Alan Menken, is one of Hollywood’s most successful film composers and a true Disney legend. Alan Menken wrote melodies that are known around the globe and are beloved by generations. Stars from Broadway and West End pay tribute to 8-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken with a spectacular gala concert. Menken’s longtime music director, Michael Kosarin, conducts the ORF Radio-Symphony Orchestra Vienna. The program for the gala includes highlights of Alan Menken’s career including, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Tangled, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pocahontas.
Yuja Wang – The Vienna Recital
Pianist Yuja Wang has become an integral part of the world‘s major stages, inspiring young and old alike. Her playing displays technical brilliance and a seemingly endless range of emotions. The Piano Recital from the Wiener Konzerthaus allows her to display her fiery virtuosity as well as her mature musicality and imagination with an eclectic, personally chosen program. It combines masterpieces from famous works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Alexander Scriabin to lesser-known compositions by György Ligeti and Nikolai Kapustin, including also sublime musical miniatures by Christoph Willibald Gluck and Philip Glass. A historical milestone that is not to be missed! „The hall went wild!“ (Der Standard)
Teodor Currentzis – UTOPIA
Theodor Currentzis presents his new orchestra project „Utopia“ – and brings together 112 musicians from 22 nations. Outstanding musicians from international orchestras, the independent scene, soloists and chamber musicians come together to work on exemplary works of orchestral literature. The debut concerts of the new orchestra focus on refined and complex orchestral works of the early 20th century: Stravinsky‘s rarely performed third „Firebird“ suite from 1945, as well as the masterfully orchestrated second suite from „Daphnis et Chloé“ and the choreographic poem „La Valse“ by Maurice Ravel. All of the compositions exemplify the aesthetic thinking of the time. They are exquisite artefacts for demanding connoisseurs: The latest achievements in the art of orchestration, rousing dance rhythms and frenzied apotheoses stand for themselves. The „l‘art pour l‘art“ principle („art for art‘s sake“) is in the foreground here. In keeping with the orchestra‘s name, all three works thematize a form of the golden age: the ancient Greek pastoral („Daphnis et Chloé“), the Russian fairy-tale world („The Firebird“) and the Austrian imperial court in its heyday („La Valse“). PROGRAM Stravinsky: Firebird; Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, La Valse, Boléro
Jan Lisiecki plays Chopin
Polish-Canadian star pianist Jan Lisiecki together with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra play the two enchanting Piano concertos by Frédéric Chopin and Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony, in one of Oslo’s most beautiful venues: the University of Oslo’s ceremonial hall. Edvard Munch completed his Aula paintings in 1916, and they have decorated the walls of the Aula ever since. It is also home of Det Norske Kammerorkester (DNK), the most famous chamber orchestra in Oslo that was founded in 1977. The ensemble was founded by violinist Bjarne Fiskum, who got the idea after a summer course for young string talents in the summer of 1975. Polish-Canadian Jan Lisiecki is considered one of the most promising young pianists in the world. As the youngest musician ever he received Gramophone’s Young Artist Award in 2013. PROGARM Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2; Shostakovich: Chamber Symphony
Jonas Kaufmann: Christmas with Friends
For the third time, the star tenor invites viewers to „Christmas with Jonas Kaufmann“ on Christmas Eve on ZDF – this time to one of Germany‘s most traditional „Christmas regions,“ the Erzgebirge. The festively illuminated candle arches and revolving Christmas pyramids are world-famous examples of the traditional craftsmanship and carving art of this region. The magnificent St. Annenkirche church in Annaberg-Buchholz, richly decorated with works of art, is the setting for a concert with a prominent cast. In addition to top stars of classical music, artists from the pop genre spread a joyful and festive mood for the holiday with Christmas songs. In small detours, Jonas Kaufmann also lead the audience to other sights of the region, from a carving school to a historic hammer mill, from a lace-making workshop to the tunnels of a historic mine – and of course he also visits one of the major Christmas markets.
Marin Alsop conducts Bernstein’s Kaddish
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop and the Chicago Symphony Chorus are to perform Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Kaddish’ Symphony, where women’s voices are the tether to the highest powers, examining the essential, eternal questions of humanity and faith. PROGRAM Golijov: Rose of the Winds; Bernstein: Symphony No. 3 (Kaddish)
RCO Opening Night 2022: Alain Altinoglu & Vikingur Olafsson and Martin Fröst
The Concertgebouw Orchestra celebrates the new concert season in Westerpark with conductor Alain Altinoglu, clarinettist Martin Fröst, pianist Víkingur Ólafsson and music by Adams, Grieg and Bernstein. The evening gets off to an energetic start with John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine. The programme continues with Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto, followed by a selection of dances for clarinet and orchestra, in which clarinet virtuoso Martin Fröst can truly shine. The evening concludes with Bernstein’s popular Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.
RCO: Luisi conducts Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky
Fabio Luisi conducts two intensely romantic Russian works: Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony and Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with master pianist Yefim Bronfman, artist in residence with the Concertgebouworkest. The soloist performing this compelling piano concerto is the star turn of the programme. Yefim Bronfman has been a popular guest with the Concertgebouworkest for twenty years, but has never before performed Rachmaninoff at Concertgebouworkest! Now at last we had the chance to hear how this connoisseur of the Russian repertoire approaches this marvellous work. PROGRAM Tchaikovsky; Symphony No. 6; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3.
RCO: Gardiner conducts Brahms Symphony No. 2
Who was Johannes Brahms? In a new cycle of four concerts, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, is investigating Brahms’s œuvre through the lens of the four symphonies performed over two seasons and accompanied by other works by the composer. The Second Symphony is juxtaposed with the First Piano Concerto with soloist Stephen Hough. Under the baton of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Brahms is instilled with a new radiance and vitality. PROGRAM Brahms: Symphony No. 2, Piano Concerto No. 1
Le Concert de Paris 2022
It is now a well-established tradition: every year, on July 14, the Orchestre National de France welcomes the summer with a large musical gathering at the foot of the Eiffel Tower with stunning fireworks! Conducted by Cristian Macelaru, and accompanied by the Chorus of Radio France, the orchestra invites the audience around the world and thousands of people on the spot, to experience great arias and famous concert pieces in the company of prestigious soloists like Alice Sara Ott, Nadine Sierra, Lea Desandre, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Gautier Capuçon Erwin Schrott and Leonidas Kavakos.