“A city in a state of emergency” was the euphoric title of the article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung describing the performance of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in Buenos Aires. Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra make a guest appearance every year during their Summer Residency in several evening concerts at the Teatro Colón. With the greatest of ease, they represent one of the highlights of the Festival de Música y Reflexión: the musicians enthralled their audience with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 – the piece Martha Argerich played at her debut at the Teatro Colón at the age of eight and with which she returned to the Teatro after a prolonged abstinence – plus two premieres of works by Roustom and Adler and Ravel’s evergreens. In the Ravel in particular, the Divan musicians were able to prove “their filigree tone, their mastery of pianissimo through to the barely audible and many other merits”. (FAZ)
Sir András Schiff in Weimar
In the classical city of Weimar, where his great compatriot Franz Liszt once worked, Sir András Schiff, who was knighted in 2014, devoted himself to three of his “great loves”: Bach, Beethoven and Schubert. The setting could not have been more fitting: For the first time, it was possible for a production to record a piano recital at the Anna Amalia Library in Weimar. PROGRAM Bach: Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother in B flat major, BWV 992; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 “Pastoral”; Schubert: Three Late Piano Pieces , D. 946, Hungarian Melody in B minor, D. 817
Odeonsplatz Concert 2025: Lahav Shani & Lisa Batiashvili
For 25 years, the Odeonsplatz Concert has been an open-air highlight of the classical music summer, attracting over 16,000 viewers each year. In balmy summer temperatures, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, led by its designated chief conductor Lahav Shani, delivered a radiant performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with star soloist Lisa Batiashvili, whose interpretation held the audience spellbound. The evening culminated in a powerful rendition of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, filling the stage with sweeping orchestral colour. “Powerful and magical” (Münchner Merkur) PROGRAM Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major; Massenet: Meditation from Thaïs; Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, Op. 45; Dvorak : Slavonic Dance, Op. 46, No. 8
Blomstedt conducts Bruckner and Beethoven
The Staatskapelle Dresden reunites with its former Principal Conductor Herbert Blomstedt for a memorable performance at the Semperoper Dresden, thanking him for 50 years of highly productive collaboration. The grand seigneur amongst today’s conductors leads the orchestra in an impressive rendition of Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto, which features Sir András Schiff as acclaimed soloist “with an exquisite touch and finest nuances in his play” (Sächsische Zeitung). With the following performance of Anton Bruckner’s 4th Symphony, Herbert Blomstedt “leaves a monument” (Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten). PROGRAM Bruckner: Symphony No. 4; Beethoven: Piano Concert No. 1
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg: The Opening Concert
“HERE TIME BECOMES SPACE” : In January 2017 the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg finally opened its doors with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester under the baton of Principal Conductor Thomas Hengelbrock and several top-class soloists. The audience enjoyed an exceptional celebration with numerous guests from the worlds of culture and politics, plus 1,000 people who won tickets in an international raffle. The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester performed an exciting programme that spans across all musical eras, from the Renaissance to the present. It culminated in a brand-new commissioned work, created especially for this occasion by the most important living German composer Wolfgang Rihm. In varying instrumentation and with outstanding soloists the possibilities of the Grand Hall and its acoustics are explored.
Daniel Barenboim – 70th Birthday Concert
Performing the solo parts of two of the great piano concertos in the concert repertoire – BEETHOVEN’s Piano Concerto no. 3 and TCHAIKOVSKY’s Piano Concerto no. 1 – in one sitting is a feat that few pianists can pull off apart from Daniel Barenboim. Pianist, conductor and chamber musician extraordinaire, Daniel Barenboim hands over the reins of “his” orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin, to his close friend and colleague Zubin Mehta. To honor his friend the composer Elliott CARTER, who passed away at the age of 103, Barenboim performs a work written especially for him by Carter. —– Program: BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3; ELIOTT CARTER: Dialogues II for piano and orchestra; TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 1
Stars of Tomorrow presented by Rolando Villazón – Episode 13
Program: Giacomo Puccini: “Mi chiamano Mimì” from La Bohème / Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70/1 “Ghost” – Allegro vivace e con brio /
Maurice Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor – Pantoum. Assez vif / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: “Rivolgete a lui lo squardo” from Così fan tutte / Dmitri Shostakovich: Romance from The Gadfly / Niccolò Paganini:Caprices Nos. 24 & 5 / Richard Strauss “Morgen” / Antonín Dvorák Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op. 72 No. 2 / Franz Schubert “Erstarrung” from Die Winterreise / Qongqothwane (Traditional)
Stars of Tomorrow presented by Rolando Villazón – Episode 11
Program: Astor Piazzolla: Libertango / Jules Massenet: „Je suis encore tout étourdie“, Aria of Manon from „Manon“ / Sergej Rachmaninov: Préludes op. 32, No. 12, Préludes op. 23, No. 2 / Charles Gounod: „Avant de quitter ces lieux“, Aria of Valentin from „Manon“ / Sergej Rachmaninov: Barcarolle from „Morceaux de Salon“ / Astor Piazzolla: Oblivion / Claude Debussy: Apparition / Conrad Tao: Iridescence / Ludwig van Beethoven: Coriolan Ouverture / Georges Bizet: „Au fond du temple saint“, duet of Nadir and Zurga from «Les pêcheurs de perles»
Stars of Tomorrow presented by Rolando Villazón – Episode 10
Program: Wolfgang Amadeus MozartÖ: Oboe concerto, D major, Allegro aperto / Pietro Mascagni: Quella è una strada, Aria of Tartaglia from «Le Maschere» / Astor Piazzolla: Otoño Porteño / Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Rondo / Robert Schumann / Franz Liszt: Widmung / Erich Wolfgang Korngold: „Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen“, Aria of Fritz from “Die Tote Stadt” / Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto for violin and oboe, Andante / Giuseppe Verdi: Il pouveretto / Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 6
Vienna Boys Choir – 525th Anniversary Concert
Boys have been singing at Vienna’s “Hofburgkapelle” since 1296. In 1498, the future Emperor Maximilian I moved his court and court music from various residences to Vienna. In doing so, he had laid the foundation for the Wiener Hofmusikkapelle and eventually also for the Wiener Sängerknaben (The Vienna Boys Choir). In this festive jubilee concert at Vienna’s Musikverein celebrating the 525th anniversary of the choir, the Wiener Sängerknaben and all choirs associated to it, the Chorus Primus, the Wiener Chormädchen, the Chorus Juventus and the “alumni” forming the Chorus Viennensis, are singing works that are all especially related to the choir – by Ludwig Senfl and Josquin Desprez, the Strauss dynasty or also by Mozart, Haydn and Bruckner, some of them recorded for the very first time.