced somewhat of a revival over the last decades. In this performance, staged by Serge van Veggel, The New European Ensemble is led by conductor Hernán Schvartzman. Main soloists are Quirijn de Lang (Hamlet), Lucie Chartin (Ophélie), Martijn Sanders (Claudius), Martina Prins (Gertrude), Jan-Willem Schaafsma (Laertes), and Patrick Pranger (Horatio). This performance was recorded at the Royal Theatre in The Hague, in April 2018.

G01:38:001993HD

Every year the Berliner Philharmoniker gives an outstanding concert at the Waldbühne. This amphitheatre in Berlin can host 22,000 people and is used for many events such as film showings, boxing matches and concerts. In 1993 the Berliner Philharmoniker, under the baton of the Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, performed a Russian program. The concert starts with Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, followed by Tchaikovsky' world-famous Nutcracker Suite, Overture 1812 and the Elegy from the Serenade for Strings. This is followed by Borodin’s Polovtsian Dance No. 17, Stravinsky’s Firebird and Aram Khachaturian’ Sabre Dance. The program closes with the Radetzky March by Johann Strauss Sr.

G00:24:002018HD

In this six-part documentary on the life and work of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, director Liloye Boubli takes viewers on a journey through the life and work of this legend of Brazilian classical music. The composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1887. Growing up during a time of immense social change in Brazil – with the abolishment of slavery in 1888, this was a time of social revolution and far-reaching modernizations – Villa-Lobos went on to become one of South America's best-known composers of all time. In this third episode, Liloye Boubli explores Villa-Lobos's inspiration from French classical music and Romanticism.

04:24
Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55
G00:48:002013HD
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 present Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, ‘Eroica’. Admiring the ideals of the French Revolution, Beethoven initially dedicated the symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte. However, upon hearing that Napoleon had crowned himself Emperor, Beethoven violently erased Napoleon’s name from the manuscript. Composed in 1803-04 in a style that breaks with tradition, the symphony is regarded as a turning point in Beethoven’s oeuvre as well as Western music history. Symphony No. 3 is longer in duration than any previous symphony. The work opens with two powerful chords that replace the more customary long introduction. The lower strings then introduce the main theme. 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 de Dijon, France, in 2012.

G00:27:002022HD

Soprano Harriet Burns (United Kingdom, 1989) performs Robert Schumann’s Singet nicht in Trauertönen, Op. 98; Franz Schubert’s Atys, D. 585; ‘L’absent’ from Gabriel Fauré’s Trois chansons, Op. 5; ‘Seranilla de la Zarzuela’ from Judith Weir’s A Spanish Liederbooklet; ‘Tournoiement’ (Songe d’opium) from Camille Saint-Saëns’s song cycle Mélodies persanes, Op. 26; James K. Wright’s Quilled Sonnet; Charles Gounod’s Au rossignol, CG. 332; and ‘Och Moder, ich well en Ding han’ from Johannes Brahms’s 49 Deutches Volkslieder, WoO. 33, during the semi-finals of the Art Song division of the Concours musical international de Montréal 2022 (CMIM). This performance was recorded at the Bourgie Hall of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

G00:19:002017HD

Russian pianist Dina Ivanova performs Franz Liszt’s Totentanz, S. 525, during the Solo finals of the 11th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, held at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Totentanz (Dance of Death) is one of Liszt’s many works that reflect the Romantic composer’s fascination with death. The piece is a series of variations on the macabre Gregorian Dies irae theme.

G00:34:001990HD

Under the baton of Jiri Belohlávek, soloist Ivan Klánský is accompanied by the Prague Chamber Orchestra during his performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20, K 466 at the Waldstein palace in Prague.

