The monumental achievement of Christian Thielemann and the Wiener Philharmoniker forms the basis for this series of stimulating yet highly entertaining films that supplement “Beethoven 9”. They guide the viewer into the cosmos of Beethoven’s symphonies – and into Christian Thielemann’s conception of them. Each 60-minute program focuses on one particular symphony, which it presents in the context of Beethoven’s oeuvre, Thielemann’s interpretation, and the work’s artistic and historical position. While Thielemann introduces the viewer to the fine points of his interpretation, the renowned music critic Joachim Kaiser depicts the unique features of the work and the interpretation, and provides revealing comparisons with other readings of the Beethoven symphonies. In so doing, Kaiser is able to draw upon a treasure that only UNITEL is able to provide: the recordings of the legendary Beethoven cycles with Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein, concert productions with acknowledged Beethoven experts such as Böhm and Kleiber, as well as recordings of Beethoven symphonies with world stars of today such as Gustavo Dudamel and Paavo Järvi.
Beethoven 9 – Discovering Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
The monumental achievement of Christian Thielemann and the Wiener Philharmoniker forms the basis for this series of stimulating yet highly entertaining films that supplement “Beethoven 9”. They guide the viewer into the cosmos of Beethoven’s symphonies – and into Christian Thielemann’s conception of them. Each 60-minute program focuses on one particular symphony, which it presents in the context of Beethoven’s oeuvre, Thielemann’s interpretation, and the work’s artistic and historical position. While Thielemann introduces the viewer to the fine points of his interpretation, the renowned music critic Joachim Kaiser depicts the unique features of the work and the interpretation, and provides revealing comparisons with other readings of the Beethoven symphonies. In so doing, Kaiser is able to draw upon a treasure that only UNITEL is able to provide: the recordings of the legendary Beethoven cycles with Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein, concert productions with acknowledged Beethoven experts such as Böhm and Kleiber, as well as recordings of Beethoven symphonies with world stars of today such as Gustavo Dudamel and Paavo Järvi.
Beethoven 9 – Discovering Beethoven: Symphony No. 8
The monumental achievement of Christian Thielemann and the Wiener Philharmoniker forms the basis for this series of stimulating yet highly entertaining films that supplement “Beethoven 9”. They guide the viewer into the cosmos of Beethoven’s symphonies – and into Christian Thielemann’s conception of them. Each 60-minute program focuses on one particular symphony, which it presents in the context of Beethoven’s oeuvre, Thielemann’s interpretation, and the work’s artistic and historical position. While Thielemann introduces the viewer to the fine points of his interpretation, the renowned music critic Joachim Kaiser depicts the unique features of the work and the interpretation, and provides revealing comparisons with other readings of the Beethoven symphonies. In so doing, Kaiser is able to draw upon a treasure that only UNITEL is able to provide: the recordings of the legendary Beethoven cycles with Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein, concert productions with acknowledged Beethoven experts such as Böhm and Kleiber, as well as recordings of Beethoven symphonies with world stars of today such as Gustavo Dudamel and Paavo Järvi.
Young Stars of Classical Music – Johannes Moser and Juraj Valcuha
Johannes Moser is the name to watch among today’s young violoncello virtuosos. Born in 1979, he has already performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with which he made his U.S. debut under Pierre Boulez. His agenda is packed with appearances ranging from concerto soloist to chamber-music partner to interpreter of avant-garde music on an electric cello… In this concert of late-Romantic music with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, the “Echo Classic Award Winner” 2008 boldly infuses Hans Pfitzner’s Cello Concerto in A minor with a jolt of adrenaline that could very well boost this rarely heard work – which was long thought to be lost – into the concert repertoire. Written in 1883, Richard Strauss’ Romance in F major for cello and orchestra is an early work from the pen of this orchestral master, and another showcase for the talent of Johannes Moser. The concert also features another rising star of the classical music scene, the young Slovak conductor Juraj Valcuha, the principal conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Doing full justice to the refined atmosphere of the German late-Romantic works on the program, which also includes a Wagner overture, excerpts from Pfitzner’s opera Palestrina and Strauss’ Rosenkavalier Suite, conductor Juraj Valcuha soon makes it clear that elegance and transparency are his specialty.
The Most Beautiful Song – A Search for Singers with Thomas Quasthoff (Documentary)
Thomas Quasthoff founded this contest ‘Das Lied’ to ensure that the Lied, which the baritone calls ‘the most beautiful form of music making,’ continues to hold its place in the concert repertoire of the future. The film accompanies some of the young singers during the competition’s three rounds, providing a showcase not only for beautiful voices and poignant Lieder, but also, and above all, for emotions. The hopes and disappointments, the joys and doubts, the tension and exhilaration of the young singers are all captured on film. And it soon emerges that the contest is as stimulating and galvanizing for the jurors as it is for the contestants! Excerpts from the closing gala concert recorded at the sumptuous Apollo Hall of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin round off the film.
The most beautiful song – A search for singers with Thomas Quasthoff (Concert)
Thomas Quasthoff founded international song competition for young singers, ‘Das Lied,’ to ensure that the Lied, which the baritone calls ‘the most beautiful form of music making,’ continues to hold its place in the concert repertoire of the future. According to Quasthoff, the goal of this project is to find the successors to the greatest singers of today and to discover new voices. In addition to Thomas Quasthoff, one of the top baritones and Lied singers of our day, the jury includes such distinguished vocalists as Brigitte Fassbaender and Annette Dasch, as well as the famed accompanists Helmut Deutsch and Charles Spencer. Among the prizewinners who perform at the gala concert are German baritone Tobias Berndt and Austrian baritone Daniel Schmutzhard.
Siegfried reloaded
Portrait Alison Balsom – The Trumpet’s Splendour
In only a few years, trumpeter Alison Balsom has shot forward to the topmost ranks of today’s instrumental soloists, reaching untold popularity for her playing – and for the trumpet. At the latest since her appearance in a live international broadcast of the ‘Last Night of the Proms,’ she has become one of the best-known UK artists of today, with sales of her CDs topping the charts. At the center of the documentary are two performances. One is a public performance of Haydn’s celebrated Trumpet Concerto in E flat major with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under the Chinese conductor Xian Zhang, recorded in the classicistic hall of the Konzerthaus Berlin. The other is a ‘private’ recording of Bach’s Concerto in D major BWV 972 and Gigue BWV 1008, Debussy’s ‘Syrinx’, and George Thalben-Ball’s Elegy for trumpet and organ, performed with organist David Goode at Berlin’s historic Sophienkirche.