LSO: Rattle conducts Mahler and Tippett

From blissful radiances to a last lament, Sir Simon Rattle conducts the final works of Sir Michael Tippett and Gustav Mahler. Tippett never shied away from breaking new musical ground, and his last major work, ‘a song without words for orchestra’, was no exception. Inspired by journeys to Senegal, The Rose Lake is the imaginary chant of the breathtaking, rose-hued Lake Retba. Each section of the orchestra is illuminated, with driving percussive forces and soaring melodies portraying a euphoric awakening of the landscape. The Rose Lake is a hymn of nature; but Mahler’s final work, left unfinished and restored after years of collaboration, is the cry of a desperate man. Condemned to life with a fatal heart condition and a failing marriage, his Tenth Symphony is a heartrending goodbye – as the composer himself inscribed on the manuscript, ‘farewell, farewell’. PROGRAM Tippett: The Rose Lake; Mahler: comp COOKE Symphony No 10

LSO: Noseda conducts Shostakovich

Shostakovich’s music is such an important chronicle of life in 20th century Soviet Russia, and the Tenth Symphony written after Stalin’s death portays the tragedy, despair, terror and violence of his tenure. Masterfully conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. PROGRAM Shostakovich: Symphony No 10

LSO: Rattle conducts Folk Roots, Urban Roots

Jubilent Eastern European folk music, swinging Latin American rhythms and toe-tapping jazz are brought together in an ambitious programme featuring the legendary Labeque Sisters under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. PROGRAM Bartok: Hungarian Peasant Songs; Szymanowski: Harnasie; Stravinsky: Ebony Concerto; Golijov: Nazareno; Bernstein: Prelude, Fugue and Riff

LSO: Gardiner conducts Schumann & Mendelssohn

Sir John Eliot Gardiner leads a journey through the Romanticism of Weber, Mendelssohn and Schumann. The Overture to Weber’s grand opera Euryanthe, which has taken on a life of its own in the concert hall, is a window onto some of the most exciting moments of the whole work. Isabelle Faust and Kristian Bezuidenhout then present Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin and Piano, which elegantly balances a measure of Classical restraint against rich and Romantic displays of feeling. We close with Schumann’s Third Symphony. One of the composer’s most impressive, it paints a euphoric picture of the German Rhineland in broad Beethovenian style, closing with an exhilarating finale. PROGRAM Weber: Euryanthe Overture; Mendelssohn: Concerto for violin and piano; Schumann: Symphony No 3

Karajan conducts Strauss Tone Poems

In 1984, Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker presented an unusual concert program of two contrasting yet complimentary works by Richard Strauss: the early symphonic poem Death and Transfiguration and the mature masterpiece Metamorphoses. Stretching the limits of Romanticism, Death and Transfiguration depicts the final moments of a sick man who reflects back on his life before his death. In the abstract musical exploration Metamorphoses, the composer draws inspiration from previous generations’ compositional approaches to push musical limits, taking counterpoint to new heights with this piece written in 23 independent sections. With their signature sonic intensity, the famed Austrian conductor and the Berliner Philharmoniker give a truly captivating performance.

Karajan conducts Tchaikovsky 4

Tchaikovsky described his Fourth Symphony in a letter to Nadezhda von Meck as “perhaps the best I have written so far”. With allusions to Beethoven’s Fifth and an obsessive exploration of the idea of destiny (introduced the imposing initial fanfare), the symphony took shape at toward the beginning of Tchaikovsky’s platonic relationship with Nadezhda von Meck, the wealthy widow who became the composer’s patron, and to whom the work is dedicated. The Symphony’s premiere on February 10, 1878 in Moscow under the baton of Nikolai Rubenstein was met with a lukewarm audience reception, yet despite this difficult start, the work was performed a month later in St. Petersburg to an adoring public who demanded an encore! Herbert von Karajan and the Wiener Philharmoniker perform the work with all the energy, rigor, and subtlety for which they were celebrated.

Karajan conducts Tchaikovsky 5

Herbert von Karajan leads the Wiener Philharmoniker in Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony at Vienna’s Musikverein in this exceptional archival video footage. Premiered in 1888 with the conductor himself at the baton, the Symphony No. 5 proved popular with audiences while being heavily criticized by the press, hurting the composer emotionally. The work develops a single theme over the course of four movements in a similar fashion to the “Manfred” Symphony, written a few years previously. Beyond the work’s obvious beauty, the demanding and nuanced interpretation of Karajan allows us to appreciate its particular structural details as well.

Karajan conducts Tchaikovsky 6 “Pathetique”

Premiered in 1893 in St. Petersburg with Tchaikovsky on the podium, the Sixth Symphony—later nicknamed “Pathetique”—was met with lukewarm reception before achieving success a few months later under the baton of Napravnik, barely 9 days before the death of the composer! Dedicated to his nephew, Tchaikovsky explained that he had “put my whole soul into this work”, and a tragic aura has remained associated with his ultimate symphonic composition. Discover this powerful work in an exceptional performance with maestro Karajan at the head of the Wiener Philharmoniker.

Messa da Requiem

Herbert von Karajan recorded Verdi’s Requiem multiple times over the course of his career, such that it became one of the signature works of his repertoire. In this film, he brings together an exceptional group of some of the late 20th century’s greatest singers: Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnès Baltsa, José Carreras, and José van Dam. Composed between Aida and Otello, the Messa da Requiem is dedicated to his friend, the poet Alessandro Manzoni, who had participated in the Italian unification movement, the Risorgimento. The technically and artistically challenging work was described by Verdi’s contemporary, the conductor Hans von Bülow, as an “opera in ecclesiastical garb”, an interesting expression of the fascinating tension between the theatrical and the religious in this monumental chef-d’oeuvre.