Roberto González-Monjas, designated principal conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra, “put an interpretive exclamation mark on his Festival premiere with a purely sacred programme”: Mozart’s Coronation Mass, the main work of the evening, is combined with two church sonatas, the famous motet “Exsultate, jubilate” for soprano and orchestra and the equally famous choral work “Ave verum corpus”. Together with a young quartet of singers led by soprano Nikola Hillebrand (in her “Exsultate” she is “crystal-clear in sound, technically precise and sensitive in interpretation”), González-Monjas provides “youthful and cheeky pathos and a breath of fresh air” (Salzburger Nachrichten)
Salzburg Festival 2023: Daniil Trifonov
Grammy Award-winning pianist Daniil Trifonov has made a spectac ular ascent of the classical music world. Combining consummate technique with rare sensitivity and depth, his performances are a perpetual source of awe. “He has everything and more, […] tender ness and also the demonic element. I never heard anything like that,” marveled pianist Martha Argerich. In this Salzburg recital, the “keyboard magician” (Salzburger Nachrichten) spans the spectrum between classical and early modern. Works from Mozart, Schumann and Tchaikovsky to Skriabin, Ravel and Rachmaninoff are performed – a “witch’s work of pianistic virtuosity”. (Standard)
Salzburg Festival 2023: Renaud Capuçon & Alexandre Kantorow
French violinist Renaud Capuçon and French pianist Alexandre Kantorow, each of them a star in his own right and winners of many international awards, teamed up to play all three sonatas of Johannes Brahms for violin and piano. In the Great Hall of the Mozarteum Foundation, ideally suited for the performance of chamber music, “Kantorow and Capuçon unfold this music in a joyful and in every moment attentive liveliness, finding a symbiosis of listening and playing individuals, each with the peculiarity of his instrument.” (Salzburger Nachrichten). With this concert, Alexandre Kantorow is giving his debut at the Salzburg Festival.
“Haydn, the Shakespeare of Music” – Paavo Jäarvi & Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Haydn was composer in residence in London twice: in the 1791/92 season and in the 1794/95 season. At that time, the city was in the throes of music fever, to which Haydn had contributed significantly. Today, one of his London symphonies often merely stands at the beginning of a concert in which a musical heavyweight by another – later – composer follows. The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, on the other hand, devotes itself entirely to the “Shakespeare of Music”, as Haydn was called by the press. The program includes an overture by his London composer friend William Shield and three of his London symphonies, for which Haydn reached into his great compositional bag of tricks.
“Haydn in particular has to be played as vividly as possible, and deliberately sometimes quite unconventionally, so that the hidden wit of his symphonies comes to the fore. And Paavo Järvi, Artistic Director of the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen for almost two decades, and his orchestra are true masters at this.” (Hamburger Abendblatt)
Jordi Savall conducts Mozart’s Requiem
The Catalan old master, conductor, gambist and musicologist Jordi Savall, one of the greatest interpreters of historically informed performance practice, joins the Mozart Music Week with his orchestra “Le Concert des Nations” and his “Capella de Catalunya” choir. Playing exclusively on original instruments or instruments built according to historical specifications, Savall juxtaposes two of Mozart’s most famous and popular works: his Serenade No. 13, K. 525, better known by its nickname “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”, and his Requiem, which remained unfinished and has since been the subject of wildest speculation and mysterious conspiracy theories. “The performers succeed in making the well-known piece sound fresh and by no means banal. […] Despite the many excellent perfor mances available on record, Savall’s interpretation sounded unique.” (Das Opernmagazin)
Christian Thielemann conducts Schönberg and Strauss
More than 140 concerts and a multitude of celebrated recordings connect Christian Thielemann with the traditional Viennese orchestra. The live recording of his debut on the podium at the Vienna Musikverein almost 23 years ago promptly became a reference recording. On the programme then as now: Richard Strauss’ monumental Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony). This work, often regarded as the final and climax of the “symphonic poem” genre, is juxtaposed with Arnold Schönberg’s probably most famous tonal composition, the orchestral version of the string sextet Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night). “A truly persuasive performance.” (The New York Times)
Dido & Aeneas
For the opening of the International Baroque Festival at Melk Abbey, the ancient world makes its way into the Abbey Church. With Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, the composer’s brilliant opera and at the same time one of the central works of music history, the festival takes on the love and suffering of a couple who are granted happiness together for only a brief moment. The lovers’ fate finally culminates in one of the most poignant moments ever composed. The Concentus Musicus Wien under its conductor Stefan Gottfried and a cast of outstanding singers make this semi-scenic performance an unforgettable experience. “A stellar hour!” (Niederösterreichische Nachrichten)
Vienna Advent Concert at St. Stephen’s Cathedral
The Christmas concert of the Wiener Symphoniker in St. Stephen’s Cathedral is a wonderful way to get in the mood for Christmas. It opens the heart and makes one ready to welcome Christ in every person. For this concert French conductor Fabien Gabel presents timeless oratorio classics by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, as well as romantic church music by Gioachino Rossini, Giacomo Puccini and Hector Berlioz. The soloists are soprano Elsa Benoît, tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Diana Tishchenko on violin and ARD Music Prize winner Selina Ott on trumpet. In addition, the Wiener Sängerknaben and the Chorus Viennensis created a Christmas atmosphere in the festively decorated cathedral. Programme: Bach: Magnificat, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen; Handel: Overture to Samson, Thus when the sun, Awake the trumpet lovely sound, Let the Bright Seraphim; Puccini: Preludio sinfonico; Rossini: Domine Deus from Petite messe solenelle; Berlioz: L’Adieu des bergers à la Sainte Famille from L’Enfance du Christ; Massenet: Méditation from Thaïs; Glasunov: Album leaf; Schreker: Valse lente; Strauss: Wiegenlied (Lullaby); Anonymus: Adeste fideles
Christian Thielemann conducts Bruckner & Strauss
“The Vienna Philharmonic, conductor Christian Thielemann and composer Anton Bruckner – this is a combination that music lovers can really enjoy.” (Kurier) Christian Thielemann has become known as an expert in late Romantic repertoire. In this concert, he conducts one of the least performed Bruckner Symphonies, the sixth, which will be heard, along with Richard Strauss’s melancholy, serene Four Last Songs with Camilla Nylund. The program is part of the first Bruckner cycle with Christian Thielemann and the Wiener Philharmoniker. PROGRAM: R. Strauss: Malven (arranged by Wolfgang Rihm), Vier letzte Lieder; A. Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 in A major, WAB 106
Salzburg Festival 2021: Blomstedt conducts Honegger & Brahms
Now in his nineties, Herbert Blomstedt, former conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, is still a powerful interpreter of the symphonic repertoire. His programme with the Vienna Philharmonic is straightforward: it begins with Honegger’s brilliant Third Symphony and ends with Brahms’ Fourth. The eminent maestro, one of the orchestra’s favourites since his debut at the 2011 Salzburg Mozart Week, continues to enchant audiences with his enormous presence, verve and artistic drive. “At the end, standing ovations and boundless cheers.” (br-klassik.de) PROGRAM Honegger: Symphony No. 3 “Liturgique”; Brahms: Symphony No. 4