G00:26:002008HD

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmonic during the 2008 edition of the Europakonzert, held in the renowned hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. The first edition of the Europakonzert was in 1991, and since then, the founding of the Berlin Philharmonic on May 1st in 1882 is annually celebrated with a concert in a European city of cultural significance. The orchestra opens with an outstanding performance of Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements. Furthermore, Vadim Repin, one of today’s most fascinating artists, features as soloist in Bruch’s Concerto for Violin No. 1, Op, 26. The orchestra concludes with a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, of which the second movement, Allegretto, gained instant popularity after its premiere in 1813 and remains a crowd favorite.

G00:52:002023HD

“Shusha, the Renaissance” is a musical journey featuring pianist Murad Huseynov. The city of Shusha is often considered the cradle of Azerbaijan's music and poetry and one of the leading centres of the Azerbaijani culture, having been declared the cultural capital of Azerbaijan in January 2021. On the program are the following works: Fikret Amirov’s (1922-1984) Twelve Miniatures for Piano Solo: I. Ballade - II. Ashigsayagi – III. Nocturne – IV. Humoresque – V. Lyrical Dance – VI. Hunting - VII. Lullaby – VIII. Waltz – IX. Barcarolle – X. Toccata – XI. Elegy – XII. March; Adil Babirov’s (1934-2021) ‘s Prelude & Scherzo; Gara Garayev’s (1918-1982) Sonatine: I. Allegro – II. Moderato assai – III. Vivo ; Tofik Kouliyev’s (1917-2000) ‘Gaytagi’ and F. Amirov’s Romantic Sonata: I. Allegro energico - II. Andante espressivo - III. Allegro non troppo). This performance is filmed in Shusha in October 2023 and in the Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, in December 2023. Written and directed by Michel Swierczewski.

G00:21:002018HD

Patrick Debrabandere conducts the Vox Mago chamber choir in a performance of Christoph Graupner's (1683-1760) cantata Magnificat anima mea. This performance is part of the concert program In Tempus Adventus, consisting of three beautiful baroque cantatas, recorded in December 2018 in Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Presentatiekerk, Ghent in Belgium. This festive cantata was composed for Christmas in 1722. Graupner was a very prolific composer, with one of the largest oeuvres in the classical music history. He befriended composers like Händel and Matheson and even was chosen over Johann Sebastian Bach as the new cantor of the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, but his employer Ernst Ludwig I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen decided otherwise and still wished to keep Graupner as court composer.

G00:43:002017HD

This short documentary follows the participants of the 11th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, held in TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, in 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 has since built a reputation as one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions.

G01:06:002016HD

Regarded as one of the finest interpreters of Romantic repertoire, Francesco Attesti (*1975) gave his first recital at age 11 and by the time he was 23, had earned the highest honours in piano from Florence’s Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini. In this recording of his 2016 Deeply Mozart concert tour, Attesti performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piano concertos KV 449 and KV 488 with the Italian OIDA Orchestra and conductor Paolo Belloli.

G01:27:002016HD

The Messiah (HWV 56) by Georg Frederich Handel, also known as “A New Sacred Oratorio”, tells the life and suffering of Christ: a story of passion, fire, and sacrifice. This is one of Handel's best-known works, which took only three weeks to compose this oratorio and its famous "Hallelujah". The work has immense popularity since its premiere in Dublin in 1742, and is often presented at Easter. This performance of the Dutch ensemble Ribattuta Musica under the direction of conductor Dick Duijst was filmed in the grand church of the city of Ermelo, the Netherlands, in 2016. The soloists are Elvire Beekhuizen (soprano), Rosina Fabius (viola), Oscar Verhaar (counter-tenor) Satriya Krisna (tenor), and Hans Voschezang (bass). Ribattuta Musica is a professional ensemble that delivers authentic performances based on current musical practices at the time of the composers.

