The idea of uniting young musicians from Israel, Palestine and various Arab countries still seems incredible today. Yet the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra has been flourishing since 1999, when it was founded by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said. In 2007 the ensemble took a highly acclaimed residency at the Salzburg Festival. The major orchestral concert comprises a Beethoven overture, an intricate and multilayered piece by Schoenberg, and Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, the Pathétique, in which Barenboim pulls out all the stops and coaxes rarely heard instrumental lines and accents from his musicians.
Salzburg Opening Concert 2010
As the 2010 Salzburg Festival marked two major landmark anniversaries – the Festival’s 90th and the Großes Festspielhaus’s 50th – a glamorous and very special opening concert was mandatory: Daniel Barenboim, the Vienna Philharmonic and a quartet of world-class singers opened the proceedings in style. Barenboim, who in 2010 also celebrated his 60th anniversary onstage, excelled as soloist and conductor of Beethoven’s unsurpassably lyrical Fourth Piano Concerto. And subsequently, under his baton, Dorothea
Röschmann, Elina Garanc?a, Klaus Florian Vogt and René Pape delivered unforgettable performances in Bruckner’s poignant Te Deum.
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 4, 5 & 6. Discovering Beethoven with Joachim Kaiser and Christian Thielemann
The Beethoven cycle of the 21st century!
Christian Thielemann joins forces with the prestigious Wiener Philharmoniker in a unique and monumental project BEETHOVEN 9, their first-ever recording of all 9 Symphonies in full high definition and Surround Sound. This recording from the Golden Hall of Vienna´s Musikverein is accompanied by nine(!) hour-long documentaries, one on each symphony, featuring Christian Thielemann and Germany´s most eminent music critic, Prof. Joachim Kaiser. From insights into Beethoven´s musical thinking to interpretational comparisons, including excerpts form legendary performances by Karajan, Bernstein, Böhm, Järvi etc., to historical perpsectives – no aspect of Beethoven´s symphonic oeuvre will remain untreated! This 2 DVD-set or Blu-ray contains Beethoven Symphonies 4, 5 & 6 and the Documentaries about Symphonies 4, 5 & 6.
Beethoven: The Complete Symphonies
The Beethoven cycle of the 21st century!
Christian Thielemann joins forces with the prestigious Wiener Philharmoniker in a unique and monumental project BEETHOVEN 9, their first-ever recording of all 9 Symphonies in full high definition and Surround Sound. This recording from the Golden Hall of Vienna´s Musikverein is accompanied by nine(!) hour-long documentaries, one on each symphony, featuring Christian Thielemann and Germany´s most eminent music critic, Prof. Joachim Kaiser. From insights into Beethoven´s musical thinking to interpretational comparisons, including excerpts form legendary performances by Karajan, Bernstein, Böhm, Järvi etc., to historical perpsectives – no aspect of Beethoven´s symphonic oeuvre will remain untreated!
Alfred Brendel über Musik Drei Vorträge
Alfred Brendel, einer der größten Pianisten und musikalischen Denker unserer Tage, unternimmt in diesen drei Vorträgen eine musikalische Entdeckungsreise hinter die Noten und in die Mysterien der Musik und fasziniert seine Zuhörer mit einer Vielfalt musikalischer Beispiele, mit denen er seine Aussagen am Klavier illustriert. Diese Vorträge, eigens für die audiovisuelle Aufzeichnung in den Räumen der Salzburger Festspiele präsentiert, sind dank der gelungenen Mischung aus Theorie und Musik nicht nur für den Experten aufschlussreich und unterhaltsam, sondern für jeden interessierten Musikfreund. „Ein Höhepunkt der Salzburger Festspiele. Der ausführende Künstler wird zum buchstäblichen Charakterdarsteller.“ Die Welt
Karajan conducts Mozart & Dvorák
Combining the forces of two of the 20th century´s greatest musicians – Yehudi Menuhin and Herbert von Karajan in their only recorded performance together – this magnificent programme marks a high point in filmed classical music. Both features, Mozart´s Violin Concerto No. 5 and Dvorák´s “New World” Symphony, were directed by master film-maker and long-time Karajan collaborator Henri-Georges Clouzot (The Wages of Fear).
Bonus: Herbert von Karajan in conversation with Yehudi Menuhin (on Mozart) and Prof. Joachim Kaiser (on Dvorák). Special bonus feature: Previously unreleased rehearsal session prior to Violin Concerto No. 5!
Alfred Brendel On Music Three Lectures
In these three lectures Alfred Brendel, one of the greatest pianists and musical thinkers of our age, takes us on a musical voyage of discovery that goes behind the notes and explores the mysteries of music. He holds his listeners enthralled with an array of musical examples that illustrates his explanations at the piano. Presented to be specifically recorded audio-visually, these lectures where held in the rooms of Salzburg Festival. Thanks to their successful blend of music and theory, they are informative and entertaining not only for experts but also for all lovers of music with an interest in deepening their understanding of the subject. “A highlight of the Salzburger Festspiele. The artist Alfred Brendel became a real character actor.” Die Welt
Christian Thielemann conducts Bruckner
Christian Thielemann is widely regarded as the leading Brucknerian of our age, and his performances with the Munich Philharmonic, of which he has been music director since 2004, enjoy cult status all over the world. This DVD features a world première of Bruckner´s two most popular works, the Symphonies No. 4 and No. 7, which he interprets as sublime cathedrals of late Romantic music, impressing his listeners in ways that few other conductors can do.
Leonard Bernstein conducts Sibelius
In the mid 1980s, Unitel began recording a complete cycle of Sibelius symphonies with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic. Bernstein´s death in 1990 unfortuantely cut short this project after the release of Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 7. Recorded live at Vienna´s Musikverein, these ecstatic performances were the object of stellar reviews. On this double-disc set, Bernstein´s unique and by now legendary interpretations of Sibelius are released for the first time on DVD.
Salzburg Festival Opening Concert 2008
A dream of a line-up: Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez and the Vienna Philharmonic! Put one of the world´s greatest orchestras in the hand of one of the foremost specialists of 20th-century music, add a soloist who is one of today´s leading pianists and conductors, and you are assured of a concert of superlatives that pays glowing tribute to three major works of the past century.
“The mutual affection felt by conductor and orchestra once again made for captivating results. Even without dancers, the music danced.” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung