Beethoven, Egmont Overture, op.84

For a stage production of Goethe’s “Egmont” planned for spring 1810, the Vienna Burgtheater commissioned Beethoven to compose incidental music to Goethe’s tragedy. Although Beethoven was a great admirer of Goethe and was profoundly flattered by this commission, he did not complete the music by the time the play was given its premiere on 24 May 1810. Only at the third performance of the play on 15 June was Beethoven’s music heard for the first time. Like the “Leonore” overtures, the “Egmont” also foreshadows the events to come. In “Egmont,” they are encapsulated in the main theme of defiance of tyranny, which gives the music its explosive power. Bernstein’s impassioned renderings of Beethoven move audiences in a unique way. “Beethoven has always meant universality to me, ever since my early adolescence, when I first heard that unforgettable cry of ‘Brüder!’. From that moment on, every… symphony came to mean heart-to-heart communication, travelling satellite-fashion via the cosmos itself. I offer [this cycle] to all music-loving ears as a testament of faith and of my most profound reactions to this greatest of all composers.” (Leonard Bernstein, 1980)

Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048

For Johann Sebastian Bach, February 15, 1981 was no doubt one of the darkest days of his afterlife: on this day he lost one of his greatest champions in the 20th century, Karl Richter. Over the course of his long career as conductor, organist and harpsichordist, Richter had become synonymous with Bach. He founded the Munich Bach Choir and the Munich Bach Orchestra. He helped trigger the Bach revival in the 1950s. He was the spirit behind the Ansbach Bach Festival. He turned his adopted city of Munich into a Bach center. And he recorded all the major choral and orchestral works of Bach, including more than 100 cantatas.

Mozart, Symphony No.38 in D major, K. 504 “Prague”

Filmed mainly in Vienna’s splendid “Musikvereinssaal,” the Mozart symphonies conducted by Karl Böhm are all interpreted by one of the world’s foremost orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, whose principal conductors have included Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and, of course, Karl Böhm. “Thanks to Bruno Walter’s exemplary performances, particularly of Mozart’s works, I grabbed on to Mozart and fell in love with him so much that I had only one wish: to conduct Mozart, Mozart, Mozart.” (Karl Böhm) A symphony for connoisseurs, K. 504 reflects the taste and discernment of the audience it was intended for: the musical public of Prague. Since his “Marriage of Figaro” was the hit of the town in late 1786, Mozart decided to travel to Prague; in his luggage was the D major symphony, premiered on 19 January 1787. Written between “Figaro” and “The Magic Flute,” it shares unmistakable affinities with these two works and even quotes a theme from “Figaro” in the finale. And it is also a work in which Mozart could be completely himself. He thus indulged in a draatic slow introduction, and in some austere contrapuntal writing in the first movement. Since the wind players in the Bohemian capital were rightly praised for their excellence, Mozart also rewarded them with some truly beautiful pages. Karl Böhm was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. Though Wagner was one of Böhm’s first loves, his friendship with Richard Strauss led to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography, Böhm wrote that “Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of this, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart.” Böhm’s discovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations into unforgettable events.

Beethoven, Symphony No.8 in F major, op.93

When the Eighth Symphony was first performed in 1814, it was not accorded the same tumultuous reception as the Seventh. Beethoven was not pleased because he considered it the superior of the two. This is a short and concise work, replete with gaiety and little musical jokes. The second movement, in fact, is a witty imitation of the ticking of the newly invented metronome. For the third movement, Beethoven returns to the classical minuet of the 18th century. This recording is part of Bernstein’s complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra live in Vienna. The series won the Ace Award, the U. Cable TV Association’s top award for outstanding quality and entertainment value. Bernstein’s impassioned renderings of Beethoven move audiences in a unique way. “Beethoven has always meant universality to me, ever since my early adolescence, when I first heard that unforgettable cry of ‘Brüder!’. From that moment on, every… symphony came to mean heart-to-heart communication, travelling satellite-fashion via the cosmos itself. I offer [this cycle] to all music-loving ears as a testament of faith and of my most profound reactions to this greatest of all composers.” (Leonard Bernstein, 1980)

Mozart, Violin Concerto No.1 in B flat major, K.207

Mozart, who was also an accomplished violinist, wrote all of his five violin concertos in Salzburg in 1775, apparently for his own personal use. Their style can best be described as cosmopolitan and reflects the many musical currents he had been exposed to while on his travels in Italy and elsewhere. Aristocratic, suave, witty, wonderfully melodious, they are dazzling gems that conceal an inner core of challenging material that can be truly mastered only by the very best violinists.

Wagner, Overture to “Tannhäuser”

Sir Georg Solti (1912-1997), one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, was a testament to the elegance and impeccable tastefulness of Central European music-making. Born in Budapest in 1912, he studied with Béla Bartók, Ernö von Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner. In 1937, Toscanini chose him to be his assistant at the Salzburg Festival. After the war, Solti was appointed Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera. Further stations in his career were the Frankfurt Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the London Philharmonic. His remarkable partnership with the Chicago Symphony began in 1954; he was named Music Director in 1969 and held this post for a phenomenal 22 years. He is credited with greatly extending and enhancing the orchestra’s worldwide reputation. Solti died in September 1997, just before his 85th birthday. This recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was made in 1976 at the Orchestra Hall in Chicago.

Belcanto D´Amore (Aida, La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, Turandot)

AIDA

Iano Tamar, Iain Paterson,

Tatiana Serjan, Rubens

Pellizzari

Vienna Symphonic Orchestra

Carlo Rizzi

Staged by Graham Vick

MADAMA BUTTERFLY

Raffaela Angeletti

Nino Batatunashvili

Annunziato Vestri

Fondatione Orchestra

Regionale Delle Marche

Daniele Callegari

Staged by Pier Luigi Pizzi

TURANDOT

Maria Guleghina, Marco Berti,

Javier Agulló

Orquestra de la Comunitat

Valenciana

Zubin Metha

Staged by Chen Kaige

LA TRAVIATA

Svetla Vassileva, Massimo

Giordano, Valdimir Stoyanov

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro

Regio di Parma

Yuri Temirkanov

Staged by Karl-Ernst & Ursel

Herrmann

RIGOLETTO

Francesco Demuro, Leo Nucci

Nino Machaidze, Marco Spotti

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro

Regio di Parma

Massimo Zanetti

Staged by Stefano Vizioli