G01:31:002007HD

We live in a "renaissance of the piano”, as the New York Times has recently put it. With virtuosic flair and an eagerness to expand the repertoire, a new generation of pianists has revitalized the instrument’s appeal. In addition to the usual classics, they perform formerly scorned works or discover neglected composers. Legato is a series dedicated to presenting some of this new movement's most fascinating pianists – their individual approaches, their fresh ideas and their music. Each episode portrays an artist and shows an aspect of the world of the piano. The sum of these portraits provides viewers with an overall picture of the art of the pianist. Montréal native Marc-André Hamelin is internationally renowned for his musical virtuosity and refined pianism. The Times described one of his performances as “ultimate perfection”. He plays works by Haydn (Piano sonata in E major), Chopin (Piano sonata No. 3), Debussy (‘Préludes’, book two), Hamelin (Etude No. 7), as well as two short pieces by Gershwin (‘Do, Do, Do’ and ‘Liza’).

G00:29:002001HD

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.

G00:13:002009HD

This Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord No. 1 BWV 1014 is the first of the set of sonatas Johann Sebastian Bach composed before 1725, probably during his time as chapel master in Köthen. Presumably, he 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.

G00:12:002019HD

Roberto Giordano performs Chopin's Ballade No. 1, Op. 23. The sketches of the work date back to 1831 during Chopin's eight-month stay in Vienna. The first ballade was completed in 1835 after the composer moved to Paris. The main section of the ballade is built from two main themes which return in different keys after which a thundering chord introduces the Presto con fuoco, which eventually ends the piece in a fiery double octave scale run down the keyboard. The work gained popularity after appearing on the soundtrack to the 2002 Roman Polanski film The Pianist, where it is played by Janusz Olejniczak.

G01:21:002020HD

At the age of seven, Argentine pianist Martha Argerich made her debut with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15, a piece that would accompany her throughout her career. The celebrated pianist performs this signature piece at the Lucerne Festival with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under the baton of Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt, who makes his festival debut with the orchestra. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36, is also on the program. This performance was recorded at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Center (KKL), Switzerland, in August 2020.

G00:12:002017HD

Over the course of 19 days, the best youth orchestras in the world led by great conductors, and flanked by virtuoso soloists, guaranteed exciting and inspiring concert performances at the Young Euro Classical 2017. The festival is known to be the most important platform for international young orchestra musicians in the European classical music tradition, and for its development. This highlight version is a collection of infectiously energizing and outstanding performances by musicians from across the globe. Their repertoire includes renowned classical works as well as local composers. On the program: Verdi - La forza del destino, Beethoven - Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1, Tchaikovsky - Six Romances, Kohji - Georgian, Mingrelian Songs, Weinberg - Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes Op. 47 and Wong - As the Heart Soars.

PG01:20:002009HD

In Magifique, Thierry Malandain, director of Ballet Biarritz, dives into his memories. Set to the unifying theme of Tchaikovski’s music, the show reaches heights of emotion. In 2006 the Ballet Biarritz headed by Thierry Malandain captivated Chaillot’s audience with Les Créatures. This unusual company – which has a taste for classical body language and remains modern in its approach – will shine again with Magifique. Dipping into personal memories to Tchaikovsky’s engrossing music, Thierry Malandain turns in one his most beautiful creations. Thierry Malandain tells how as a kid he used to describe his ecstatic moments as “magifiques” leaving the “n’ out. Today, he is still secretly besotted with dance. And that is mag(n)ificent! The Malandain Ballet Biarritz recorded at the Gare du midi, Biarritz in 2009.

G00:58:002020HD

Celebrated German violinist Isabelle Faust performs two of J. S. Bach’s incredible works for solo violin: Partita No. 2 in D minor (BWV 1004), and Sonata No. 3 in C major (BWV 1005). Both works are part of the composer’s well-known Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001-1006). Partita No. 2 is made up of four dance movements, concluded by its famous Chaconne, a monumental piece within the violin repertoire. In this Chaconne, Bach develops a series of continuous variations from a theme, exploring a complex range of harmonic possibilities. Sonata No. 3 includes an extensive fugue in which Bach employs many contrapuntal techniques. In this wonderful performance, Faust shows her mastery of Bach’s technically challenging pieces. This performance was recorded at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany, in 2020.

