Berlioz, Te Deum
Berlioz may have originally wished for a thousand performers, but he would no doubt have been satisfied with this superb performance given by the combined Chorus of the Orchestre de Paris and the Maîtrise de la Sainte- Chapelle accompanied by the Orchestre de Paris. Recorded in May 1981, this performance in Paris’s celebrated Notre-Dame Cathedral was conducted by Daniel Barenboim and featured the tenor David Rendall. In the words of the Paris daily France-Soir, Rendall’s singing was characterized as being “a sound of total purity, profound, moving; power and suppleness; he is a perfect musician.” One of the great conductors of our time, Daniel Barenboim was music director of the Orchestre de Paris from 1975 to 1989.
Betrothal in a Monastery
At the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Dmitri Tcherniakov stages Prokofiev’s lyrical comic opera Betrothal in a Monastery under Daniel Barenboim’s baton. The Russian director recasts the complete opera as therapeutic role play for “Opera-Addict Anonymus”. Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin and “the uniformly excellent cast” (Financial Times), led by Aida Garifullina, Bogdan Volkov and Stephan Rügamer among others. “Musically, this performance is a celebration in every respect”, praises BR Klassik.
Festive Re-Opening Staatsoper Unter den Linden – Scenes from Goethe’s Faust
The Staatsoper Berlin is back in ist place of origin: Unter den Linden! After major renovations, it reopens with Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust, conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Under the direction of Jürgen Flimm and in the sets of acclaimed German artist Markus Lüpertz, Schumann’s orchestral work is transformed in a captivating drama. In the glow of the renovated opera hall Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin perform alongside soloists such as Roman Trekel, Elsa Dreisig and René Pape. Besides the vocal parts, the main characters Faust, Gretchen and Mephistopheles are embodied by the renowned actors André Jung, Meike Droste and Sven-Eric Bechtolf.
Barenboim conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
A veritable “Ode to Joy”: the Staatsoper Unter den Linden celebrates its reopening with a rousing open-air performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 by General Musical Director Daniel Barenboim, the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsopernchor, featuring Diana Damrau, Okka von der Damerau, Burkhard Fritz and René Pape as stellar soloists. Set in the heart of the German capital, the Bebelplatz is home to Barenboim’s “Staatsoper für alle”, a yearly open-air tradition that has become a firm favourite with audiences: the maestro “turns cultural performances of the highest level into blockbusters”, “meeting visitors in the streets” and thus making the Staatsoper Unter den Linden the city’s “true Volksbühne” (Berliner Zeitung).
Verdi, Il Trovatore
He was trained to be a stage designer in the Münchner Kammerspiele. He became famous for his video clips for Rammstein and Madonna. His directing of the films ‘North Face’ and ‘Young Goethe in Love’ took him to Hollywood level. As an opera director, Philipp Stölzl, now tackled his first Verdi: ‘Il trovatore’ with a cast of high-class singer including Anna Netrebko als Leonora and Plácido Domingo as Count Luna – both of them making their debut in these roles. Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin.
The Tsar’s Bride
Musical director Daniel Barenboim started off the season 2013 / 2014 at the Staatsoper Berlin with a new production ‘Die Zarenbraut’ by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, staged by multi-awarded young Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov, who has been among the opera stage directors most in demand worldwide ever since his staging of Boris Godunov with Staatsoper Unter den Linden in 2005.
The Mahler Project – Mahler, Symphony No.9 in D major
The Mahler Project: A fascinating documentary on the musical world of Gustav Mahler as seen by the two great musicians, and a recording of Mahler’s colossal Ninth. “Mahler created a new world with each of his symphonies (…) It is a fantastic journey for both of us”. With these few words, Daniel Barenboim sums up the vast scope of a project undertaken with his friend Pierre Boulez: two very different world-class conductors tackle all nine completed symphonies of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) with one orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin. Performed as a complete cycle in Berlin, Vienna and New York, the concerts were a tremendous success. The Financial Times even wrote: “New York is going Mahler mad”.
The Gambler (Der Spieler)
‘The Gambler’ is a dark study of human failings and the corruptive power of money. In this work, everyone gambles: the hero Alexey, the General and even the wealthy aunt Babulenka gamble with money; Blanche, the Marquis and Polina – who loves Alexey – gamble with their fellow human beings. The results are humiliation, ruin and self-delusion. But when the Staatskapelle Berlin under worldfamous conductor Daniel Barenboim provide the orchestral sound to the full, lustrous voices of Vladimir Ognovenko, Kristine Opolais, Misha Didyk, Stefania Toczyska and their colleagues, there is nothing even remotely dismal about the opera or its production. Directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov, ‘the evening zips past entertainingly, yet leaves its traces in the listener’s mind: a stroke of genius like Prokofiev’s opera itself’ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).
Salzburg Festival 2022: Lang Lang & Daniel Barenboim
“Lang Lang makes the garlands of sound sparkle with crystal clarity” (Wiener Zeitung) 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 2022, the orchestra presents a Spanish night with Lang Lang as soloist. PROGRAM Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole for Orchestra, Boléro; de Falla: Noches en los jardines de España for piano and orchestra; Debussy: “Ibéria“ from Images pour orchestre