The Salzburg Mozart Week – arranged by the Mozarteum foundation, the trustees of Mozart’s musical legacy – is always offering something unique: under the direction of the principal conductor and artistic director of the Salzburg Mozart Week, Mark Minkowski, the Musiciens du Louvre perform on not one but two of Mozart’s original instruments! Mozart’s Violin Concerto and his Piano Concerto in A major are played on instruments that were once in the composer’s possession. In Franz Schubert’s Great C major Symphony, the culmination of this wonderful evening, ”Minkowski and the Musiciens du Louvre are entirely in their element” (Wiener Zeitung).
Rudolf Buchbinder and the Wiener Philharmoniker play Brahms Piano Concerts
“It is not every day that Brahms sounds as perfect as this,” enthuses the Kurier newspaper, describing Buchbinder’s performance with the Wiener Philharmoniker. The “phenomenal piano virtuoso” (Kurier) plays the First and Second Piano Concertos of Johannes Brahms in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. On the rostrum is maestro Zubin Mehta, no less, who has long been intensively associated both with the orchestra and with soloist Rudolf Buchbinder. “What Rudolf Buchbinder, the Wiener Philharmoniker and conductor Zubin Mehta delivered at the Musikverein easily deserves the accolade ‘milestone’.” (Kurier)
Red Ribbon Celebration Concert – Building Bridges for Peace
Now, in its fourth year, the Red Ribbon Celebration Concert has become an integral part of the world famous Vienna Life Ball Weekend, one of the biggest fund-raising events to further the cause of those living with HIV or AIDS. Staged in the legendary Burgtheater, the concert assembles a line-up of stars which reads like the who is who of classical music. Anna Netrebko, Juan Diego Florez, Piotr Beczala, Elena Maximova, Thomas Quasthoff, Yusif Eyvazov and Kristine Opolais as well as the jazz singer Gregory Porter perform an extraordinary concert according to the motto “Building Bridges for Peace”. From Porter’s hit “Water under Bridges” to a humorous interpretation of Franz Lehar’s “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” by Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov, the stars where celebrated with “only bravos” (Salzburger Nachrichten).
Grafenegg: MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S GALA 2015
“Aural pleasure at the Wolkenturm” is how the Kurier newspaper described it, referring to the “top-flight summer night’s gala from Grafenegg”, taking place in the picturesque open air ambience of Grafenegg, Lower Austria. Under the artistic overall direction of pianist Rudolf Buchbinder the Grafenegg Festival has blossomed into a benchmark event for all the top stars on the classical music scene. A potpourri of lovely melodies from the world of opera, operetta and the concert hall, which brought praise from the audience and from the Wiener Zeitung: “Piotr Beczala’s wonderful operetta top notes, Elisabeth Kulman’s rich mezzo and Julia Fischer’s graceful violin playing with her refined reading of catchy Spanish tunes” are the ingredients for an unmatched evening recital in Grafenegg.
Red Ribbon Celebration Concert
Red Ribbon Gala Concert from the stunning Burgtheater Vienna presented by a unique cast of world-famous singers. —– PROGRAM: Johann Strauss: Intermezzo from Tausend und eine Nacht / Arrigo Boito: “Ave Signor” from Mefistofele / Camille Saint-Saëns: “Mon coeur s´ouvre à ta voix” from Samson et Dalila / Antonín Dvorák: “Beda, Beda!” from Rusalka / Pjotr Iljitsch Tschaikowski: Arabischer Tanz aus: Nussknacker-Suite op. 71a / Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow: Song of the Indian Merchant from Sadko; “Plenivšis’ rozoy, solovey” (The Nightingale and the Rose); Romanze op.2/2 / Georges Bizet: Intermezzo from Carmen Suite No. 1 / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Overture from Don Giovanni; “Deh, vieni alla finestra” from Don Giovanni / Georges Bizet: “Seguidilla” from Carmen / Charles Gounod: “Le veau d´or” from Faust / Astor Piazzolla (arr. Pablo Ziegler): Oblivion (Rojotango) / Franz Lehár “Lippen schweigen” from Die lustige Witwe / Aram Khachaturian: Dance of the Young Kurds from Gayane // Pablo Ziegler: Rojotango
Salzburg Festival 2013: NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo
The NHK Symphony Orchestra first performance at the Salzburg Festival. —– PROGRAM: Toru Takemitsu: November Steps for Biwa, Shakuhachi and Orchestra (Soloists: Kaoru Kakizakai, Shakuhachi; Kakujo Nakamura, Biwa) / Toshio Hosokawa: Lamentation for Soprano and Orchestra after poems by Georg Trakl (world premiere, work commissioned by the Salzburg Festival; Soloist: Anna Prohaska) / Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique op. 14
Salzburg Festival 2013: Simon Rattle conducts Mahler 1
“When I first conducted the Infantil Orchestra three years ago in Caracas, I could not believe that children as young as nine and never older than 14 could not only play all the notes, but also could make such wonderful music. It is exhilarating and life-enhancing. This is, quite simply, the future of music. Those of you lucky enough to hear the concerts will see why.” Simon Rattle —– PROGRAM: Gershwin: Cuban Overture; Ginastera: Danzas de Estancia; Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Salzburg Festival 2013: White Hands Choir Venezuela
As part of the 2013 Salzburg Festival, the visionary and exemplary project El Sistema – The Miracle is presented for the first time in a larger context and in its full diversity outside of Venezuela. Salzburg Festival has invited not only the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra – the orchestral training programme’s flagship, but also five of El Sistema’s other ensembles. The selection of ensembles, especially the invitation of the White Hands Choir (which unites children and teenagers with various disabilities), makes it clear that El Sistema is primarily a social project, which does its utmost to integrate as many social groups as possible, instead of excluding anyone.
Hollywood in Vienna – A Tribute to James Horner
In 2013, ‘Hollywood in Vienna’ guest star James Horner, conductor David Newman and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra set off to discover fascinating new worlds. James Horner (Titanic, Apollo 13, Star Trek, Avatar, A Beautiful Mind, Braveheart) belongs to today’s best known and most versatile film composers. His awards include two Academy Awards, seven Oscar nominations, two Golden Globe Awards (eight nominations) and three Grammy Awards (eight nominations).
Red Ribbon Celebration Concert 2014
In 2012, the Red Ribbon Celebration Concert presented by successfully premièred at the Burgtheater Vienna, Austria. By its third edition, the gala concert has established itself and has become the fixed beginning of the charitable Life Ball weekend.On May 30, 2014 a number of world-famous artists embraced the good cause once again at the Red Ribbon Celebration Concert 2014: Piotr Beczala, Thomas Hampson, Yusif Eyvazov, Luca Pisaroni, Ildar Abdrazakov, Vesselina Kasarova and Jennifer O’Loughlin lent their unique voices to the motto “United in difference”.