Very few people really knew Herbert von Karajan. The conductor gave access to his private life only a little circle of strictly loyal people who kept their secrets even long after the maestro’s death. This documentary for the first time shows in the whole dimension the real man Karajan: not only the image of a dandy that he himself had shown to the public, but the unfiltered image of his personality. Newly discovered original film footage from the inner circle shows Karajan’s private life like it really was.
Le Nozze di Figaro Documentary
Mozart, Piano Concerto No.25 in C major, K.503
Born on 11 February 1946, Rudolf Buchbinder celebrated his 60th birthday just two weeks after Mozart’s 250th birthday – a happy coincidence of landmark events that prompted the great Austrian pianist to present a series of Mozart piano concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the 2006 Vienna Festival. The works, recorded live at the Musikverein in Vienna on 7 May 2006, represent the crème de la crème of Mozart’s concerto output of the years 1784 to 1786.
Mozart, Piano Concerto No.24 in C minor, K.491
Born on 11 February 1946, Rudolf Buchbinder celebrated his 60th birthday just two weeks after Mozart’s 250th birthday – a happy coincidence of landmark events that prompted the great Austrian pianist to present a series of Mozart piano concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the 2006 Vienna Festival. The works, recorded live at the Musikverein in Vienna on 7 May 2006, represent the crème de la crème of Mozart’s concerto output of the years 1784 to 1786.
Mozart, Piano Concerto No.22 in E flat major, K.482
Born on 11 February 1946, Rudolf Buchbinder celebrated his 60th birthday just two weeks after Mozart’s 250th birthday – a happy coincidence of landmark events that prompted the great Austrian pianist to present a series of Mozart piano concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the 2006 Vienna Festival. The works, recorded live at the Musikverein in Vienna on 7 May 2006, represent the crème de la crème of Mozart’s concerto output of the years 1784 to 1786. Mozart had arrived in Vienna in March 1781 to work as an independent composer. In addition to seeking commissions from the Imperial Court, he also held subscription concerts at various venues, including the homes of the nobility. Mozart had to satisfy the needs of the fashionable Viennese public by creating a steady flow of virtuoso arias, symphonies, chamber music and piano concertos. Between 1784 and 1786 he wrote no fewer than 12 piano concertos, many of them unsurpassed in the history of this genre. The earliest work on this recording is the Concerto in E flat major K. 449, a work of fairly modest dimensions that was followed in early 1785 by the great D minor Concerto K. 466, a dramatic, gripping piece painted with tormented “Sturm und Drang” brushstrokes. Later that year, he wrote the “big” E flat Concerto K. 482, the first to include clarinets, a natural development in a genre that was increasingly taking on symphonic traits. While the A major Concerto K. 488 glows with an inner serenity, the C minor work that follows it, K. 491, is a grand, almost heroic, work with wild outbursts of raw passion. It is also the most heavily scored of Mozart’s concertos. Its successor, the C major Concerto K. 503, is the most technically difficult of all of the concertos, and can perhaps be seen as the culmination of his output in this genre. Although Rudolf Buchbinder commands a mighty repertoire, he is best known for his interpretations of the works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. In recent years, Buchbinder has specialized in giving cycles of performances – the complete Haydn sonatas, for example, or the complete Beethoven sonatas – which he prefers to record live. This live recording of six masterpieces by Mozart provides a lasting testimony to Buchbinder’s canon of Mozart interpretations in his 60th year – and Mozart’s 250th.
Portrait Albrecht Mayer – The Magic of the Oboe
Unlike the piano, the violin or even the flute, the oboe is a relatively rare instrument for a solo career. And when a soloist such as Albrecht Mayer plays the oboe, one wishes composers had written more works for this sweetly mellow instrument. Critics write about the “divine spark” that inspires his playing, and about the “miraculous oboe” that turns into “an instrument of seduction.” With his particularly warm tone and exceptionally broad palette of nuances, it’s no surprise that Albrecht Mayer is one of today’s most sought-after international oboists. In this documentary portrait of the oboist, we retrace the musician’s impressive career and witness some of its many high points.
