Mahler composed his “Lied von der Erde” in a phase of loneliness, but still: the seven Chinese poems that he set into very personal symphonic songs also spread a message of consolation. The Münchner Philharmoniker, one of the world’s leading Mahler orchestras, Tugan Sokhiev, Ekaterina Gubanova and Andreas Schager deliver a gripping performance.
Le Concert de Paris 2024
The 2024 Concert de Paris was hosted in occasion of the worldwide followed celebration of the Olympic Games. For this unique occasion, the stage was placed in front of an iconic point of the city: the Hôtel de Ville. Several classical music stars participated in the event: pianists Lang Lang and Khatia Buniatishvili, singers Nadine Sierra, Pene Pati and Fatma Said, cellist Gautier Capuçon and violinist Renaud Capuçon just to mention a few. With them on stage, the Orchestre National de France and the Chorus of Radio France conducted by Cristian Macelaru presented an extremely various program that can be enjoyed by the broadest audience: from the famous Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto no. 2, to the well known French song “Sous le ciel de Paris” and opera arias from the French and Italian tradition.
Mariss Jansons conducts Brahms’ Requiem
‘Ich will euch trösten’ (I will comfort you), sings the soprano in Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem. Indeed, this is music of comfort, not of lamentation. With this work, Mariss Jansons is continuing the Requiem ritual started in 2011 to allow listeners to contemplate the transience of life at the beginning of autumn. Rather than using the standard Latin mass text, however, Brahms selected his own text from the Bible. He completed the work after the death of his mother. Following the premiere, the music critic Hanslick wrote, ‘Since Bach’s Mass in B minor and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, nothing in this vein has been written which is comparable to Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem.’ It was this work, which became immensely popular, that truly established Brahms as a composer.
RCO: Mariss Jansons conducts the Christmas Matinee (Kerstmatinee 2012)
‘Rarely is such a warm, captivating and smooth voice heard here in the Netherlands,’ wrote Peter van der Lint in the Dutch newspaper Trouw following the Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto’s last performance with the RCO, for which he garnered wide acclaim with the orchestra singing Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death on 25 August 2010. Now he returns with his favourite arias from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. After the interval, a truly unique event takes place: for the very first time, a work by Anton Bruckner is performed at one of the legendary Concertgebouw Christmas Matinee’s – and what’s more, it is conducted by chief conductor Mariss Jansons. ——- Program: W.A. MOZART: ‘Madamina, il catalogo è questo’ from ‘Don Giovanni’ KV 527; ‘Non più andrai, farfallone amoroso’ from ‘Le nozze di Figaro’ KV 492; Overture to ‘Le nozze di Figaro’ // ANTON BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 7. (Cat. No. UNITEL A865500010000)
The Weimar Recital – Franz Schubert: Songs & Ballads
Konstantin Krimmel, the rising star of song interpreters and the renowned pianist Daniel Heide perform Franz Schubert’s settings of ballads and poems from the German classics. It was filmed in the “Book Cube” of the venerable Anna Amalia Library in the heart of Weimar. Wonderful pictures of the city of classics complement the impressive setting.
St. John Passion
In 2024, J. S. Bach’s “St John Passion” celebrates 300 years since its creation. To celebrate this milestone, the Thomanerchor and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under Thomaskantor Andreas Reize present the masterpiece at St. Thomas Church Leipzig in its original version, together with a star cast of soloists and Julian Prégardien as the evangelist.
Lucerne Festival 2023: Paavo Järvi conducts Mahler 3
In its 20th season, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra opened the 2023 summer festival with Mahler’s Third. Paavo Järvi takes over for Riccardo Chailly on short notice and proved to be a more than worthy substitute. He led orchestra, chorus, and soloist Wiebke Lehmkuhl to an “air-spirited serenity” (FAZ)
Lucerne Festival 2023: Paavo Järvi & Maria João Pires
In another prominent concert of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra’s 20th anniversary edition, Maria Joa~o Pires performed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9, “Jenamy”, with the orchestra under the baton of Paavo Järvi, who “builds a sanctuary of delicate grace around his soloist.” (FAZ) PROGRAM Mozart Piano Concerto No. 9, K. 271;
Andante from Piano Concerto No. 21, K. 467 (encore)
Mass in B minor
In Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church, Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan perform Bach’s Opus summum: the Mass in B minor, which marks the 2023 Bach Festival’s festive closing. They are joined by an excellent ensemble of soloists who perform the arias as well as the choral parts together with the chorus of the Bach Collegium Japan.
Iván Fischer conducts Mahler 9
In 2023, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and their founder Iva´n Fisher celebrated 40 years together on stage. Mahler’s Ninth has been a staple in their joint repertoire, their interpretation being praised in particular for its straightforward clarity. At the Leipzig Gewandhaus, they deliver a breathtaking performance to standing ovations.