“From Berlin to New York” is the motto of German Television’s traditional New Year’s Eve Concert in 2013. And true to the motto Maestro Christian Thielemann, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the two world stars Reneé Fleming and Klaus Florian Vogt celebrate the New Year’s Eve 2013 with great hits and works from Eduard Künneke, Paul Lincke, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and others.
Mehta and Midori perform Brahms and Hindemith
To celebrate her 30th stage jubilee acclaimed Japanese violinist Midori chose a very special partner, conductor Zubin Mehta, who also conducted her concert debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1983 when she was eleven years old. In this concert with the Münchner Philharmoniker she performs a milestone of violin literature: BRAHMS’ Violin Concerto in D major. The concert is accompanied by Brahms’ Tragic Overture and Hindemith’s symphony “Mathis der Maler”. HINDEMITH, once the “bad boy” of the German music scene (New York Musical Courier) composed the symphony – using melodies from his opera of the same name – in commission for Wilhelm Furtwängler and the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1934. Its first performance was a huge success but also caused a hate campaign that made Hindemith emigrate from Germany.
Thielemann Brahms Cycle: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Violin Concerto D major, Op. 77
Third Part of Christian Thielemann’s Brahms Cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden. On the program: BRAHMS’ Academic Festival Overture in C minor, Op. 80, the Violin Concerto D major, Op. 77 (with Lisa Batashvili as soloist) and the Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98.
Christian Thielemann celebrates Liszt in Weimar – Festive Concert on the 200th Birthday of Franz Liszt
On the 200th birthday of Franz Liszt, the city of Weimar arranges a special concert for its former Kapellmeister: members of the Staatskapelle Weimar and students of the Musikhochschule FRANZ LISZT play under the baton of conductor Christian Thielemann. Russian pianist Konstantin Sherbakov will perform Liszt’s ‘Totentanz’, a variation cycle for piano and orchestra, and his Second Piano Concerto.
Emmanuel Pahud: Works by Frederick the Great
With this programme, Emmanuel Pahud, with no doubt one of the best flute players in the world, honours the 300th anniversary of a great philosopher, musician and composer: the Prussian King Frederick II, also called the Great. Together with the Kammerakademie Potsdam the famous French flutist and member of the Berliner Philharmonics will perform – in one of the palaces build by the King – musical works of Frederick the Great himself, of Johann Joachim Quantz (teacher of Frederick the Great) , of Franz Benda and of Carl Friedrich Emanuel Bach, who was the royal harpsichordist. Also available: Documentary (45’ – A05513518)
A Chinese Night – Classical Music Open Air in Dresden
For their Chinese Night, staged in the open air by the Staatskapelle Dresden in the city’s central park, the long-established German orchestra – one of the oldest in the world – called upon the services of three artists from the land of Cathay: the young pianist Yuja Wang already hailed as a world star, the Paganini Competition prizewinner Mengla Huang and the world-class Chinese-American conductor Xian Zhang. The main work of the evening is RACHMANINOFF’s Third Piano Concerto, other pieces are RIMSKY-KORSAKOV’s Capriccio Espagnol, PROKOFIEV’s March from The Love For Three Oranges and also excerpts from the Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto by the Chinese composers CHEN GANG and HE ZHANHAO, one of the best known works of contemporary Chinese music. —– Program: Chen GANG/He ZHANHAO: Parts from “The Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto“; Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34; Sergei RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30; Vladimir HOROWITZ: Variations on a theme from Georges Bizet’s “Carmen“; Sergey PROKOFIEV: March from “The Love For Three Oranges“
Notte Italiana
Since its première in the year 2000, “Classics on Odeonsplatz” has been a highlight of the Munich cultural season. Flanked by stylishly illuminated historical edifices, such as the Theatiner Church and the Residence, some 16,000 people each year thrill to music in this unique atmosphere. The Feldherrnhalle as orchestral platform and the adjoining historical buildings make Odeonsplatz into an open-air arena with magnificent acoustics. On the program arias by Giuseppe VERDI (“Nabucco”, “Aida”, “La Traviata”), Giacomo PUCCINI (“Tosca”, Gianni Schicchi”, “La Bohème”) and Ruggero LEONCAVALLO “I Pagliacci”, amongst others.
Stars of Tomorrow presented by Rolando Villazón – Episode 32
With unparalleled charm and whirlwind exuberance, world-renowned tenor Rolando Villazón hosts a unique television special in which young musical “stars of tomorrow” are introduced to millions of music lovers as soloists in performances with the Junge Sinfonie Berlin under the baton of Giedre Slekyte und Elias Grandy – a highly successful, casual, briskly paced concert series that appeals to young audiences!
Stars of Tomorrow presented by Rolando Villazón – Episode 16
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Presto from the Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor – Soloist: Inga Fiolia (Georgia) / Giuseppe Verdi “Per me giunto è il dì supremo” from “Don Carlo” Soloist: ZhengZhong Zhou (China) / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Rondo in C major Soloist: Michael Barenboim (Germany) / Ney Rosauro Despedida (Farewell) from Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra – Soloist: Ni Fan (China) / Alexander Scriabin Préludes No. 9, 14, 17 & 20 from 24 Préludes, Op. 11 Soloist: Inga Fiolia (Georgia) /
Francis Poulenc Chanson No. 7 “La Belle Jeunesse” from “Chansons gaillardes” – Soloist: ZhengZhong Zhou (China) / Béla Bartók Fuga from Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz. 117
Soloist: Michael Barenboim (Germany) / Tobias Boström Arena – Percussion Concerto No. 1 Soloist: Ni Fan (China) / Carlos Gardel “El día que me quieras” (The day that you love me) Soloist: Rolando Villazón, Inga Fiolia (Georgia), Michael Barenboim (Germ.) / Gioachino Rossini Overture from “Guillaume Tell” Orchestra: Junge Sinfonie Berlin
Pergolesi, Stabat Mater
When Anna Netrebko sings one of the most beautiful sacred works of the 18th century, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s “Stabat mater”, many music lovers will see this as the highlight of the “Pergolesi year”. Her appearance together with contralto Marianna Pizzolato and with Bertrand de Billy at the head of the Sächsische Staatskapelle in Dresden’s exuberantly Baroque Frauenkirche radiates “nothing less than bewitching depth and beauty” (Morgenpost). In addition to the Pergolesi, the concert features an excerpt from Joseph Haydn’s “Sieben letzte Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze” as well as Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Erbarme Dich”.