Yevgeny Svetlanov conducts the State Symphony Orchestra of USSR in this remarkable all-Prokofiev programme, filmed at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt in 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. They begin with the composer’s Symphony No. 1, “Classical”, in a performance that brings out all the pointed wit of Prokofiev’s brilliant pastiche of Viennese classicism. Violinist Vadim Repin then takes to the stage as soloist in the fiercely virtuosic Violin Concerto No.1, composed in the same year, 1917 – a year that, despite major political turbulence in Russia, saw Prokofiev produce several enduring masterpieces.
Gyorgy Kurtag: The Matchstick Man
“The structures stripped bare hold up the empty air”. György Kurtág is more than one of the most powerful creative voices in modern Europe. He created a new way of listening; forging a musical language in which silence can be as meaningful as sound and even the smallest gesture opens up new worlds. This award-winning 1996 documentary offers an unrivalled, often profoundly moving glimpse into his creative imagination, including interviews with the composer as well as rare performance and rehearsal footage plus contributions from György Ligeti, Claudio Abbado, pianist Zoltán Kocsis and the composer’s late wife (and artistic collaborator) Márta.
Helene Grimaud & Members of Orchestre de Paris play Schumann
Pianist Hélène Grimaud has been called “a renaissance woman”, and her painterly, passionate sensibility makes everything she plays glow with colour. She’s never more fully herself than when playing chamber music, and this beautifully filmed concert from 2001 captures that collaborative spirit in the round. Grimaud joins colleagues from the Orchestre de Paris at Paris’s Cité de la Musique to perform Schumann’s Piano Quintet and two gloriously poetic sets of miniatures. Together, they’re near-ideal interpreters of Schumann: a pianist-composer whose own imagination was never more potent than when (as here) the piano is merely first among equals in a world of high-Romantic emotion.
Martinu Symphony Cycle: Martinu No. 5
Jirí Belohlávek and his Czech Philharmonic embarked on the ambitious project of recording the complete Martinu symphonies at the visually and acoustically spectacular Rudolfinum Prague, starting with Nos. 1 and 4. After the death of Belohlávek, his pupil Jakub Hruša took over the project, completing the cycle with Symphony No 5. Praised for his “passionate, thrilling” way of conducting his ‘all-Czech’ BBC Proms concert by the NYT, Hruša is uniquely qualified to face the task of performing the works of Martinu, who is deemed the greatest Czech composer of his generation.
Dvorák – Symphony No 1 in c minor “Bells of Zlonice”
From the stunning Rudolfinum in Prague: the Czech Philharmonic conducted by ist chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek performing Dvorák´s symphonies: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, OP. 3 “The Bells of Zlonice” (48´- A985500040001). Complete cycle of all 9 symphonies also available, see A985500040001-9.
Dvorak – Symphony No 2 in B flat op. 4
From the stunning Rudolfinum in Prague: the Czech Philharmonic conducted by it´s chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek performing Dvorák´symphonies: Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, Op.4 (55´ – A985500040002). Complete cycle of all 9 symphonies also available, see A985500040001-9.
Dvorak – Symphony No 3 in E flat
From the stunning Rudolfinum in Prague: the Czech Philharmonic conducted by its chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek performing Dvorák´s symphonies: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 10 (38´- A985500040003) . Complete cycle of all 9 symphonies also available, see A985500040001-9.
Dvorak – Symphony No 4 in D minor
From the stunning Rudolfinum in Prague: the Czech Philharmonic conducted by its chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek performing Dvorák´s symphonies: Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 14 (44´- A985500040004). Complete cycle of all 9 symphonies also available, see A985500040001-9.
Dvorak – Symphony No 5 in F
From the stunning Rudolfinum in Prague: the Czech Philharmonic conducted by its chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek performing Dvorák´s symphonies: Symphony No. 5 in F major, Op. 76 (46´- A985500040005) . Complete cycle of all 9 symphonies also available, see A985500040001-9.
Dvorak – Symphony No. 6 in D
From the stunning Rudolfinum in Prague: the Czech Philharmonic conducted by its chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek performing Dvorák´s symphonies: Symphony No. 6 in D major, Op. 60 (46´- A985500040006) . Complete cycle of all 9 symphonies also available, see A985500040001-9.