G01:49:002006HD

This performance was recorded during Mozart Week on January 27, 2006 in Salzburg, Austria, at the Großes Festspielhaus (Large Festival House) in celebration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 250th birthday. Under conductor Riccardo Muti, it features Thomas Hampson (baritone), Mitsuko Uchida (piano), Gidon Kremer (violin), Yuri Bashmet (viola), Wiener Singverein, and Wiener Philharmoniker. Pieces include Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major, K. 364, arias and scenes from Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, The Magic Flute and Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385 ("Haffner").

G00:51:002012HD

The documentary 'Heavenly Voices – The Legacy of Farinelli' (2012) tells us the story of the castrato in music – male singers who were castrated at a young age in order to preserve their high vocal range, a cruel practice that was in place mainly in the 17th and 18th centuries. For two centuries, castrati's performances held European audiences spellbound, with successful castrati such as Farinelli ranking among the most influential and highest-earning musicians of those days. Today, roles originally written for castrati are often performed by countertenors. In this documentary, countertenors Max Emanuel Cenčić, Philippe Jaroussky, Andreas Scholl, Franco Fagioli, and Jochen Kowalski discuss Baroque-era operatic entertainment. 'Heavenly Voices' is a film by Gino Pennacchi (writer) and Alessandro Scillitani (director).

G00:24:002017HD

Alexander Ullman (1991, United Kingdom) performs Die drei Zigeuner (S383), Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth (S382bis) and La lugubre gondola, (S134bis) during semi-final II (chamber music) of the 11th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, held in TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, in 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 has since built a reputation as one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions.

G01:38:002006HD

2006 closed with a spectacular festival of Argentinean music broadcast live from Buenos Aires. At the height of the Argentinean summer, the Orquesta Filarmónica del Teatro Colon under Daniel Barenboim (conductor & soloist) join bandoneon virtuoso Leopoldo Federico and his Orquesta Tipica for an extraordinary New Year’s Eve show with popular tangos and Latin American orchestra classics. The old master of tango, José Carli, created enchanting new arrangements of works by Argentinean artists Astor Piazzolla, Carlos Gardel, Julio de Caro, Alberto Ginastera and Horacio Salgán. Performances by leading tango dancers Mora Godoy and Junior Cervilla from Buenos Aires add atmosphere and round off the night.

G00:52:002019HD

In May 2019, the new principal conductor of the Gewandhaus, Andris Nelsons, presented Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 with his orchestra in combination with Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with outstanding violinist Baiba Skride as the soloist. In this composition, the violin does not allow itself a break, continually tells its dark story and gets into a vicious circle of ostinato Passacaglia bass lines again and again falls into beguilingly beautiful singing. Tchaikovsky initially thought his 'Symphony of Fate' was a failure and believed himself to be at the end of his creative powers. It was probably the composer's nature, plagued by self-doubt, that made it almost impossible for him to develop a self-confident attitude to his own creative power. Between this two works, Skride performs Stravinsky's Elegy for Solo Violin.

G00:29:002018HD

The Quarteto Radamés Gnattali performs Heitor Villa-Lobos' String Quartet No. 13. The quartet, existing of Carla Rincón (violin), Francisco Roa (violin), Fernando Thebaldi (viola) and Hugo Pilger (cello), was founded in 2006 and is specialised in Brazilian music and educational activities. Their recording of the complete set of Villa-Lobos string quartets is a major achievement and was very well received by the international music press. Except for the Bachianas Brasileiros Heitor Villa-Lobos is little known outside Latin America. Not only a composer but also a highly regarded conductor and educationist in his native Brazil, Villa-Lobos has operas, symphonies, concertos, piano and choral music as well as 17 String Quartets to his credit. Recorded at the Theatro Municipal, Rio de Janiero, Brasil.