Schedule

French composer Guillaume Connesson (*1970) is building an impressive musical oeuvre, to which he has recently added an opera: 'Les bains macabres'. For this romantic contemporary thriller opera he worked closely with librettist Olivier Bleys (*1970), a successful French author with dozens of novels to his credit. The result is an enigmatic narrative with a film noir soundtrack about the macabre 'Bains Terminus': ailing patrons who come to take the waters here never leave. When the Pool police investigates their mysterious deaths, the realms of life and death turn out to be not as separate as expected... In this February 2020 production, directed by Florent Siaud, soprano Sandrine Buendia plays the part of Célia and baritone Romain Dayez plays Mathéo. Conductor Arie van Beek conducts the Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes.

Every year, the Europakonzert is hosted by the Berliner Philharmoniker in a notorious concert hall or on a special location. This years concert is performed at the magnificent Royal Albert Hall in London. The Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink starts with Tchaikovsky's Fantasy Overture from "Roméo et Juliette". The second piece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is his famous Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major K. 216 played by the German violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann. During his career he played with a lot of famous orchestras and conductors such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Mariss Jansons. He has a great passion for chamber music and plays a lot of recitals with the Italian pianist Enrico Pace. The concert closes with Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring which he wrote in 1913 for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The première caused a lot of sensation and near-riot in the audience because of the avant-garde nature, music and choreography of the piece. The Rite of Spring is now considered as one of the masterpieces of classical music history and has influenced many 20th-century music composers. The encore is Tchaikovsky's Flower Waltz from the Nutcracker.

From August 28 to September 6, 2015, the Early Music Festival Utrecht was all about 'England, my England'. In line with this theme, presenter Lex Bohlmeijer takes the viewer on an intriguing journey through the England of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque, and relates this to the city of Utrecht. In episode 2 of this two-part documentary, René de Kam (Heritage Municipality of Utrecht) delves deeper into the Anglican past of the city of Utrecht. The viewer is introduced to festival artists Benjamin Bagby, Skip Sempé, and The Newcastle Kingsmen, who dance their traditional folk "Rapper Sword Dance" during the festival's pub sessions.

Franz Welser-Möst leads the Cleveland Orchestra in a concert performing Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40. Violin soloist is David Radzynski. Recorded at Severance Hall in Cleveland in February 2023. Strauss, at the age of 34, sparked outrage when he cast himself as the central figure of his tone poem. Generally agreed to be autobiographical, the work contains more than thirty quotations from Strauss's earlier works.

Soprano Erika Baikoff (United States, 1994) and pianist Gary Beecher (Ireland, 1993) perform Franz Schubert’s ‘Suleika I, Was bedeutet die Bewegung’, Op. 14, No. 1 (D. 720); Die Blumensprache, Op. 173, No. 5 (D. 519); and, Die Gebüsche, D. 646; ‘Lied vom Winde’ and ‘Der Knabe und das Immlein’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder; ‘Fleur jetée’ from Gabriel Fauré’s Quatre melodies, Op. 39; ‘C’ from Francis Poulenc’s Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon, FP 122; ‘Les lilas qui avaient fleuri’ from Lili Boulanger’s Clairières dans le ciel; Johanna Bordewijk-Roepman’s ‘Oranje may-lied’; and, ‘Eti letniye nochi’ (These summer nights) from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Twelve romances, Op. 14, during the final round of the International Vocal Competition 2019 – Lied Duo. This performance was recorded at Theater aan de Parade in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.

Christian Zacharias performs Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 6, K 238, accompanied by the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart under the direction of Gianluigi Gelmetti. This concert was recorded at Schwetzingen palace, where the Mannheim elector’s court would spend their summers.

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.

The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, also known simply as Tafelmusik, is a Toronto-based Canadian baroque orchestra, specialised in early music. The ensemble is directed by violinist Jeanne Lamon. In ‘The Galileo Project: Music of the Spheres’ they perform music by Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Bach and Handel to a backdrop of high-definition images from the Hubble telescope, NASA and Canadian astronomers. Explore the fusion of arts, science and culture in the 17th and 18th centuries in this imaginative concert commemorating Galileo’s first public demonstration of the telescope. Actor Shaun Smyth narrates a compelling script while the musicians weave in and around a magical stage set by Marshal Pynkoski. Created and scripted by Alison Mackay.

