The Vatican Library is home to the most important and extensive collection of sacred music manuscripts in the world and the Sistine Chapel Choir has unlimited access to this extraordinary archive. The Sistine Chapel choir, the oldest choir in the world, has sung this music for centuries, and in recent years has reached new musical heights of excellence. The Director of the Sistine Chapel, Monsignor Massimo Palombella, has taken on an exciting double challenge. On the one hand, he is presenting polyphonic works from the Vatican Library in new editions reflecting the very highest standards of contemporary academic scholarship in polyphony. On the other hand, he is also developing performance practices for the choir to bring even the most intricate and impossibly difficult motets to life in a way which respects and clarifies the liturgical meaning of the music. Many of the works on this recording by famous names such as Palestrina and Desprez, all written to form part of Papal Celebrations for Advent and Christmas, have never been heard before.
Mythos Carmen
What do the great characters in the history of opera have to do with our own lives? “Mythos Carmen”: modern re-enactments place the respective operatic character squarely in the middle of our present times. Individual chapters examine the key issues of the character, which are spread out in the form of a kaleidoscope. International stars of opera, singers, conductors and directors explain what continues to fascinate us about the characters to this day. They explain their own take on the various heroes and describe what makes the operatic characters mythological. In doing so, they provide a distinctive, new and fresh perspective on the great works of music. The film is augmented by footage shot behind the scenes, at the places where the operas were written, and with a répétiteur, allowing the film to move through our present times emotionally guided by the opera.
BACK HOME in Georgia – Khatia Buniatishvili and Zubin Mehta
They have known each for a long time and performed many concerts together: the pianist Khatia Buniatishvili and the conductor Zubin Mehta. Perhaps that is why they can be so open with each other during rehearsals of Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A-Minor. Back Home with the two musicians and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Georgia under special conditions. The rehearsals in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, take place in the great music hall. The concert two hours drive away under the open skies of Tsinandali – a brand new concert place, built up to the very last minute.
2Cellos – 2Faces
Cellists Luka Šulic from Slovenia and Stjepan Hauser from Croatia have been a great success all over the world. Their You Tube views, concert attendance in the largest arenas of the world and album sales have surged to record figures. They are known as top classical musicians with academic degrees and numerous awards from the most prominent international music competitions. Their cello concerts combine classical pieces with amazing pop, rock and film soundtrack covers, attracting enthusiasts from different music worlds. The documentary film takes the viewers below the surface and introduces them to the rich mental, emotional, conscious and subconscious creative world of the two artists – a world so unique, special and peculiar; it cannot be explained; only experienced. With all the fame and overly chaotic schedules, the two artists try to maintain the delicate balance between the glorious world of international success and the personal world of inner peace and solitude.
A New Chopin – Daniil Trifonov & Mikhail Pletnev
It is one of the most fascinating classical recordings of the year 2017: Daniil Trifonov’s interpretation of the Chopin piano concertos together with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under the guidance of Mikhail Pletnev. Trifonov and Pletnev are both Russians, pianists and composers. For all these communalities, they are quite different personalities. Trifonov belongs to the crowd of highly talented and celebrated young pianists who has won numerous competitions and gives more than 100 concerts a year. In contrast, the Grammy-award-winner Pletnev is known for his intellectual grasp of musical language who might come across a little bit distant. It is a remarkable proof of trust for the young pianist, that Pletnev offers his re-orchestration of the two concertos for Trifonov’s solo recording. Chopin’s music is elegant and deeply personal, but the orchestrations of his concertos are considered makeshift, many assert. There have been several attempts to re-orchestrate them: Will the Pletnev-orchestration add a new dimension to the pieces? This collaboration is likely to be an artistic exploration at the highest stage and consequently, the music documentary „A New Chopin“ takes viewers on a rare tour of the artistic process.
La Maestra – Alondra de la Parra
37-year old Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra just made history by being appointed the first female conductor and music director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, one of Australia’s three largest Orchestras. In 2004 she became the first Mexican woman to conduct in New York and in 2014, she led the Orchestre de Paris. Clearly breaking barriers is standard fare for Alondra. As a guest conductor she has led more than 70 renowned orchestras worldwid. She has done multidisciplinary collaborations with various actors and filmmakers and keeps on working on educational programs. The documentary traces the multiple facets of Alondra’s life, accompanies her on her binational tours and gives insight into Alondra’s interesting family. Her latest appointment as the Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director (2017) marks a special point in the orchestra’s history, not only because they decided on a young woman but also because it is the first time they have ever appointed a music director. The film also captures Alondra in her home city New York, where she works on the N.Y. City based “Niños” program, one of Alondra’s numerous initiatives that express her desire to spread classical music to everyone.
Olga Peretyatko – My Love for Rossini
Olga Peretyatko – My Love for Rossini is dedicated to the famous Russian soprano and her admiration for the composer Gioachino Rossini. This documentary includes footage of Olga Peretyatko singing several of Rossini’s most famous arias in concert with the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna conducted by Alberto Zedda. She reflects on her life, her experiences as a singer, and above all, her love for Rossini.
Survival Artists
They live two lives. They work to survive, but music is their passion. At night they perform in sold out concert halls, and clean toilets the morning after. They tickle the ivories and sort out the trash in close succession. They interpret Beethoven just before repairing exhaust pipes. They are survival artists. A musician is asked: “Can you make a living?” The reply: “Some can, others cannot.” This story is about the others: Professional musicians who practise their art with great passion and skill, but still have to work on the side. Either just to make ends meet or to maintain a certain quality of life: As a garbage collector, an auto mechanic or doctor.
Gozo – One Island, Two Opera Houses
Grand opera in an unlikely setting. The small island of Gozo (right next to Malta) has 30,000 inhabitants and two opera houses. This means it has more opera per square mile than any other place in the world. The organization, the staging, and much of the singing are all done by amateurs. The only trouble is, there is no love lost between the two houses. There are two conductors, two choruses, two teams of stage workers and organizers and behind it all two rival clans whose sole ambition every year is to come out on top in the great operatic singing match. But there is one thing they do have to share: the orchestra. Malta only has one to its name. In the middle of the fray we find Maltese star tenor Joseph Calleja. As a teenager he earned his singing spurs in Gozo, and now he comes back to the island every year to act as a mediator. The film observes opera-crazy volunteers and amateur musicians engaging in the annual tussle for the best Verdi performance in the Mediterranean and international tenor Joseph Calleja doing his level best to keep things from getting out of hand. A film about no-holds-barred commitment, a passionate love of music, and how cut-throat rivalry can bring forth genuine art.
Currentzis – The Classical Rebel
While the whole world thinks that Europe ends at Perm, Greek conductor Teodor Currentzis starts a classical music revolution together with his orchestra MusicAeterna in the Ural foothills, a fast changing former industrial city now being one of the major cultural centres of Russia. The film accompanies a new opera recording of “Don Giovanni” in studio-like conditions, traces artistic processes and portrays the maverick super-star conductor. The film combines both high standards of journalism and a pleasantly intriguing approach to the world of classical music with fascinating artists, peeks behind the scenes and timelessly beautiful music.