Mozart & Mambo: These musically irresistible encounters have been a long-cherished dream of Sarah Willis, hornist at the Berliner Philharmoniker, which came true with a grand concert in which she performs with the young musicians of the Havana Lyceum Orchestra and conductor José Antonio Méndez Padrón, as well as a Cuban salsa mambo band. A joint celebration of Mozart as never before seen and heard, including works such as Mozart’s beautiful Horn Concerto No. 3 and lots of Cuban rhythms! Also available the Documentary “Mozart y Mambo. A Cuban Journey with Sarah Willis” (A05551355)
Piotr Anderszewski and the Piano
Piotr Anderszewski is not only one of the best pianists of our time, he is also a great doubter, a perfectionist, who has to cope with the fact that as a musician he does not always find the perfect instrument at the venue. All around the concert in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, in which Piotr Anderszewski plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor together with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and Thomas Hengelbrock, we experience him in the intensive confrontation with his instrument, the piano. “It is a complicated
relationship. Sometimes I think it would be better if the instrument didn’t exist at all,” says Piotr Anderszewski. “I would prefer to transmit music telepathically – without physical sounds.”
Friedemann Vogel – Incarnation of the Dance
Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre, Tokyo’s National Theatre and many more – Friedemann Vogel, winner of numerous significant dance awards, has conquered the most important ballet stages in the world. A German dancer at the top of the ballet world – this is an absolute rarity. The portrait film accompanies the luminary of the German ballet scene in his everyday life and work; further, it features interviews with Vogel’s dance partners and role models at the Stuttgart Ballet, such as Marcia Haydee, and excerpts from his most recent performances.
Marcia Haydée – The Seduction of Dance
Marcia Haydée – for many the “primadonna assoluta” of the 20th century, John Cranko’s muse and long-time director of the Stuttgart Ballet. On the occasion of her 80th birthday, Harold Woetzel pays homage to this unique artist by telling the ballerina’s captivating story.
Short Rides with John Adams
John Adams is one of the most influential and at the same time most popular US composers of the post-war period, known for his irresistible music in which minimalism is mixed with imaginative orchestration and jazzy verve. The Film accompanied the composer for a year on his explorations and “Short Rides” in Berlin. The film documents both on and off stage encounters with musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker, old friends and associates such as Sir Simon Rattle, Peter Sellars, Gustavo Dudamel and star violinist Leila
Josefowicz (“I call him Johnny”). A film which is both entertaining and serious, and which features jazz-inspired symphonic and poignant Passion music. A film not only for connaisseurs and admirers – just like the music of John Adams.
Moving in three acts – A building site opera
Now shining with its sensational sound, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden had to wait a long time for its reopening. All in all, it took seven years to refurbish the opera – just a blink of an eye in the history of the house, but a long period of insecurity for the Staatsoper family, the people who work there. Film maker Anne Osterloh documented the works over the years, her film Moving in three acts – a building site opera follows the people involved in the emotional transformation process. The legendary house was much loved by star tenor, tailors, musicians and stage cleaners alike. For them, working at the opera, is much more than just a job: it’s a passion, a life, a home. A film about a construction site where hopes and desires meet and a moving tribute to the fine arts.
Festive Advent Concert at the Frauenkirche Dresden 2017
The Festive Advent Concert has become a much loved tradition in Dresden and one of German TV’s biggest classical music success stories. Christian Thielemann and his Staatskapelle Dresden present a programme ranging from the overture of Bach’s orchestra suite D major to Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Christmas Cantata “Vom Himmel hoch”, Mozart’s Laudate Dominum, excerpts of Haydn’s Die Schöpfung (The Creation) and traditionals. German star soprano Diana Damrau with her “gorgeous and richly coloured timbre” (Sächsische Zeitung), the “brilliant” Helmut Fuchs on trumpet and the “very impressive” Choir of the Sächsische Staatsoper (Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten) create a festive concert experience together. The clear, enchanting soprano of Tuuli Takala blends perfectly with the beautiful, high baritone of Benjamin Appl, winner of the Gramophone Young Artist of the Year Award.
Hélène Grimaud – “Woodlands and beyond…”
Together with her creative and life partner, photographer Mat Hennek, French star pianist Helene Grimaud comes up with a multimedia concert project at the Grand Hall of Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. Grimaud’s virtuoso piano performance is accompanied by Hennek’s highly praised photo series Woodlands, which depicts genuine portraits of trees, the results of numerous hikes through various forests in Europe and the USA. With works by romantic and impressionist composers, such as Luciano Berio, Nitin Sawhney, Toru Takemitsu, Franz Liszt and Claude Debussy, Grimaud leads her audience into the enchanting world of those various Woodlands and even beyond … “Grimaud is completely at ease, showing flawless clarity in her interpretations” (Die Welt).
Mozart: Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola
The Mozart cycle of the MPHIL 360° festival in 2016 was complemented by the Sinfonia Concertante for Violin & Viola, with violinist Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici and viola player Yuri Afonkin. An impressive encounter of excellent musicians, who “show off in questions of virtuosity” (Süddeutsche Zeitung).
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf
Russian star conductor Valery Gergiev leads the Mariinsky Orchestra in a captivating rendition of Sergei Prokofiev’s symphonic fairy tale for children Peter and the Wolf in the Philharmonie Munich at the MPHIL 360° festival. One of the most beautiful explanatory works, which gives young listeners an understanding of the orchestral instruments, Peter and the Wolf famously attributes each character of its tale a corresponding instrument in the orchestra. To the delight of the children in the audience, a committed Gergiev and his musicians bring the fairy tale to life with the help of German kids’ TV presenter Malte Arkona, who charmingly voices the different parts. In the hometown of his German orchestra, the star conductor’s Petersburg orchestra shines with a wonderful warm, dark tone. “The Gasteig was buzzing during MPHIL 360°. More of this, please!” (BR Klassik)