Alan Gilbert marked his debut as Musical Director of the New York Philharmonic in 2009 with a performance of Gustav Mahler’s colossal Third Symphony. He has now also selected the work for his return to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. The former first guest conductor of the orchestra is a renowned interpreter of Mahler. Since first encountering Mahler’s work at the age of nine, the composer’s grip on Gilbert has never loosened. With compelling performances around the world, Gilbert repeatedly demonstrates his unique understanding of Mahler’s powerful scores. Alan Gilbert’s debut “was a fulminant success” (Welt).
UNESCO Concert for Peace
Sir Georg Solti’s unique “all-star” World Orchestra for Peace, with Donald Runnicles conducting a quartet of world-class soloists, chorus members of Bayerischer Rundfunk and the Bayerischer Chorakademie, give a commemorative performance of Beethoven’s legacy to universal peace and brotherhood. They are joined by players of the newly-formed Würth Philharmoniker to add a touching significance on this occasion of remembrance; that the future after any war lies in the hands of the surviving younger generation. Recorded at the exact ’11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month’, when the guns fell silent and World War 1 came to an end in 1918. PROGRAM Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
BPO: Dudamel conducts Bernstein Symphony No. 1
In 1944, at the age of just 25, Leonard Bernstein conducted the first performance of his First Symphony, a work based on the Old Testament lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah and which demonstrates astonishing musical and intellectual maturity. PROGRAM Bernstein: Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah”
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).
BPO: Rattle conducts John Adams: The Gospel According to the Other Mary
Sir Simon Rattle, the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Rundfunkchor Berlin give an impeccable performance of the powerful biblical oratorio “The Gospel According to the Other Mary” by John Adams, one of the most renowned contemporary composers. The sophisticated score with a libretto by acclaimed theatre director Peter Sellars comes to life thanks to the Berliner Philharmoniker, whose intimate knowledge of Adams’s music stems from the composer himself: He attended the orchestra’s rehearsals. In the role of the Evangelist, the “flawless” (Bachtrack) Bubeck, Cummings and Medley lead through the narrative. A stunning highlight is Lazarus’s aria, sung by tenor Peter Hoare – “grand!” (Berliner Zeitung). But at the heart of the piece are Mary Magdalene and her sister Martha during the last days before Jesus’s death, impressively performed by mezzo-sopranos Kelley O’Connor and Tamara Mumford.
Bach, Johannespassion (St John Passion)
“A simmering performance that lives up to the high expectations”, wrote the New York Times of the Bach St John Passion presented by the great American director Peter Sellars and star conductor Simon Rattle in the Berlin Philharmonie. This St John Passion shows Simon Rattle, Peter Sellars, the Berlin Philharmonic and “a real dream team of singers” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) building on the brilliant success of the St Matthew Passion and being as wildly applauded as before.
Bernard Haitink conducts Beethoven Missa Solemnis
“Bernard Haitink found great nuances and nice timbres of the orchestra effectively and impressively underlining the bombastic passages of the piece” (Münchner Merkur). Teaming up with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir, the grandseigneur of the stars of the podium devoted himself to the “Missa Solemnis” of Ludwig van
Beethoven.
Thielemann conducts Bach’s Christmas Oratorio
By performing Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Christian Thielemann, the new chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden, fulfilled a long-cherished wish: he always wanted to conduct this work and in Dresden he found the ideal conditions. At the same time he brought it back on the schedule of the Staatskappelle after a pause of over 20 years. The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 by Johann Sebastian Bach was written for the Christmas season of 1734 in Leipzig. Christian Thielemann leads the Staatskapelle Dresden along with a roster of top soloists: Sibylla Rubens (Soprano), Christa Mayer (Alto), Daniel Behle Tenor) and Florian Boesch (Bass).
Bruckner, Symphony No. 8 in c minor
Christian Thielemann’s Bruckner “is so mighty, and with such a depth of sound … that one would have to be hard-hearted not to be touched by this heartfelt music” wrote the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel after this concert featuring Anton Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony performed by the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. The recording of this symphony shall start a cycle of Bruckner’s complete symphonies with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under their principal conductor Christian Thielemann that is to be produced over the course of several years – a living monument of musical architecture.