Baritone Arvid Fagerfjäll (Sweden, 1991) and pianist Hikaru Kanki (Japan, 1993) perform Franz Schubert’s An mein Herz, D. 860; ‘Die Aufgeregten’ from Arnold Schönberg’s Sechs Lieder, Op. 3; ‘A poison tree’ from Benjamin Britten’s The red cockatoo and other songs; Bart Visman’s Vermeer’s Gold; ‘La mer est plus belle’ from Claude Debussy’s Trois mélodies de Paul Verlaine, L. 81; Gabriel Fauré’s Prison, Op. 83, No. 1; and ‘Die Geister am Mummelsee’ from Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder, 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.

Indian conductor Zubin Mehta (1936) became Music Director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) in 1977 and was appointed Music Director for Life in 1981. On July 18, 1996, Mehta led the IPO in its first-ever performance of Richard Strauss’s tone poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28. Renowned as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of the great symphonic repertoire—especially the Romantic works of Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss—Mehta had conducted this popular masterpiece many times before. However, this was the first occasion he rehearsed it from the very beginning with the orchestra. This episode of ‘In Rehearsal’ offers an intimate look at the dialogue between Mehta and the musicians as they explore Strauss’s tone poem together.

Acclaimed classical music talent scout Antonio Mormone (1930-2017) lives on as the name-giver of the Premio Internazionale Antonio Mormone (PIAM), awarded to the winner of the Italian music competition of the same name. The first edition of this competition, which was held in various venues in Milan from 2019 to 2021, was dedicated to the piano. As part of this competition, Leonardo Colafelice (Italy, 1995) performs Felix Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, and Frédéric Chopin’s “Heroic” Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53. This performance was recorded at Nuovo Teatro Ariberto in Milan, in May, 2021.

On December 24, 2011, one of the world’s most renowned classical orchestras, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, celebrated the 75th anniversary of its founding. The film portrays the orchestra and its eventful history against the backdrop of Israel and the holocaust. Interwoven with individual biographies and archival footage, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s 75 years of history are brought back to life in concerts featuring Arturo Toscanini, Arthur Rubinstein, Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim and Itzhak Perlman. We also get the opportunity to watch the Israel Philharmonic in rehearsals, concerts and on tour

Japanese violinist Naoya Nishimura and Italian pianist Andrea Bacchetti perform Maurice Ravel’s Sonata for violin and piano (No. 2) in G major, M. 77. The sonata consists of three movements. The piece is often listed as “No. 2”, yet the composer wrote his actual second sonata, which remained unpublished until 38 years after his death, before this one. This performance was recorded at the Munetsugu Hall in Nagoya, Japan.

This concert may be called a meeting of musical giants: Manfred Honeck conducts the Berlin Philharmonic while cellist Yo-Yo Ma features as soloist. Success guaranteed when these artists take the stage at the 2016 Easter Concert from the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden! Honeck, musical director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, made his successful debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 2013. Yo-Yo Ma has played regularly with the orchestra since 1978. The concert opens with Brahms' Tragic Overture, Op. 81, followed by Schumann's Concerto for Cello, Op. 129. The orchestra concludes with a performance of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique.” While Schumann’s Cello Concerto was never played during his lifetime, Tchaikovsky died just nine days after the premiere of his Symphony No. 6.

Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) composed nine books of madrigals in half a century, which helped transform the genre from the polyphonic, a cappella madrigals of the late Renaissance to the ‘concertato’ madrigals of the early Baroque, shifting the style’s focus to the ability of music to express emotions contained in a text. In 2011, British tenor Paul Agnew and renowned Baroque ensemble Les Arts Florissants started recording eight books of Monteverdi’s madrigals. In this program, Agnew leads Les Arts Florissants in the madrigals of Book III. Published in 1592, the book contains twenty madrigals for five voices. This performance was recorded at the Cité de la musique in Paris, France, in 2012.

The Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda (*1975) is particularly noted for his performances of newly discovered works by Felix Mendelssohn. Moreover, Prosseda is particularly praised for his interpretations of W. A. Mozart, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin. He won major prizes in several piano competitions and has frequently performed with some of the world’s most important orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. In this recital, Prosseda performs Alexander Scriabin’s Nocturne Op. 9, No. 2, Alan Berg’s Piano Sonata, Op. 1, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111. This performance was recorded at Teatro alle Vigne in Lodi, Italy, in 2015.

