The Mahler Project – Mahler, Symphony No.9 in D major

The Mahler Project: A fascinating documentary on the musical world of Gustav Mahler as seen by the two great musicians, and a recording of Mahler’s colossal Ninth. “Mahler created a new world with each of his symphonies (…) It is a fantastic journey for both of us”. With these few words, Daniel Barenboim sums up the vast scope of a project undertaken with his friend Pierre Boulez: two very different world-class conductors tackle all nine completed symphonies of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) with one orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin. Performed as a complete cycle in Berlin, Vienna and New York, the concerts were a tremendous success. The Financial Times even wrote: “New York is going Mahler mad”.

Passion – Last Stop Kinshasa

Founded in 1984, Alain Platel’s modern-dance ensemble ‘Les ballets C de la B’ of Ghent, Belgium, has since become a renowned, powerful, highly professional and rousingly virtuoso troupe. The ensemble performed Platel’s work ‘pitié! Erbarme dich’ in many traditional musical centers such as Paris, Berlin and Tokyo. For the final performances of his work, however, Platel wanted a very special venue and chose Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, which gave rise to a daring and enormously enriching experience. Filmmakers Jörg Jeshel and Brigitte Kramer accompanied the ensemble within Europe and then to Africa. They portray the rare encounter of classical music and modern dance with African reality, a celebration of passion and compassion.

Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem op.45

Johannes Brahms composed his Requiem in 1865/66, shortly after the death of his mother. A profoundly moving work for soprano and baritone solo, chorus and orchestra, it is the composer’s largest single composition. No work did more to win Brahms international recognition and, after the first complete performance of the Requiem in Leipzig in 1869, he was regarded as one of the leading composers of his time. It was not the first requiem in German, but the first in which a composer pieced together his text from Bible passages in Martin Luther’s German translation. It is an intensely personal selection, which speaks to the living and seeks to offer hope and comfort. Through his subtle, almost surreal, affinity to Brahms’ unorthodox, elusive worldview, conductor Christian Thielemann has crafted a performance that places him among the best interpreters of this work, such as Maazel, Furtwängler, Karajan, Klemperer.

Mozart, Serenade in D major, K.250 “Haffner” (with March K.249) (Mozartwoche 1999)

The Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg has been the orchestra of the city and Land of Salzburg since 1958 and regularly concertizes at the Salzburg Festival and the Mozartwoche. The principal conductor is the Dutch-born Hubert Soudant, who led the Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de France in Paris from 1981 to 1983 and the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra from 1983 to 1986. In addition to his activities in Salzburg, Soudant is also the principal conductor of the Orchestra and Opéra des Pays de Loire in Nantes and Angers, France. This work was commissioned by Siegmund Haffner Jr., whose father had been a respected Salzburg businessman and public figure, to celebrate the marriage of one of his sisters. The wedding took place on 22 July 1776, and the serenade played the previous evening. It was performed on many occasions in subsequent years, also in a shortened version as a symphony.

Bruckner, Symphony No.9 in D minor

When Leonard Bernstein died in 1990 at the age of 72, music lovers the world over mourned the loss of one of the 20th century’s artistic giants. In addition to his role as conductor, composer, educator and performing artist, Bernstein was one of the early pioneers in bringing the arts to television. As such, he became one of the most internationally recognized musical personalities in the world. He was a man who not only needed music in order to live, but who saw in artistic communication the means to touch the mind, the heart and the spirit all at once. His need to generate this communication dictated his life from the day he discovered music to the day he died. Recorded in March 1990, this performance is Leonard Bernstein’s last concert with the Vienna Philharmonic, an orchestra he deeply loved.

Orff, Carmina Burana

The “Carmina Burana” is a manuscript collection of medieval songs which was discovered at the Bavarian monastery of Benediktbeuren in the 19th century. The songs glorify the secular aspects of life as a counterweight to the menaces of plague, war, terror and the Inquisition. The texts radiate the ribald, robust love of life shared by all social classes – nobility, clergy and peasantry. The premiere of “Carmina Burana” in Frankfurt/Main on 8 June 1937 caused an absolute sensation. It seemed as though Orff had reduced music to its most basic elements of rhythm and melody. He utilized the simplest harmonies and eliminated virtually all counterpoint and polyphony. Called a “scenic cantata” by Orff, the work was intended to be danced and staged. Horant Hohlfeld’s production enhances Orff’s music with its sensuality and primeval energy.