Bastien und Bastienne (Mozart 22)
“Bastien und Bastienne” takes up the plot of the little French opera “Le devin du village” (The Village Soothsayer) by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The “soothsayer” Colas, a wise old shepherd, advises the unhappy shepherdess Bastienne to secure the love of the fickle Bastien by arousing his jealousy. The despairing Bastien then also seeks advice from Colas, who pretends to use magic to bring the two lovers together again. “Der Schauspieldirektor” revolves around an impresario’s problems in assembling a group of singers for a performance. With “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” and “Die Zauberflöte,” Mozart made immortal contributions to the genre of the German Singspiel – German-language opera with spoken dialogues. But in the course of his career, Mozart also wrote two short German-language works that are different in musical craftsmanship, but both utterly delightful: “Bastien und Bastienne” K. 50, one of Mozart’s earliest dramatic works, and “Der Schauspieldirektor” (The Impresario) K. 486, a mature work written at the same time as “Le nozze di Figaro.” Entrusting the two operas to the world-famous Salzburg Marionette Theater for the Mozart 22 cycle was perfectly natural, especially since “Bastien und Bastienne” was the very first work staged by this theater at its inaugural performance in 1913. Nevertheless, Thomas Reichert, responsible for the stage direction, sets and costumes, hit upon a truly brilliant idea: instead of performing one piece after the other, he combined “Bastien und Bastienne” and “Der Schauspieldirektor” in a way that captures the world of the Singspiel in Mozart’s day. Here the impresario is still holding auditions, but now he’s casting the Singspiel “Bastien und Bastienne.” Finding a Bastien is easy, but two potential Bastiennes sing their arias so well that the impresario can’t decide. He makes a run-through of “Bastien und Bastienne,” after which the women continue to argue about who should get the role. The clever impresario hopes to squirm his way out by hiring both, one as the A-cast and one as the B-cast. But this only provokes a new quarrel about who will sing at the premiere… Led by its founder Elisabeth Fuchs, the Junge Philharmonie Salzburg and a cast of fresh young singers provide the spirited, light-hearted music to this charming double fill.
Der Schauspieldirektor (Mozart 22)
“Bastien und Bastienne” takes up the plot of the little French opera “Le devin du village” (The Village Soothsayer) by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The “soothsayer” Colas, a wise old shepherd, advises the unhappy shepherdess Bastienne to secure the love of the fickle Bastien by arousing his jealousy. The despairing Bastien then also seeks advice from Colas, who pretends to use magic to bring the two lovers together again. “Der Schauspieldirektor” revolves around an impresario’s problems in assembling a group of singers for a performance. With “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” and “Die Zauberflöte,” Mozart made immortal contributions to the genre of the German Singspiel – German-language opera with spoken dialogues. But in the course of his career, Mozart also wrote two short German-language works that are different in musical craftsmanship, but both utterly delightful: “Bastien und Bastienne” K. 50, one of Mozart’s earliest dramatic works, and “Der Schauspieldirektor” (The Impresario) K. 486, a mature work written at the same time as “Le nozze di Figaro.” Entrusting the two operas to the world-famous Salzburg Marionette Theater for the Mozart 22 cycle was perfectly natural, especially since “Bastien und Bastienne” was the very first work staged by this theater at its inaugural performance in 1913. Nevertheless, Thomas Reichert, responsible for the stage direction, sets and costumes, hit upon a truly brilliant idea: instead of performing one piece after the other, he combined “Bastien und Bastienne” and “Der Schauspieldirektor” in a way that captures the world of the Singspiel in Mozart’s day. Here the impresario is still holding auditions, but now he’s casting the Singspiel “Bastien und Bastienne.” Finding a Bastien is easy, but two potential Bastiennes sing their arias so well that the impresario can’t decide. He makes a run-through of “Bastien und Bastienne,” after which the women continue to argue about who should get the role. The clever impresario hopes to squirm his way out by hiring both, one as the A-cast and one as the B-cast. But this only provokes a new quarrel about who will sing at the premiere… Led by its founder Elisabeth Fuchs, the Junge Philharmonie Salzburg and a cast of fresh young singers provide the spirited, light-hearted music to this charming double fill.
Where the Wild Things Are
Based on Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are, one of the world’s best selling and most beloved children’s books, this opera will enchant children and adults alike. To turn his story about a young boy who travels to a faraway island full of wild creatures into an opera libretto, author Maurice Sendak let his imagination run riot. He invented, for instance, a new language for the wild creatures that Max meets on the island. This inspired British composer Oliver Knussen to what is probably his most adventurous music: It whistles, squeaks, sparkles, shines, entices and dances with delightful lightness. This production at the MusikTheater an der Wien “captivates as a kind of Gesamtkunstwerk” (Kurier). With loving attention to even the smallest detail, director and puppet virtuoso Nikolaus Habjan and his team created fabulous life-size puppets for Max and his “wild things”. The singers are in the bodies of the puppets and puppeteers handle the gestures and facial expressions. “The result is a visually stunning round dance of monsters” (Kleine Zeitung).
Salzburg Festival 2022: Il Tabarro
In Il tabarro (‘The Cloak’), surrounded by the decaying miasma of the river Seine, we have arrived in purgatory on earth. Puccini sets the piece in the present day, in Paris, in a realistic, Simenon-like milieu of stevedores, drinkers, and whores. In an oppressive atmosphere of hopelessness a love triangle arises between Giorgetta, her husband – the barge owner Michele – and his stevedore Luigi. Giorgetta is a woman with a history: she’s a mother who has lost a child and whose marriage is on the verge of breakdown. She starts an affair with Luigi, which gives her a momentary escape from the bleakness of her everyday life… Il tabarro fathoms the entire unremitting darkness of human existence. “Grigorian’s final scene, which milks the unexpected poignancy of her simply changing in front of us from her habit into a sleek black cocktail dress and letting down her hair, is just as wrenching.” The New York Times