French violinist Renaud Capuçon and French pianist Alexandre Kantorow, each of them a star in his own right and winners of many international awards, teamed up to play all three sonatas of Johannes Brahms for violin and piano. In the Great Hall of the Mozarteum Foundation, ideally suited for the performance of chamber music, “Kantorow and Capuçon unfold this music in a joyful and in every moment attentive liveliness, finding a symbiosis of listening and playing individuals, each with the peculiarity of his instrument.” (Salzburger Nachrichten). With this concert, Alexandre Kantorow is giving his debut at the Salzburg Festival.
Thielemann conducts Brahms
“There is no clearer plea for a Brahms cycle with this conductor and this pianist” (Kurier) said the press about this concert by the Wiener Philharmoniker under the direction of Christian Thielemann. It is the continuation of their Brahms cycle, the performance of all of the composer’s symphonies and instrumental concertos. This part of the cycle includes Brahms’ Third Symphony and his Second Piano Concerto, which is considered one of the most difficult concertos in the piano literature. The exceptional pianist Igor Levit takes up this challenge and “seemingly took the heaviness out of the solo parts, […] his wondrous Brahms feeling enchanted in moments of floating tempi as well as in the midst of fine mists of sound that arose from rapid whispers. A summit of delicacy” (Der Standard). Together with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Christian Thielemann, it’s “a combination that one cannot imagine can be surpassed today” (Kurier) PRORAM Brahms: Symphony No. 3, Piano Concerto No. 2
Paavo Järvi & Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
“When a conductor who is always in search of the ideal sound meets an orchestra that follows him with devotion at every stage and a virtuoso who transports us to other worlds with the truthfulness of his playing, extraordinary things can happen. This is what happened when Paavo Järvi and “his” Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich gave a guest performance with violist Antoine Tamestit at the Vienna Musikverein” (Kurier). The concert opens with Berlioz’s Harold en Italie, a dreamy, melancholy work in which Berlioz processed his wanderings in the Abruzzi. French violist Antoine Tamestit likes to experiment with new formats and seeks his way off the interpretive beaten track. Harold en Italie therefore seems tailor-made for him: as a symphony with solo viola, it was a highly innovative work in its time. The work is followed by Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 1, in the version for orchestra by Arnold Schönberg. Brahms composed the piece in 1861 and it is known for its sweeping melodies and complex counterpoint.
Blomstedt conducts Brahms, Bach & Nielsen
“Leonidas Kavakos, together with the Philharmoniker, makes this beautiful work a true celebration.” (klassik-begeistert.de) Herbert Blomstedt made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic late in life, only in 2011, at the age of 83. But since then he has been a regular guest and, since 2019, even an honorary member of the orchestra. In this concert he presents a work from his Scandinavian homeland: Carl Nielsen’s Fifth Symphony. “Carl Nielsen’s music breathes a special, unfathomable mood”, says Blomstedt. “It is full of Danish humour: very serious and at the same time very comic and yet sublime.” As a counterpoint to Nielsen’s exciting experimentation, Greek star violinist Leonidas Kavakos interprets Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto, one of the most beloved and frequently performed works in the violin concerto repertoire.
Salzburg Festival 2022: Christian Thielemann & Elina Garanca
“What a sound pleasure, what a playing culture! […] Bruckner’s ‘Ninth’ without burdens, without any heaviness. Symphony in Schubert’s sense, seductive, apollonian.” (Kronenzeitung) To mark the bicentenary of Anton Bruckner’s birth in 2024, Christian Thielemann, the Wiener Philharmoniker and Unitel record the first Bruckner cycle with a single conductor in the orchestra’s history. After a truly magnificent performance of the Seventh Symphony in 2021, the stellar conductor returns to the Salzburg Festival with the Ninth to finish the cycle. In the first part of the concert, Christian Thielemann joins forces with Latvian star mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor for Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody. PROGRAM: Brahms: Alto Rhapsody for voice, male chorus and orchestra, Op. 53; Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D minor
Diana Damrau and Jonas Kaufmann – Lieder
Diana Damrau and Jonas Kaufmann interpret love songs by the two important romantic song composers Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. In their concert evening full of stirring emotions, the stars of the classical world sing of love in all its facets: from reverie and longing, from the happiness of fulfilment to disappointment, resignation and renunciation. The two artists are accompanied by their longtime partner on the piano, Helmut Deutsch.“A deeply felt, rapturous performance” (The Guardian)
Salzburg Festival 2021: Blomstedt conducts Honegger & Brahms
Now in his nineties, Herbert Blomstedt, former conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, is still a powerful interpreter of the symphonic repertoire. His programme with the Vienna Philharmonic is straightforward: it begins with Honegger’s brilliant Third Symphony and ends with Brahms’ Fourth. The eminent maestro, one of the orchestra’s favourites since his debut at the 2011 Salzburg Mozart Week, continues to enchant audiences with his enormous presence, verve and artistic drive. “At the end, standing ovations and boundless cheers.” (br-klassik.de) PROGRAM Honegger: Symphony No. 3 “Liturgique”; Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Salzburg Festival 2021: Barenboim & West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
Ever since its first performances in 2007, the concerts of Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra have been among the first to be sold out at the Salzburg Festival. In 2021, the orchestra presents a program including works by Beethoven, Brahms and Franck with Michael Barenboim and Kian Soltani, both members of the orchestra, as soloists. PROGRAM: Beethoven: Overture to the ballet “Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus”; Brahms: Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra; Franck: Symphony in D minor
Salzburg Wind Orchestra Gala with Martin Grubinger
A century after its collapse, the Danube Monarchy lives on – in the Waltz, the March, the Csárdás and the Polka. In a splendid gala concert the Bläserphilharmonie Mozarteum Salzburg, led by Hansjörg Angerer, brings the glamour of the world empire to life. The masterpieces of the leading composers who worked during the last hundred years of the Habsburg Monarchy are lively and triumphant, soulful and melancholic. Percussion superstar Martin Grubinger shines with a rousing performance of a specially arranged percussion suite. For the grand finale there is but one choice: The Blue Danube, the posthumous “national anthem” of the Danube Monarchy.
Muti conducts Brahms and Tchaikovsky – with Anne-Sophie Mutter
One thing you can rely on is the Salzburg Festival always offering compelling couplings of artistic personalities: in this case star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and Maestro Riccardo Muti. Exactly 30 years to the day since Mutter first performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto at the festival, Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece is back on the programme. Mutter’s playing is stupendous, she succeeds in a way that draws astonishment. In Brahms’s Symphony No. 2, the veteran conductor Muti “lets the string and wind groups demonstrate in exemplary manner how it can sound when all the musicians are in perfect harmony with one another.” (Salzburger Nachrichten)