Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) and George Gershwin (1898-1937), two musicians inseparably linked with America, form an exuberant and stimulating combination in this program with the New York Philharmonic. Gershwin was one of the American composers Bernstein revered the most and one who, along with Mahler, Copland and Blitzstein, exerted a great influence on him as a composer. This performance with the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein as soloist and conductor was
recorded at the Jahrhunderthalle in Hoechst, Germany, in 1976.
This film is a journey with the famous pianist Yuja Wang. With more than 120 performances a year, she lives a nomadic lifestyle. The exploration of Yuja’s wanderings is a travelogue of exciting venues, glitzy cities and encounters with extraordinary artists, such as Gustavo Dudamel, Gauthier Capuçon and Leonidas Kavakos and personalities of other professional horizons but there is also a downside: fatigue, jet lag, pressure, doubts, hostilities, disorientation, and loneliness. With a bittersweet reference to the transience of life, the film reveals the invisible that complements the visible and shows us this artist in a very personal way. “Pianists have to be alone all the time, and it’s hard, it’s lonely. Being a musician is almost like a very isolated life, and the only time you actually get to communicate is on stage with music. It’s not a bad thing. I think being solitary, it really allows us to think about life and to think about why people write this music. […] It makes you start to wonder about things that are beneath the surface.” Yuja Wang
Rarely has an orchestra enchanted and thrilled ist audience as did the National Children’s Orchestra of Venezuela at the Salzburg Festival! This astonishing group was founded in 2010 by José Antonio Abreu as part of El Sistema, and Sir Simon Rattle conducted ist first-ever concert in Caracas. At the Salzburg Festival, it was Rattle on the podium again, conducting the children’s orchestra at its international debut.
A choir for hard-of-hearing and deaf youths? Sounds like a contradiction in terms, but the one-of-a-kind White Hands Choir of Venezuela proves the opposite, and this 60-mins film documents the choir’s first tour abroad following an invitation from the Salzburg Festival. The programme features Latin-American folk songs and Piazzolla arrangements as well as choral works by Mozart and Rutter.
“From Berlin to New York” is the motto of German Television’s traditional New Year’s Eve Concert in 2013. And true to the motto Maestro Christian Thielemann, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the two world stars Reneé Fleming and Klaus Florian Vogt celebrate the New Year’s Eve 2013 with great hits and works from Eduard Künneke, Paul Lincke, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and others.
When Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann and Erwin Schrott join forces, the result is a summit of vocal giants, recorded for posterity at Berlin’s spectacular outdoor Waldbühne. Accompanied by the Prague Philharmonia under Marco Armiliato, the three singers beguiled the audience with a program ranging from famous arias to forgotten gems. There’s something for everyone, from the connoisseur to the layman who rarely listens to classical music. Also of the highest standard is the recording itself, with expert camerawork ensuring that the concert’s unique atmosphere is vividly transposed to the screen.
Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin – two musicians inseparably linked with America – form an exuberant and stimulating combination in this program with the New York Philharmonic. Gershwin was one of the American composers Bernstein revered the most and one who, along with Mahler, Copland and Blitzstein, exerted a great influence on him as a composer. For his senior thesis at Harvard University, for example, Bernstein set out to show that Gershwin and Copland had created a national musical style by responding creatively to jazz and Latin-American influences. And when his musical “On the Town” was premiered in 1944, one critic described it as “an energetic blend of Stravinsky and Gershwin.” If anyone could do justice to Gershwin’s spirited, swinging style, it was unquestionably Leonard Bernstein.
Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin – two musicians inseparably linked with America – form an exuberant and stimulating combination in this program with the New York Philharmonic. Gershwin was one of the American composers Bernstein revered the most and one who, along with Mahler, Copland and Blitzstein, exerted a great influence on him as a composer. For his senior thesis at Harvard University, for example, Bernstein set out to show that Gershwin and Copland had created a national musical style by responding creatively to jazz and Latin-American influences. And when his musical “On the Town” was premiered in 1944, one critic described it as “an energetic blend of Stravinsky and Gershwin.” If anyone could do justice to Gershwin’s spirited, swinging style, it was unquestionably Leonard Bernstein.
Hollywood in Vienna is the world’s first and unique film music gala concert, celebrating the most renowned film composers of our time. This year’s gala is dedicated to the motto “A Night at the Oscars” and to Gabriel Yared. Under the direction of Keith Lockhart, the ORF Radio Symphonieorchester Wien undertakes a glamorous journey through eight decades of film music. Gabriel Yared furthermore treats the Viennese audience to one of his rare public performances on the piano. Featuring music from The English Patient, Chocolat, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain, The Lives of Others, Jaws, Black Panther, Forrest Gump and many more
“Golden Times” in Vienna: “When Hampson and the fabulous Philharmonics make music together, it’s a joy to behold” (Kurier). “Absolute virtuosity. Consummate vocalism” (Kronen Zeitung). “Breathtaking. The audience went wild” (Österreich). Star baritone Thomas Hampson is partnered by a “sensational ensemble” (Kronen Zeitung) – four virtuosos from the Vienna Philharmonic, one from the Berlin Philharmonic plus two gifted brothers – in brilliantly arranged favourites from Viennese operetta, Broadway and Hollywood musicals and much more – a deliciously entertaining evening at the Vienna Konzerthaus.
The Camerata Salzburg, a musical mainstay in the city of Mozart’s birth, joins forces with French conductor Lionel Bringuier, one of the most promising young conductors of his generation, and Yuja Wang, who has established herself as an international sensation and a fixture among the world’s leading orchestras since her debut in 2007, for a concert featuring music of the early 20th century at Salzburg’s Haus für Mozart. PROGRAM: Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major; Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue”; Zoltan Kodaly: “Dances of Galanta”; Ravel: “Ma Mere l’oye”
