Nigel Kennedy plays Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the English Chamber Orchestra. An introductory interview with Mariella Frostrup and rehearsal footage are intercut throughout the programme.
Itzhak Perlman plays Beethoven Violin Concerto
This concert, performed by Itzhak Perlman, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini, was recorded in 1980.
Piano Concerto in G Major
This live recording, from London’s Royal Festival Hall, of a performance of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G features two legendary artists – pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-95) and conductor Sergiu Celibidache (1912-96). They perform with the London Symphony Orchestra. An introduction to the programme includes an interview with Celibidache about Michelangeli’s flawless, yet seemingly effortless, technique.
Kennedy Live – Vivaldi at La Citadelle
Nigel Kennedy gave his first classical concert in France in 2004; the astonishing impact of this one show created both the best-selling classical CD in France since 2000 and two number one records. With Kennedy still at number 1 and 2 in the charts he returned to embrace his French triumph on a summer night in 2005 for this concert. This live performance is set in the stunning location of La Citadelle in Carcassonne, France; and showcases Nigel’s Vivaldi canon for which he has become so famous. Joined by the Polish Chamber Orchestra, Nigel plays Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and duets with the leader of the PCO, Jakub Haufa, on Vivaldi’s Concerto for 2 violins in C Major. The programme also features two excellent and very different encores; a take on Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” and a traditional celtic piece; both of which highlight Kennedy’s ability to interact with his audience.
Nigel Kennedy – Polish Spirit
In 2000, a stranger handed Nigel Kennedy an album of Mlynarski’s concerto in the street and unwittingly launched Kennedy on a major project to revive this forgotten Romantic music. As Kennedy says in his introduction to the concert, “…none of the musicians in the orchestra had ever played this music before, so even in Poland the Mlynarski is a forgotten concerto. So it’s a new discovery not just for me, but for the orchestra. There’s a whole new energy in this music with the Polish Chamber Orchestra playing it. We have this special connection which I’ve never really experienced with any other orchestra … so to be able to bring a new composer from their own heritage and to be able to take it to the world, I think represents the orchestra very well.” Concert programme: Emil Mlynarski’s Violin Concerto in A Major, Mieczyslaw Karlowicz’s Violin Concerto No.2 in D Major, Vittorio Monti’s Czardas (arr. Kennedy) cadenza by Nigel Kennedy, Trad: Danny Boy (arr. Kennedy)
Montserrat Caballe & Marilyn Horne Gala
Two great stars of the operatic stage, Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé and American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, give magnificent performances in these superb gala concerts featuring a variety of popular arias and duets from: Bajazet (Vivaldi), Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer), Le due ilustri rivali (Mercadante), Tancredi (Rossini), Semiramide (Rossini), Rodelinda (Handel), Giulio Cesare (Handel), Semiramide (Rossini), La donna del lago (Rossini), Gianni Schicchi (Puccini), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach).
Symphony for the Spire – A spectacle of music and theatre from the West Green, Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral’s West Green is the setting for Symphony for the Spire. Set against the magnificent backdrop of the cathedral, the evening is a mixture of spectacular special effects and pyrotechnics with a programme of unique stars, including Placido Domingo, Jessye Norman, and cellist Ofra Harnoy. The cathedral’s West Front also acts as an enormous projection screen for a series of dramatic images to support a special adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry V. Starring Kenneth Branagh in the role that made him internationally famous, and Charlton Heston, the action is backed by a special version of the acclaimed score by Scottish composer, Patrick Doyle.
Christmas with Kiri Te Kanawa
Coventry Cathedral is the magnificent setting for this concert, designed to trace the history of the Christmas carols from the dark ages up to the present day.
Solti conducts Mendelssohn & Shostakovich
Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony begins with a burst of pure sunlight. Shostakovich’s Tenth opens under altogether darker skies. But both composers are burning to communicate, and for Sir Georg Solti – a conductor who never compromised on energy, integrity or pure, heartfelt commitment to the music he performed – that was enough. In this live recording from the Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich he conducts one of his favourite orchestras: the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, renowned (then as now) for the lustre of its sound and its profound, instinctive understanding of the symphonic tradition. This is great music making at its most spontaneous – and masterful.
Solti conducts Shostakovich & Tchaikovsky
Two very different Russian symphonies, each with a powerful story to tell. Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony was his final masterpiece, an impassioned outpouring of melody and sorrow whose very name means “full of emotion”. Shostakovich’s Ninth might seem like its polar opposite: crisp, playful and bristling with pitch-black humour. But in Stalin’s Russia, those were dangerous qualities. Few conductors felt the tug of history like Sir Georg Solti, and few drove more directly for a piece’s heart. This recording with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, captured live at Munich’s Philharmonie am Gasteig, finds both conductor and orchestra at their uncompromising best.