When Brahms composed his “German Requiem”, he thought little of the salvation of the deceased. With his music, Brahms wanted to give comfort to the bereaved, so he decided against the usual Latin text of the Roman Catholic Church and chose German texts from Luther’s Bible instead. Nevertheless, or precisely because of this, the work thrilled the audience and made it a triumphant success for Brahms. In this performance Christian Thielemann, doubtless one of the leading conductors for the romantic symphonic music, at the podium of the Wiener Philharmoniker, together with the Wiener Singverein, the choir that first performed the first three movements of the Requiem in December 1867, and a duo of outstanding singers, “conjures unforgettable moments” (BR Klassik). Soloists of the evening were French-Danish soprano Elsa Dreisig (“delicate”, Der Standard) and German baritone Michael Volle. Thielemann’s “differentiated conception finds a harmonious balance between intimacy and archaic moments and transports Brahms’s core message of consolation to the audience’s delight in an immediate way.” (Salzburger Nachrichten)
COPPEL-I.A.
While love is breaking into the lives of two young people, an artificial being will challenge what they believed they knew about it… Revisiting this classic of the Romantic repertoire, Jean-Christophe Maillot gives us, with an original musical score, a reflection on the search for the ideal partner in a technologically advanced society. Is it still the flesh and blood being with which we are familiar or a different being, making us question our allegiance to the human race? “The Dance is beautiful: Maillot knows exactly which movements enhance his dancers. Indeed, he as terrific soloists: Lou Beyne, whose gesture is as splendid as her morphology, Matej Urban as a moving Coppélius.” (Le Figaro) “The result is as coherent as radically chic.” (Die Welt about the choreography of Jean-Christophe Maillot) “Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo magnificent as always.” (La Stampa)
Herbert Blomstedt – Wiener Philharmoniker at Salzburg Festival
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 Wiener Philharmoniker 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. “A stirring, long-lasting listening experience. At the end, standing ovations and boundless cheers.” (br-klassik.de) “Fortunately, they still exist, the magical moments when time stands still, when music reaches and touches people.” (Die Presse) PROGRAM Honegger: Symphony No. 3 “Liturgique”; Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim at Salzburg Festival
Acclaimed by critics as an evening of superlative, Martha Argerich – arguably the greatest living pianist – joins Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for an unforgettable interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. Argerich’s playing is full of astonishing virtuosity and uncompromising, alternating with breakneck passages and tender tones: “Martha Argerich is and remains unique” (Die Presse). In addition to Tchaikovsky’s brilliant piece, Schubert’s Symphony “Unfinished” is played, a work that has never been performed during the composer’s lifetime. “Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra provide an exceptional atmosphere in the Festspielhaus.” (Salzburger Nachrichten)
Birgit Nilsson – A league of her own
An intimate portrait of Birgit Nilsson (1918–2005) on the occasion of her centennial on 17th May 2018: The Swedish soprano had an incredible technique and was the world’s leading dramatic soprano between 1955 and 1975. Rare TV and archive footage shows Nilsson at work, and is complemented by interviews with Plácido Domingo, Otto Schenk, James Levine, Nina Stemme, Jonas Kaufmann, Marilyn Horne, Christa Ludwig and many others. The film reveals a sensitive woman behind the honest, down to earth, quick-witted artist, who had “a voice like fire and ice” (Antonio Pappano). The documentary was shot at the farm in Bastad/Sweden, where Nilsson grew up and spent the summers until the end of her life, at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, where the legendary Wagnerian singer made her operatic debut in 1946, and in places like the Bayreuth Festival, the Wiener Staatsoper and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where Nilsson was the star and box office draw.
The Exclusive Subscription Concert Series – Andris Nelsons
Mahler’s unusually expansive five-movement Symphony No. 7 is among the composer’s most ambiguous and enigmatic works, often regarded as his most challenging to perform. As part of the Wiener Philharmoniker’s acclaimed Subscription Concert Series, Andris Nelsons leads the orchestra in a new chapter of their Mahler cycle, reaffirming his stature as “one of the most celebrated conductors of our time” (Salzburger Nachrichten). Under his baton, the Seventh becomes “magic in the Golden Hall. […] Rarely has one heard this work so finely chiselled, so dynamically balanced. An event.” (Kurier)
Jonas Kaufmann – The Sound of Movies
Accompanied by the renowned Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Kaufmann takes his audience on a cinematic journey that transcends the silver screen. From the romantic trains of “Where Do I Begin” from Love Story and the poignant “What a Wonderful World” from Good Morning, Vietnam to the evocative “Strangers in the Night” from A Man Could Get Killed, each performance embodies the essence of cinema’s most iconic moments. Spanning decades of cinematic history, this unforgettable program promises to captivate film and music lovers alike. “As an ardent film buff and singer I am naturally very receptive to all the vocal numbers that have been heard in soundtracks all over the world, which is why it was a particular pleasure for me to rummage in the treasury of film music in search of the most beautiful pieces. The result is The Sound of Movies, a collection of wonderful songs from over eighty years of cinematic history. Whether they are accompanied by moving pictures or treated as pure music, they have all found a place in my heart.” Jonas Kaufmann
Adina
World Premiere Recording on DVD and Blu-ray
Few of Gioachino Rossini’s operas are less well known than Adina. This production by Rossini Opera Festival and Wexford Opera Festival revives a masterwork of glittering arias and rich orchestral textures. The oriental tale, where Adina is a slave in a Baghdad seraglio, is set by Rosetta Cucchi on a giant and colorful wedding cake. The vocal star Lisette Oropesa “gave a splendid rendition as Adina. Her voice was brilliant, shiny on top, warm and round in the middle.” (Bachtrack)
Yuja Wang – The Vienna Recital
Pianist Yuja Wang has become an integral part of the world‘s major stages, inspiring young and old alike. Her playing displays technical brilliance and a seemingly endless range of emotions. The Piano Recital from the Wiener Konzerthaus allows her to display her fiery virtuosity as well as her mature musicality and imagination with an eclectic, personally chosen program. It combines masterpieces from famous works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Alexander Scriabin to lesser-known compositions by György Ligeti and Nikolai Kapustin, including also sublime musical miniatures by Christoph Willibald Gluck and Philip Glass. A historical milestone that is not to be missed! „The hall went wild!“ (Der Standard)
The Exclusive Subscription Concert Series – Christian Thielemann
The Subscription Concert Series of the Wiener Philharmoniker from the Golden Hall of the famous Musikverein are special concerts reserved for subscribers. Due to the exceptional quality of the concerts and the limited offer, the average waiting time for subscribers is more than 10 years. With this series, these very special concerts are made available for the first time audiovisually to a wider audience worldwide. For this subscription concert, the Wiener Philharmoniker asked a long-time artistic companion to take the podium: 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). Composed in 1899, this highly expressive work by the 25-year-old Schönberg reads, in retrospect, like a swan song to the 19th century. “Schönberg and Strauss rarely sound so grandiose.“ (Kurier) “A truly persuasive performance.”(The New York Times)