After performances in recent years of Bach’s liturgical cantatas and St Matthew Passion, John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi ensembles turn to the composer’s other great meditation on the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus. Martin Luther described the Gospel of John as ‘unique in loveliness and, in truth, the principal Gospel, far superior to the other three and much to be preferred’; Bach responded to the text with music which is by turns evocative, stirring, exultant and profoundly moving – music that holds our attention from beginning to end. The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists are joined by a dynamic cast of exciting soloists to bring the story of the passion to life. “This is a St John Passion that no music lover should miss.” The Times
Le Concert de Paris 2021
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 Simone Young, and accompanied by the Chorus of Radio France, the orchestra invites the audience around the world, to experience great arias and famous concert pieces in the company of prestigious soloists like Pretty Yende, Piotr Beczala, Renaud Capuçon, Ksenija Sidorova, Clementine Margaine, and Ibrahim Maalouf!
Angela Hewitt plays the Goldberg Variations
Since she was young, the Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt dedicated herself to the oeuvre of Johann Sebastian Bach with great passion and conviction. She has recorded all of his piano pieces on CD and performed them to audiences around the world in countless concerts. For her merits for this great composer, Hewitt is the first ever female recipient of the renowned Leipzig Bach Medal. On this occasion, she played Bach’s Goldberg Variations at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, at the authentic place where Bach served as Thomas Cantor and is buried.
Blomstedt conducts Voríšek & Mozart
With this concert, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Herbert Blomstedt embarked on a musical journey to the Czech Republic in memory of the orchestra’s former conductor Václav Neumann. It was there that Jan Václav Voríšek was born in 1791, the manuscript of his D Major Symphony sharing the fate of the symphonies of his friend Franz Schubert in neither being published nor performed during his lifetime. Prague was also the place of a short, late, and rare happy chapter in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s moving biography and his D major Symphony K. 504 was premiered there. PROGRAM Voríšek: Symphony D major, op. 23; Mozart: Symphony D major, K 504 “Prague”
Krystian Zimerman – Beethoven Piano Concertos
Krystian Zimerman and Sir Simon Rattle have reunited to record Beethoven’s Complete Piano Concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra in one marathon concert. From the youthful first to the mighty ‘Emperor’, this is a real one-off: an unprecedented meeting of great musical minds. That’s no exaggeration: the unique rapport between Zimerman and Sir Simon is based upon years of shared ideals and mutual respect. Gramophone described their partnership as “a thing of wonder”, praising their “thrilling sense of purpose”. Crucially, neither of them ever forgets that Beethoven is bigger than both of them, making this unprecedented, unrepeatable concert a worthy tribute to Beethoven at the end of this, his 250th anniversary year.
Pavarotti: Live in Central Park
When more than 500,000 people gathered in New York’s Central Park on 26 June 1993, they wanted to hear only one thing: The voice of the greatest tenor of the twentieth century: the voice of Luciano Pavarotti. A year earlier, Pavarotti had thrilled the crowds in London’s Hyde Park – here, in New York, he confirmed once again that he is an undisputed world star. He is accompanied by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Leone Magiera. The recording of this concert, without doubt one of Pavarotti’s most celebrated performances, achieved record sales. Arias by Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Eduardo Di Capua, Ernesto De Curtis, including Nessun dorma, E lucevan le stelle, O sole mio … A new digitally remastered version is available now.
Pavarotti in Hyde Park
It was billed as „Pavarotti in the Park,“ but Luciano Pavarotti‘s 30th-anniversary concert in Hyde Park this evening could just as well have been called „Pavarotti in the Deluge.“ The Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duchess of York, Prime Minister John Major and his wife, Norma, the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, the actor Michael Caine and a crowd estimated at 125,000 turned out despite an incessant downpour to hear the 55-year-old Italian tenor sing a selection of his favorite arias to observe 30 years of a sterling career. He was accompanied by the 82-member Philharmonia Orchestra and the 120-voice Philharmonia Chorus.
Serenata Latina – Rolando Villazón & Xavier de Maistre
At the beautiful Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, Rolando Villazón partners with star French harpist Xavier de Maistre for a concert of intimate arrangements of Latin American songs for tenor and harp. Latin American song-writing, where indigenous, European and African cultures meet, offers a tantalising collage of sounds, rhythm, melody and narrative.
Rachlin conducts Tchaikovsky
Pianist Denis Matsuev and his good friend, the violinist Julian Rachlin, perform in the venerable Moscow Conservatory. On this occasion, the artists dare to try something new: instead of his violin, Julian Rachlin reaches for the conductor’s baton to conduct a piece which he, with his violin, would neve approach. Together and for the first time, they give an interpretation of a work put to paper by Tchaikovsky in the Moscow of 1874: his Piano Concerto No. 1 as well as the Symphony No. 5.
Beethoven Celebration Berlin
In 2020, Ludwig van Beethoven is the focus of the Staatskapelle Berlin’s suberb open-air concert. With star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter playing Beethoven’s Violin Romances Nos. 1 & 2, the composer anticipated the romantic genre of the „song without words“. In capturing the expressive „singing on the instrument“, the virtuoso talent and remarkable art of Anne-Sophie Mutter are once again demonstrated. Daniel Barenboim has devoted his life to Beethoven‘s work and mentality. The musical director, pianist and cultural activist conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin and the State Opera Chorus in this concert. Giving justice to the 9th Symphony with its insistent appeal to humanity and its forward-looking utopian character, are the high calibre artists: Julia Kleiter, Waltraud Meier, Andreas Schager and René Pape.