Alfred Brendel on Music – Three Lectures

In his lectures, which were recorded in Salzburg, Brendel, the ‘most profound pianist of our day’ (Joachim Kaiser), takes his listeners on a journey of discovery behind the notes and into the mysteries of the musical world. Thanks to their mixture of theory and practical examples, his lectures – in spite of their very high level of sophistication – are entertaining not only for the expert, but also for everyone interested in music. Lecture 1: Does Classical Music Have To Be Entirely Serious? (74’); Lecture 2: Musical Character(s) As Exemplified In Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas (72’); Lecture 3: Light And Shade Of Interpretation (79’)

My time will come – Gustav Mahler as remembered by Natalie Bauer-Lechner

Filmmaker Beate Thalberg has crafted a docu-drama based on a little- known source of information on Gustav Mahler, the diaries of Natalie Bauer-Lechner, Mahler’s long-time confidante. The film portra Mahler’s private and professional life from his student years in Vienna up to his marriage with Alma Schindler. The diaries evoke the man behind the artist and testify not only to Mahler’s erratic character and to his humor, but also to his dramatic struggle for recognition as a composer.

Anne-Sophie Mutter, Encounters with Mendelssohn

One of the world’s foremost violinists, Anne-Sophie Mutter is a musical celebrity known even by countless people who rarely listen to classical music. The artist and teacher, who promotes young musicians and commissions new works from contemporary composers, made her spectacular breakthrough under Herbert von Karajan at the 1977 Salzburg Easter Festival. She has since concertized at every major venue throughout the world. In 2008 she was awarded not only the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Music Award, but also the Leipzig Mendelssohn Award. The award ceremony in March 2008 was crowned by a gala concert at Leipzig’s Gewandhaus with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Kurt Masur, at which Mutter performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor op. 64 presented here. The recording offers a selection of masterpieces by Mendelssohn (1809-1847) in a variety of instrumentations. In addition to Mutter, Masur and the Leipzig orchestra, the performers also include Mutter’s chamber-music partners Lynn Harrell and André Previn. On the occasion of the Mendelssohn Year, UNITEL CLASSICA also offers the documentary Anne-Sophie Mutter – Encounters with Mendelssohn, in which the artist discusses her affinity to Mendelssohn and explains why she particularly admires the works presented here. Mutter has performed the Violin Concerto several times in her career. Joining her in Mendelssohn’s Violin Sonata is pianist André Previn, who is also an internationally renowned conductor and composer. Previn accompanied Mutter in several Mozart Trios that are part of her “Mozart Project” available from UNITEL CLASSICA. He and cellist Lynn Harrell now interpret the D-minor Trio with her. This is a stunning anthology of chamber and orchestral music from one of the most vibrant composers of the early romantic era, performed by top artists of today!

School for the Ear – Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela

Under the heading “Party in the Felsenreitschule,” the Munich daily Münchner Merkur boldly proclaimed: “Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra guests at the Salzburg Festival – and delivers the biggest audience hit of the summer.” Two days after the concert reviewed by the Merkur, the ensemble united its massive forces once again for a spectacular concert in the Grosses Festspielhaus – another unqualified success! Rarely has an orchestra reached out and grabbed its audience in such a visceral manner; and even more rarely has such a feat been accomplished by an orchestra of youngsters between the ages of 12 and 26! The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, the Salzburg Festival’s resident orchestra of 2008, is a product of the “Sistema de Orquestas” set up to allow children of all social levels to learn a musical instrument and play in an ensemble. Today, 250,000 youths are learning from 15,000 instructors and playing in over 120 youth orchestras and nearly 60 children’s orchestras. Some of the Sistema’s finest players were picked to form the S.B.Y.O. and to work in Salzburg with such outstanding musicians as Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Martha Argerich. Documenting their activity there is the program “School for the Ear” featuring works by Beethoven and Mahler (also available from UNITEL CLASSICA). Conducting the present concert is the Sistema’s most celebrated alumnus, Gustavo Dudamel, born in 1981. The young maestro, who was appointed chief conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 2007, is, in the words of the Salzburg Festival’s music director, Markus Hinterhäuser, “the most charismatic conductor since Leonard Bernstein.” The concert opens with Beethoven’s sparkling Triple Concerto. The distinguished soloists are Martha Argerich (piano), Renaud Capuçon (violin) and Gautier Capuçon (cello). Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s monumental Pictures at an Exhibition forms the second part of the concert, in which “Dudamel channels his juvenile forces into a compelling flow with dynamic gestures” (Der Standard). The young conductor proved that “he has an extraordinary talent not only to stimulate his players, but also to accompany creatively and imaginatively” (Die Presse).

Il re pastore Documentary

“Mozart22” is an enterprise of utterly unique dimensions, the musical project of the century: all of Mozart’s stage works presented over the course of six weeks during the 2006 Salzburg Festival. The project brought together the greatest Mozart singers, conductors, stage directors and ensembles of the day. To make this extraordinary artistic achievement accessible to a broad public, the entire “Mozart22” cycle was recorded with the highest-quality HD technology and 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. The cycle also includes 20 one-hour documentaries containing excerpts from rehearsals, interviews with artists, and background reports that shed light on the meticulously elaborated, multi-layered concepts of the musical interpretations and stage productions. The programs introduce the work in question and situate it in Mozart’s oeuvre. Each documentary is devoted to one opera, whereby the shorter works and fragments are bundled. All the operas, of course, are available from UNITEL CLASSICA. In addition to providing valuable insights from the artists, the documentaries also bear witness to the incredible logistic achievement of the Mozart22 project. At the peak of the project, about 160 people were working on it nearly around the clock. Fifty thousand meters of cable were laid out in seven venues in Salzburg. Parallel to the recording crew of the opera cycle, who required up to twelve cameras for each recording, the documentary filmmakers scurried from rehearsal stage to hotel lounge, from artists’ canteen to make-up studios in their mission to capture the unique dynamics and electrifying atmosphere of this undertaking – a project of superlatives and a landmark in media and music history.