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.
Muti conducts Debussy & Berlioz
“A fantastic ride between French refinement and waltz fireworks, ecstatic and Gregorian, bombast and apocalypse” (Der Standard) For many years grand master Riccardo Muti has been a regular guest at the Musikverein conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker. Undoubtedly, the orchestra and the Italian conductor have created a musical bond that exists for more than 50 years and guarantees stellar performances. In this concert, they offer “a fantastic ride between French refinement and waltz fireworks, ecstatic and Gregorian chant, bombast and apocalypse” with Claude Debussy’s Trois Nocturnes and Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. “Frenzied applause for the orchestra and Maestro Muti, whom the audience honored with a standing ovation lasting several minutes!” (Der Standard). PROGRAM: Debussy: Trois Nocturnes; Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Vienna Advent Concert at St. Stephen’s Cathedral
The Christmas concert of the Wiener Symphoniker in St. Stephen’s Cathedral is a wonderful way to get in the mood for Christmas. It opens the heart and makes one ready to welcome Christ in every person. For this concert French conductor Fabien Gabel presents timeless oratorio classics by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, as well as romantic church music by Gioachino Rossini, Giacomo Puccini and Hector Berlioz. The soloists are soprano Elsa Benoît, tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Diana Tishchenko on violin and ARD Music Prize winner Selina Ott on trumpet. In addition, the Wiener Sängerknaben and the Chorus Viennensis created a Christmas atmosphere in the festively decorated cathedral. Programme: Bach: Magnificat, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen; Handel: Overture to Samson, Thus when the sun, Awake the trumpet lovely sound, Let the Bright Seraphim; Puccini: Preludio sinfonico; Rossini: Domine Deus from Petite messe solenelle; Berlioz: L’Adieu des bergers à la Sainte Famille from L’Enfance du Christ; Massenet: Méditation from Thaïs; Glasunov: Album leaf; Schreker: Valse lente; Strauss: Wiegenlied (Lullaby); Anonymus: Adeste fideles