Celebrating 120 Years of Deutsche Grammophon, The Berlin Concert features performances from DG’s unbeatable roster of artists: Anne-Sophie Mutter, considered one of the greatest violinists of all time and Lang Lang, pioneering pianist and global cultural icon, accompanied by the Staatskapelle Berlin under the direction of Manfred Honeck. Works by W.A. Mozart, L.v. Beethoven and a german premiere of John Williams’ “Markings” are on the program of this highly anticipated concert in Berlin´s famous Philharmonie. PROGRAM L.v. Beethoven: Overture to Fidelio, op. 72; Leonore Overture No. 3, op. 72b, Romance in F for violin and orchestra, op. 50; W.A. Mozart: Piano Concerto in C minor, KV 491; John Williams: Markings for violin, string orchestra and harp
Lucerne Festival 2018: Chailly conducts Ravel
A breathtaking all-Ravel program with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly to celebrate the orchestra’s 15th anniversary. Founded in 2003 by Claudio Abbado, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra quickly grew into much more than “just” another festival orchestra. The incredible clarity and intensity of this orchestra, the wonderful timbres that make it so extraordinary – there is no program more suitable for experiencing and showcasing its uniqueness than the concert with works by Maurice Ravel. “That ballet music is a precursor of film music is seldom heard as directly as in the long camera shots through wide and whirling soundscapes.” Luzerner Zeitung PROGRAM Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales; La Valse; Daphnis et Chloé – Suites Nos. 1 & 2; Boléro
Veni Domine – Advent & Christmas at the Sistine Chapel
The Vatican Library is home to the most important and extensive collection of sacred music manuscripts in the world and the Sistine Chapel Choir has unlimited access to this extraordinary archive. The Sistine Chapel choir, the oldest choir in the world, has sung this music for centuries, and in recent years has reached new musical heights of excellence. The Director of the Sistine Chapel, Monsignor Massimo Palombella, has taken on an exciting double challenge. On the one hand, he is presenting polyphonic works from the Vatican Library in new editions reflecting the very highest standards of contemporary academic scholarship in polyphony. On the other hand, he is also developing performance practices for the choir to bring even the most intricate and impossibly difficult motets to life in a way which respects and clarifies the liturgical meaning of the music. Many of the works on this recording by famous names such as Palestrina and Desprez, all written to form part of Papal Celebrations for Advent and Christmas, have never been heard before.
Juan Diego Flórez sings Mozart
Acclaimed across the globe for the beauty of his voice and the emotional power of his performances, Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez has in his career so far focused almost exclusively on the masterpieces of the bel canto repertoire by Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini, and others. From his earliest studies at the conservatory in Lima to the present day, Flórez has sung Mozart arias every now and then but he has never sung a complete Mozart opera on stage. “It just hadn’t worked out till now”, he confesses. And now Mozart, finally. True, the desire had been there for a long time, but “now is the time, I feel I’m ready.” To display another fascinating side to his vocal personality, the concert program includes many of the best-loved Mozart arias – all of them magnificently performed by the Orchestra La Scintilla, an ensemble with outstanding reputation for their historical performance practice, led by Riccardo Minasi.
LGT Young Soloists String Ensemble
The LGT Young Soloists delight audiences worldwide with their rousing performances at highest artistic level. They are invited to perform regularly at renowned concert halls around the world in cities like New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Moscow, Munich, Vienna, Zurich, Hong Kong and Singapore. The string ensemble is made up of highly gifted young musicians aged between 13 and 22 years. Each member already has a successful soloist career: between them, the LGT Young Soloists have already won more than 80 prizes in national and international competitions. PROGRAM: Rimsky-Korsakov/E. Zimbalist: Le Coq d‘Or Fantasy (Golden Cockerel) for violin and string orchestra, arr. Paul Struck; Rachmaninov: Vocalise op 34, No. 14 for viola and string orchestra
Opera Gala Bonn
5th Opera Gala in Bonn, Germany for the German AIDS Foundation. PROGRAM: Arias and scenes from operas by Mozart, Verdi, Donizetti, Rossini, Gounod, Beethoven, Delibes, Offenbach, Curtis, de Arditi, Johann Strauss.
Trifonov plays Chopin
Daniil Trifonov, the current Gramophone Artist of the Year and today’s top young classical pianist, offers Chopin’s two piano concertos in collaboration with his fellow pianist-composer Mikhail Pletnev, who conducts the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in his freshly re-orchestrated editions of Chopin’s piano concertos.
Pavarotti, un’emozione senza fine – 10th Anniversary Concert
Fondazione Luciano Pavarotti and Friends & Partners, are proud to announce a special tribute concert dedicated to the unique and unforgettable tenor Luciano Pavarotti, marking the 10th anniversary of his passing. It seems remarkable that a decade has already passed since September 6, 2007, when the world mourned one of the most beloved and legendary singers. The anniversary event takes place at Verona Arena, the Roman amphitheatre internationally renowned for its large-scale opera productions as well as pop concerts. Placido Domingo and Josè Carreras pay tribute to their friend Maestro Pavarotti as part of the concert, having performed together several times as The Three Tenors. Many more stars, both from the opera and the pop field, join them to celebrate Maestro Pavarotti, whose memory stays vivid and strong in the hearts of so many.
Lang Lang – New York Rhapsody
Lang Lang‘s „New York Rhapsody“ is a love letter to the city he considers his adoptive home, set to the music that helped make this city so famous and performed at one of New York‘s most iconic venues, Lincoln Center. The one-night-only show embraces a wide range of musical styles and voices capturing New York‘s magic, from Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, and Danny Elfman to Lou Reed, Alicia Keys, and Don Henley, including a rare performance of the original 1924 jazz band arrangement of George Gershwin‘s “Rhapsody in Blue”. Joining Lang Lang are celebrated artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Suzanne Vega, Kurt Elling, Regina Spector, Jerry Douglas, and rising stars including Grammy-nominated singer Andra Day, genre-bending violinist Lindsey Stirling, and Grammy-winning trumpeter Sean Jones, in addition to a 30-piece orchestra with musical direction by David Lai.
Jonas Kaufmann – My Italy
With this recording Jonas Kaufmann, Italy’s ‘adopted tenor-son’, pays tribute to a culture that has inspired countless immortal melodies for the tenor voice. This recording spans Italian pop, traditional and Neapolitan songs, a heartfelt tribute to Italian music including Caruso, Mattinata, Parla più piano (‘The Godfather’ theme), Core ‘ngrato, Volare & more! “Italian music has this unbelievable way of producing such immortal melodies – full of sun and warmth – that all day long you can’t get them out of your head!” JONAS KAUFMANN