Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Presto from the Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor – Soloist: Inga Fiolia (Georgia) / Giuseppe Verdi “Per me giunto è il dì supremo” from “Don Carlo” Soloist: ZhengZhong Zhou (China) / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Rondo in C major Soloist: Michael Barenboim (Germany) / Ney Rosauro Despedida (Farewell) from Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra – Soloist: Ni Fan (China) / Alexander Scriabin Préludes No. 9, 14, 17 & 20 from 24 Préludes, Op. 11 Soloist: Inga Fiolia (Georgia) /
Francis Poulenc Chanson No. 7 “La Belle Jeunesse” from “Chansons gaillardes” – Soloist: ZhengZhong Zhou (China) / Béla Bartók Fuga from Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz. 117
Soloist: Michael Barenboim (Germany) / Tobias Boström Arena – Percussion Concerto No. 1 Soloist: Ni Fan (China) / Carlos Gardel “El día que me quieras” (The day that you love me) Soloist: Rolando Villazón, Inga Fiolia (Georgia), Michael Barenboim (Germ.) / Gioachino Rossini Overture from “Guillaume Tell” Orchestra: Junge Sinfonie Berlin
George Frideric Handel Vivo from Suite No. 1, “Water Music” Soloists: German Hornsound (Germany) / Vincenzo Bellini “Care compagne” from “La sonnambula” Soloist: Kristina Mkhitaryan (Russia) / Claude Debussy Prélude “La fille aux cheveux de lin” Soloist: Andreas Ottensamer (Austria) / Georg Philipp Telemann Largo and Presto from Viola Concerto in G major Soloist: Hwayoon Lee (Korea) / Niccolò Paganin Presto from Caprice No. 16 in G major Soloist: Hwayoon Lee (Korea) / Edward Grieg “Morning Mood” from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 Soloist: Andreas Ottensamer (Austria) / Sergei Rachmaninoff Romance No. 10: “Before my Window” Soloist: Kristina Mkhitaryan (Russia)
/ Giuseppe Verdi “Sempre libera” from “La traviata” Soloist: German Hornsound (Germany) / Gioachino Rossini La danza from “Les soirées musicales” Soloist: Andreas Ottensamer (Austria)
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
Program: Giacomo Puccini: Che gelida manina, Aria of Rudolfo from «La Bohème» / Claude Debussy: String quartet G minor, Assez vif et bien rythmé / Franz Joseph Haydn: String quartet D major, Allegretto / Charles Gounod: Ah! Je ris, Aria of Marguerite from «Faust» / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Horn Concerto, E flat major, Andante Rondo / Vitaly Michailowitsch Bujanovský: España / Pablo Sorozábal: No puede ser!, Aria of Leandro from «La tabernera del puerto» / George Bizet: Ouverture to «Carmen» / Giuseppe Verdi: Brindisi, duet of Violetta and Alfredo from «La Traviata»
For a decade and a half, the Midsummer Night’s Gala has ushered-in the summer season at the Wolkenturm. It is also Grafenegg’s flagship media event, televised around the world. The best artists take centre stage, casting their spell over the audience amidst the idyllic scenery of the Castle grounds. For the cast of this edition – Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian, American tenor Eric Cutler and French cellist Gautier Capuçon – Yutaka Sado, principal conductor of the Tonkünstler-Orchester, has put together a dramatic gala programme, with works by Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Prokofiev, Leoncavallo and Dvorák. “Eric Cutler’s tenor was soaring, Gautier Capuçon’s cello melting, the Tonkünstler Orchestra sovereign. And simply stunning the soprano of Lithuania’s opera superstar Asmik Grigorian” (Niederösterreichische Nachrichten)
Every year some of the world’s finest soloists meet at the Wolkenturm in Grafenegg. The Tonkünstler Orchestra, under the baton of Yutaka Sado, rolls out a scintillating carpet of sound in the Schlosspark. In 2021, soprano Rachel Willis-Sorensen, one of the most exsiting contemporary vocalists, takes charge of the Wolkenturm. Together with tenor Benjamin Bruns and the pianist and artistic director of Grafenegg, Rudolf Buchbinder, they delight the audience with masterpieces from Schumann to Lehár. The wonderful open-air setting is illuminated by a “light score” by light artist Marcus Neustetter.
“You have to start with the encore. Then you can understand why there were standing ovations and thunderous applause for Juan Diego Flórez, why the words ?great moment of the festival’ were heard among the audience. For the encore Juan Diego Flórez comes on stage with his guitar…a tango, then ?Cielito Lindo’, he lets the audience sing along, ?Ay ay ay ay’. A born entertainer” BR Klassik. Works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Strauss, Bellini, Verdi, Lalo, Massenet and Puccini
The search goes into silence, occurs above all in the many intervals between the quietest and softest string sounds” FAZ. PROGRAM Works by Beethoven, Verdi, Ockeghem and Nono
The Vienna State Opera celebrates its 150th birthday with a glamorous open-air gala, gathering an extraordinary summit of operatic superstars like Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, Swedish soprano Nina Stemme, French tenor Roberto Alagna, Uruguayan baritone Erwin Schrott or Italian bass Feruccio Furlanetto to name only a few. Together with soloists of the new generation of the house like sopranos Valentina Nafornita or Olga Bezsmertna – “a triumph for the ensemble” (Die Presse) – they present a firework of famous opera arias, accompanied by the Orchestra and Choir of the Wiener Staatsoper under the rousing baton of Maestro Marco Armiliato, a regular and appreciated guest at the Vienna State Opera. Nestled in the beautiful city centre, the State Opera is one of the most prestigous opera houses in the world with a long and significant history, a Mecca for international opera fans. Praised by critics as “mega event”, about 10,000 spectators came to witness this jubilee concert and celebrate musical passion in a fantastic atmosphere,
a feast for the ears and for the eyes.
Stars by starlight in the traditional Midsummer Night’s Gala! The 2019 season at Grafenegg opens with voices and violin: Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, French baritone Ludovic Tézier and Austrian violinist Emmanuel Tjeknavorian are accompanied by the Tonkunstler Orchestra in the romantic setting of the castle grounds. Yutaka Sado conducts a programme of arias and duets, with a firework display set to «Pomp and Circumstance».