English-French pianist David Levy performs Dmitri Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87. The work is a set of twenty-four pieces for piano, one in each of the major and minor keys of the chromatic scale. Each piece is in two parts: a prelude followed by a fugue. The composer was doubtlessly inspired by J. S. Bach’s famous The Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846-893), a collection of forty-eight preludes and fugues published in two books. A panel member at Leipzig’s Bach competition, Shostakovich was deeply inspired by Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva’s performance of Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues. Shostakovich wrote these pieces between the autumn of 1950 and February 1951, dedicating them to Nikolayeva, who agreed to perform the Leningrad premiere in December 1952. David Levy’s performance was recorded at the Budapest Music Center, Hungary, in September 2023.

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 visually stunning production of Nutcracker is a graceful and timeless adventure on a grand scale. From the lovely Waltz of the Flowers to the crystalline beauty of the stunning Snowflake Waltz, each scene is more breathtaking than the last, bringing to life all the well-known and beloved characters with fresh sparkle and compelling originality. It is Christmas Eve and we are brought to a party at which Drosselmeyer gives young Clara a nutcracker doll - beginning a night that includes a magically growing Christmas tree, a midnight battle of toy soldiers at which the Nutcracker defeats the villainous Mouse King and his army of mice, and a headlong pas de deux in which Clara and Hans-Peter meet and celebrate their triumph before being enveloped in a magical snowstorm. Act II whisks the young pair off to the Kingdom of the Sweets, where they are entertained by the Sugar Plum Fairy with her handsome Prince and her glittering court in a series of dazzling dances. Under the direction of Andreas Morell, Valery Gergiev conducts the Mariinsky Orchestra and Choir. Soloists are Mikhail Makarov, lldar Abdrazakov, Anna Markarova, Sergei Skorokhodov, Timur Abdikeyev, Vladislav Sulimasky. This production was recorded at the Mariinsky Theatre in 2012.

Paul Goodwin conducts the Conjunto Barroco of the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid in a Baroque music program featuring works by Georg Muffat, J. S. Bach, and Jean-Philippe Rameau. On the program are Muffat’s Sonata No. 5 in G major, 'Armonico tributo'; Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D major, BWV 1069; and Rameau’s Suite from the opera ‘Les Boréades’. This performance was recorded at Auditorio Sony of the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, Spain, on February 8, 2024.

TeoTronico is a pianist robot, conceived and designed by Matteo Suzzi at TeoTronica company, an Italian start-up based in Imola. Version 1.0, with 29 fingers, was completed in 2007. Starting from version 3.0 (2012), TeoTronico was implemented with 53 fingers made of dynamically driven electromagnets, able to control the gradations of any acoustic piano. TeoTronico can read musical scores in digital or MIDI format, playing them on the piano in a literal way. It is also able to reproduce the piano roll recordings - converted into MIDI - of the great pianists of the past. Since 2017, TeoTronico is also equipped with feet for the control of the sustain pedal of the piano. In 2012, TeoTronico made his debut as a soloist at the Philharmonie in Berlin with the Berliner Symphoniker in a special family concert. TeoTronico has performed more than 50 shows with Roberto Prosseda in their unique format 'Robot Pianist Vs. Human Pianist', appearing in the most important Italian concert venues and halls in Europe and Asia. This concert is filmed at the Teatro Sociale, Castiglione delle Stiviere in Italy.

Minsoo Hong (1993, South Korea) performs Liszt’s Sposalizio from Années de Pèlerinage: Deuxième Année (S161/1) and Bellini/Liszt’s Réminiscences de Norma (S394) during the Solo Finals of the11th 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.

Every year, the Europakonzert is hosted by the Berliner Philharmoniker in a notorious concert hall or on a special location. This years concert is performed at the magnificent Royal Albert Hall in London. The Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink closes with Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring which he wrote in 1913 for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The première caused a lot of sensation and near-riot in the audience because of the avant-garde nature, music and choreography of the piece. The Rite of Spring is now considered as one of the masterpieces of classical music history and has influenced many 20th-century music composers. The encore is Tchaikovsky's Flower Waltz from the Nutcracker.