Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis with Australia’s violin master Richard Tognetti, this concert features Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending which was placed No. 1 in the ABC’s Swoon Classic 100 countdown in 2015. The work itself remains a glorious evocation of English pastoral life — the solo violin being the evocation of George Meredith’s soaring verse. Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes convey all the scrunchy saltiness of the coast of his beloved East Anglia. The program also includes the Partita for Violin and Orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski, and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s vibrant Symphonic Dances.
MSO: Russian Night with Maxim Vengerov
The world-renowned violinist Maxim Vengerov joins the MSO to perform the fiendishly difficult Violin Concerto by Tchaikovsky. Full of soaring melodies, melancholy and virtuosity, this work has rightfully claimed its place amongst the great violin concertos of all time. Scheherazade tells the story of a slave girl having to amuse the gruesome sultan by telling him a new story every night. Several of these come together in Rimsky-Korsakov’s colourful oriental fantasy; a highlight in the Russian orchestral repertoire and the ideal work for an ensemble of virtuosos like the MSO. Allow the MSO to transport you into the world of a thousand-and-one nights.
Overture 1912 – Deutsche Oper Berlin
In 2012 the Deutsche Oper in Berlin had ist centennial celebrations. Although today’s building was not opened until 1961, the history of the house on the Bismarckstrasse goes further back: it was built in 1912 and opened as Deutsches Opernhaus upon the initiative of a group of people from Berlin–Charlottenburg as the citizen’s opera in opposition to the Königliche Hofoper, now Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The film illustrates all facets of the different eras of this Berlin opera institution from the beginning
until today through interviews with artists closely connected to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as well as a large variety of archive footage that also includes documentations of rehearsals and performances from the last 100 years.
Heinrich Schuetz – Der Vater der deutschen Musik
Christian Thielemann – Schumann Cycle: Symphonies 1 and 2
After Brahms and Bruckner, the Staatskapelle Dresden and its principal conductor Christian Thielemann now devote themselves to the symphonic works of Robert Schumann in a complete cycle. “The phantasmal, the poetry and the abysses of the Biedermeier era are particularly well suited to the orchestra; this music is part of the Staatskapelle’s soul” explains Christian Thielemann. The performance of all four symphonies by this composer, who also lived in Dresden, allows both artists and audience to concentrate on this outstanding repertoire in a unique way.
Christian Thielemann – Schumann Cycle: Symphonies 3 and 4
After Brahms and Bruckner, the Staatskapelle Dresden and its principal conductor Christian Thielemann now devote themselves to the symphonic works of Robert Schumann in a complete cycle. “The phantasmal, the poetry and the abysses of the Biedermeier era are particularly well suited to the orchestra; this music is part of the Staatskapelle’s soul” explains Christian Thielemann. The performance of all four symphonies by this composer, who also lived in Dresden, allows both artists and audience to concentrate on this outstanding repertoire in a unique way.
BEETHOVEN at teamLab Tokyo
On the occasion of his anniversary year the Philharmonic Five bring Beethoven‘s timeless music to life in the extraordinary venue of teamLab Tokyo, the world’s first digital art museum on 10,000 square meters. Some 520 computers and 470 projectors power the digital artworks, which completely transform their physical space using animated graphics, colour and light. The Philharmonic Five, four soloists from the ranks of the Wiener Philharmoniker together with one of the most prolific pianists of our time, combine their sound aesthetics, the art of phrasing and virtuosity with a modern, powerful dynamic of expression and reinvent classical music. The arrangement in film and jazz music style emphasize Beethoven’s truly innovative spirit, and above all his talent for improvisation and his way of anticipating jazz and film music elements long before their birth. In the space of teamLab the Philharmonic Five create a completely new sensory and auditory impression of his oeuvre.
Filippo Gorini in Japan
Experience the enchanting fusion of classical music and traditional Japanese culture as acclaimed Italian pianist Filippo Gorini performs a captivating recital featuring works by Franz Schubert at the serene Hokokuji Temple. Filippo Gorini, a rising star in the classical music world, has been captivating audiences worldwide since winning the First Prize and Audience Prize at the Telekom-Beethoven Competition in Bonn in 2015. PROGRAM Kurtag: A Ligatura for Màrta; Schubert: Sonata No. 21; Bach/Petri: Schafe können sicher weiden, BWV 208, No. 9
Die Gespenstersonate
In September 1984, as part of the Berlin Festival Week, the Deutsche Oper Berlin staged the world premiere of German composer Aribert Reimann’s opera “Die Gespenstersonate”. Based on the drama by the Swedish writer August Strindberg, the chamber opera tells the story of a student, who muses about the inhabitants of a fancy-looking house. His crucial meeting with the Old Man pulls him into a world of intrigues, sickness, depression and murder. It plays in and around the presumably haunted house, which seems to drown its inhabitants in its sinister atmosphere. Better known for his operas “Lear” or “Medea”, Reimann established himself firmly as a stage composer from 1965 onwards. “Die Gespenstersonate”, being a modern chamber opera, was performed not on the great stage of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, but at the smaller Hebbel-Theater. Heinz Lukas-Kindermann’s stage direction sets the spectator under its gloomy spell, the exquisite cast performing the demanding score stars Hans Günter Nöcker as the “Old Man” and David Knutson as the Student, as well as well-loved Martha Mödl as the “Mummy”.
Christian Thielemann – A portrait
This film by Bengt Wennehorst is a portrait of one of the absolute foremost and sought-after conductors of our time. With his own words, charm and humour, Christian Thielemann tells of his childhood and youth in the outskirts of Berlin, how he played the piano as a five-year-old and how, just as early on, he got to accompany his music-loving parents to concerts and opera performances once or twice a week. Extensive video material provides insights into his intensive rehearsal work and documents acclaimed concert and opera performances of his career. The portrait includes interviews with artists such as actress and director Katharina Thalbach, opera singers Anja Kampe and Renée Fleming and Albena Danailova, concert master of the Wiener Philharmoniker.