“Representing no occasion, no immediate purpose, but an appeal to eternity” is how his biographer Alfred Einstein characterised the creation of Mozart’s last three symphonies, in this production performed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his “original-sound orchestra” Concentus Musicus.
“La Chasse – The Hunt” – Music from Paris and Vienna
The Bläserphilharmonie Mozarteum is one of the leading wind ensembles in the world. The musicians are members from the great symphony orchestras from all over the world. Once a year they come together for a special concert at the Großes Festspielhaus in Salzburg, which is always dedicated to a specific theme. “La chasse – The Hunt” builds a bridge from Vienna to Paris; hunting music of the 17th and 18th century from France and Austria is performed – on historical Parforce horns – as well as great entertaining music of the 19th and early 20th century, from Jaques Offenbach’s Cancan to Johann Strauss’s Radetzky March – original works as well as sensitively balanced stylistic arrangements for symphonic winds. It’s all about the hunt – in terms of content and music and with all its diversity and tradition. After all, people have always been hunting – deer, hares, but also happiness, success and love… . Also available is the documentary Huntsman’s Sound by Chris Kurt Weisz (A04550007 – 25′ min).
Beethoven – The Complete String Quartets
“What seems to be the predominant impulse driving this music,” explains viola player Krzysztof Chorzelski of the Belcea Quartet, “is man’s yearning for freedom, the unquenchable desire to expand his limits and to learn the truth about himself in this process. Beethoven inspires us as performers to take up this challenge.” The Belcea Quartet’s response to this challenge took place in the Vienna Konzerthaus in May 2012. The ensemble embarked on the complete cycle of Beethoven string quartets, playing the whole program within twelve days, each concert featuring one work each from the early, middle and late quartets. Described as “a world-class ensemble” in The Guardian, this quartet brings a freshness to their interpretation of Beethoven’s string quartets, and draws forth a great range of colours, from sweetness to strength, from solemnity to impetuous force, while the cameras capture with great clarity the changing emotions of the players. Also available: DOCUMENTARY “On the Paths of the Beethoven String Quartets”. Directed by Jean Claude Mocik. Length approx. 52′.
Beethoven – The Complete Violin Sonatas
Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Sonatas for Piano and Violin” were almost all composed in a relatively quick succession between 1797 and 1803, in Beethoven’s early days, and are now part of the classic repertoire of the violin literature. Leonidas Kavakos’s and Enrico Pace’s interpretation of the complete Sonata Cycle set new standards, was nominated for the Grammy Award and was celebrated by the press: “Together these two make magic” (Buffalo News), “an ideally attuned, technically perfect duo” (Die
Presse).
Rossini, Stabat Mater
Four superb soloists – Anna Netrebko, Marianna Pizzolato, Matthew Polenzani and Ildebrando d’Arcangelo – transform Rossini’s ‘Stabat mater’ into a feast of ‘italianità’, uniting their voices in a warm, mellow whole. After several successful performances of this rarely played sacred work in various cities, the Chorus and Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia of Rome wind up their Rossini project with a performance at the Salzburg Festival, their first-ever guest appearance there. Anna Netrebko, whose aria ‘Inflammatus’ was for many the concert’s ‘unspoken high point’ (Die Presse), succeeded in ‘blending her voice beautifully into the soloist ensemble – one voice among equals in an excellent, well-balanced quartet’ (Salzburger Nachrichten).
Salzburg Festival 2012: Mariss Jansons
With four opera productions and its concert cycle, the Vienna Philharmonic once again forming the centre of the Salzburg Festival. Furthermore, in 2012, its concerts bring the musicians not only to the Grosses Festspielhaus, where they are heard under the baton of four of the most important conductors of our times, but – with smaller forces – also to the Main Auditorium of the Mozarteum. With a programme dedicated to the second half of the 19th century, Mariss Jansons, the Vienna Philharmonic and soprano Nina Stemme offer a “superlative concert experience.” (Kurier).
Salzburg Festival 2012: Zurich Ballet and the Hagen Quartet
A singular project is staged at the Salzburg Festival with the famous Felsenreitschule as a backdrop: for the first time the renowned Hagen Quartet appears at the festival accompanied by a dance company. The Swiss grand master of dance Heinz Spoerli presents three works he choreographed for his Zurich Ballet set to three of the great works of the quartet literature: Leos Janácek’s string quartet “Intimate Letters”, Antonín Dvorák’s “American Quartet” and Franz Schubert’s string quartet “The Death and the Maiden”.
Salzburg Festival 2012: Ouverture Spirituelle – Claudio Abbado
After a gap of ten years, Claudio Abbado takes to the rostrum again to conduct a new special facet of the Salzburg Festival of Sacred Music, the Ouverture Spirituelle. The Italian maestro conducts the Orchestra Mozart of Bologna, an ensemble specially dedicated to performing the work of Mozart.
Salzburg Festival: Opening Concert 2009
The opening of the Salzburg Festival, for many regarded as the world’s most renowned music festival, is by tradition a high-profile event. In 2009,this first concert given by the Wiener Philharmoniker was conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The program is, in honor of the 80th birthday of the great Austrian conductor (6 Dec. 2009), a purely Austrian. Though it may seem unusual at first glance, under Harnoncourt’s direction, the disparate works fuse into a moving, slightly melancholy portrait of the Viennese dance in the early 19th century. The concert opens with Anton Webern’s delicate orchestration of Schubert’s “Six German Dances,” which segue into two polkas and a waltz by Josef Strauß, the younger – and bolder – composer brother of “Walzerkönig” Johann Strauß Jr. With this alternation of bittersweet and brassy dances, the stage is set for Harnoncourt’s staggering reading of Schubert’s “Great” C major Symphony, in which the dance of death – so Viennese yet so universal – seems to have served as the composer’s model. This concert adds a new milestone to UNITEL CLASSICA’s longtime partnership with the Salzburg Festival, as well as with Harnoncourt and the Wiener Philharmoniker.
Alfred Brendel on Music – Three Lectures
In his lectures, which were recorded in Salzburg, Brendel, the ‘most profound pianist of our day’ (Joachim Kaiser), takes his listeners on a journey of discovery behind the notes and into the mysteries of the musical world. Thanks to their mixture of theory and practical examples, his lectures – in spite of their very high level of sophistication – are entertaining not only for the expert, but also for everyone interested in music. Lecture 1: Does Classical Music Have To Be Entirely Serious? (74’); Lecture 2: Musical Character(s) As Exemplified In Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas (72’); Lecture 3: Light And Shade Of Interpretation (79’)