In honour of Italian poet and writer Alessandro Manzoni, Maestro Riccardo Frizza conducts this special performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem in the grand, historic cathedral of Milan with the Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Choir of Milan. Verdi composed his masterpiece of sacred music in 1874 to pay homage to Manzoni on the first anniversary of his death. In this celebration of two greats of Italian culture and history, the orchestra was joined by a vocal cast composed of Serena Farnocchia, soprano, Anna Maria Chiuri, mezzo-soprano, Luciano Ganci, tenor, and Luiz-Ottavio Faria, bass. “This work is so great because it is the affirmation of the personal feelings that a human being faces during mourning, which comes to us through the anguish, pain, and hope that the strength of Verdi’s music expresses.” Maestro Frizza said in an interview with Gramiliano.
Jan Lisiecki plays Chopin
As part of his mini tour of Italy in March 2023, Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki presents an innovative programme from Naples’s intimate Teatro Sannazaro. This is a Chopin recital with a difference, in which Lisiecki interweaves the Etudes Op. 10 with a selection of Nocturnes, contrasting the virtuosic demands of the former with the lyricism of the latter to show the many different facets of the Polish composer.
Hélène Grimaud & Konstantin Krimmel
Klavier-Festival Ruhr presents Hélène Grimaud and Konstantin Krimmel. The young baritone, a member of the ensemble of the Bavarian State Opera, is pursuing a stellar career and developing into one of the most important Lied singers of our time. Hélène Grimaud has been performing the music of the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov for many years, and the audience of the Ruhr Piano Festival is also familiar with his music. His Silent Songs are music that he composed to poems with powerful images. Grimaud and Krimmel’s interpretation from Konzerthaus Dortmund gets under your skin, especially when paired with the Songs op. 32 by Johannes Brahms. PROGRAM Brahms: 9 Lieder und Gesänge, Op. 32; Silvestrov: Selection from Silent Songs
Joe Hisaishi in Concert
Joe Hisaishi wrote the score for some of his country’s most successful films, Japanese Anime movies, popular around the globe. In this concert, he presents and conducts some of his best-known compositions: the scores of Princess Mononoke, Ponyo, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, as well as a symphony of his own. Joe Hisaishi is without doubt the most popular Japanese composer in the world. His collaboration with director Hayao Miyazaki has been compared to that of director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams. “As a composer, I have chosen not to restrict myself” (Joe Hisaishi). PROGRAM Hisaishi: Symphony No. 2, Woman, Princess Mononoke, One Summer’s Day, World Dreams
Ein deutsches Requiem
The “German Requiem” made Johannes Brahms one of the most famous composers of his time. He himself later said of his work, “I have now found consolation.” Under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda, who presented himself with this extraordinary concert as the new General Music Director of the Zurich Opera House, the choir and orchestra performed in an empty hall – the orchestra on the stage, the choir facing it in the parquet and the tiers of the auditorium. Distanced, yet united in consolation. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Thielemann conducts Strauss
Following the complete recordings of the symphonies of Brahms and Schumann, the Staatskapelle Dresden and Christian Thielemann are turning their attention to the work of Richard Strauss. While the Sächsische Zeitung wrote about Morley that she “indulged the songs with great delight and the finest feeling”, Der Standard wrote about Thielemann: “Great clarity, great class. The inner charge of the instrumental, this intensity palpable in every note, with which the Staatskapelle Dresden immediately stormed into Strauss’s Heldenleben, revealed Thielemann’s well-known strengths: he succeeds in uniting impulsivity and balance in the sound as well as expressive melodic surging and structural clarity.” PROGRAM: Strauss “An die Nacht“, “Ich wollt ein Sträußlein binden“, “Säusle, liebe Myrthe!“, “Als mir dein Lied erklang“, “Amor“ from Op. 68 “Muttertändelei“, “Ein Heldenleben“; Hennig: “Nacht“
Ein Deutsches Requiem
150 days later to the day, Johannes Brahms’s “Ein Deutsches Requiem” returns to the place of its triumphal premiere on 10th April 1868, the stunning Bremen Cathedral, thanks to Grammy Award winner Paavo Järvi. He conducts the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen & State Choir Latvija as well as acclaimed soloists Matthias Goerne and Valentina Farcas – “rarely you hear such an insightful performance!” (FAZ) Järvi shows the masterpiece in Brahms’s final version with all seven movements, using the same number of musicians as the composer himself, which is less than what is common practice today.
The Creation (Die Schöpfung)
To mark its 40th anniversary, the International Baroque Days of Melk Abbey are returning to their roots: Under the musical direction of Stefan Gottfried, the Concentus Musicus Wien, the Bach Choir Salzburg, together with soloists Anna Lucia Richter, Michael Schade and Florian Boesch, perform Joseph Haydn’s famous oratorio “Die Schöpfung” (The Creation). First performed in Vienna in 1798, Haydn’s three-part oratorio is still considered a reference work today. The creation of the world, the chaos of all beginnings is marked by picturesque depictions of nature in the composition.
Thielemann conducts Bruckner No. 1
Christian Thielemann and his Staatskapelle Dresden embark on their Bruckner Cycle at the Philharmonie in Munich with a radiant performance of Symphony No. 1. Thielemann, a more than experienced Bruckner interpreter, demonstrates his skill once more and shows a masterly control over his orchestra. “How Thielemann elicits diabolical trills and how he puts emphasis on syncopation, no matter how small – that’s in a class of ist own.” (Die Presse.com)
Symphony No. 4 in F minor Op. 36
Hailed by the press as “the definitive video production” of Tchaikovsky’s music, this exceptional concert series, recorded live from the Alte Oper Frankfurt, features the leading Russian conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev and the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra. Fedoseyev’s perceptive reading of the works of his fellow countryman, the masterly playing of the orchestra and guest soloists combine to produce performances which are revelatory in their execution and understanding of Tchaikovsky’s music and the Russian heritage.