The documentary “Lady You Shot Me – Life and Death of Sam Cooke” tells the story of the short but equally influential life of one of the most important artists of the 1950s and 60s: Sam Cooke. It takes a particularly close look at the mysterious circumstances surrounding his violent death. Was he killed in self-defence, as officially claimed? Or was it murder, as his family, friends and conspiracy theorists believe? A question that is worth asking, even if it ultimately remains unresolved. Because simply looking into the circumstances of his death, controversial to this day, affords insights into the social context during the founding years of pop music, which Sam Cooke defied more forcefully than any other black musician of his day.
Le nozze di Figaro (from NCPA Beijing)
“Le nozze di Figaro” shines a new light on Mozart’s famous opera in Beijing: The NCPA production combines traditional Western elements with an outstanding Chinese cast. Stage director José Luis Castro from Seville – where the story takes place – embeds the performance in the traditional setting of his hometown. With their fresh interpretation the NCPA Orchestra and Chorus, under musical director Lu Jia, lay the foundation for the leading soloists in the Middle Kingdom: Li Ao, Huang Ying, Zhou Zhengzhong, Yu Guanqun and Xu Lei testify that the NCPA has become a venue of choice for opera lovers in China and beyond.
Krzysztof Penderecki – Concert in Celebration of his 80th Birthday
Grand Gala Concert with international classical music stars on occasion of the 80th birthday of Krzysztof Penderecki. Program: Threnody – To the Victims of Hiroshima, Conductor: Krzysztof Urbanski // Duo Concertante for Violin and Double Bass – Soloists: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Roman Patkoló // Concerto grosso for three Cellos and Orchestra – Soloists: Arto Noras, Ivan Monighetti, Daniel Müller-Schott, Conductor: Charles Dutoit // Credo – Soloists: Iwona Hossa, Ewa Vesin, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Krystian Krzeszowiak, Nikolay Didenko, Conductor: Valery Gergiev.
Il Postino
Based on the popular 1994 Italian film, Il Postino by Daniel Catán stars Plácido Domingo as the poet Pablo Neruda for this exciting world premiere. In a tiny Italian fishing village, a shy young postman finds the inspiration to live out his dreams during his daily deliveries to his only customer, a famous poet.
Music, Mon Amour
‘Music, Mon Amour’ delves into the secret of a grand passion – the love of music. What makes it irresistible? Why can’t we live without music? In ‘Music, Mon Amour’ we embark on a search for clues – together with the Israeli singer Yasmin Levy, the Japanese violinist Midori and the German composer Helmut Oehring. They reveal their deep love of music and talk of the joy and despair that go with it. Their accounts, intimate and affecting, and from widely differing perspectives, convey their existential and contradictory relationship to music. Aired successfully on arte.
Dudamel & LA Phil: Inaugural Concert
Gustavo Dudamel, just twenty-seven years old, designated music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, is acknowledged to be one of the most
important conductors of his generation. At October 2009 he will conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Disney Concert Hall. On the programme: Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No 1 in D major (“Titan”) and the world premier of the latest work by Pulitzer Prize for Music winner John Adams, “City Noir”. The Los Angeles Philharmonic is widely regarded as the most contemporary minded, forward thinking, talked about and innovative, venturesome and admired orchestra in America. Dudamel made his U.S. conducting debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl on September 13, 2005. In April 2007, during a guest conducting engagement with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dudamel was named the LAP’s next music director as of the 2009-2010 season, succeeding Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Chailly conducts Mahler – Symphony No. 2
The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and their Music Director Riccardo Chailly have acquired legendary status – glorious reviews and many awards for their recordings testifying to their continuing success. At Leipzig’s International Mahler Festival, to mark the centenary of Mahler’s death, they performed Mahler’s monumental Second Symphony in the Gewandhaus – together with two marvellous soloists and choral forces quite beyond compare.
Chailly conducts Mahler – Symphony No. 8
Mahler’s Eighth Symphony is agruably the grandest and most ambitious piece of symphonic music ever written. The composer himself regarded it as his ‘opus summum’, and an incredible number of partipicians at the hugely successful Munich premiere in 1910 earned it the nickname ‘Symphony of a Thousand’. At Leipzig’s International Mahler Festival 2011, Riccardo Chailly commanded almost 500 musicians. The perfomance celebrated overwhelming success by audience and critics.
Blomstedt conducts Bach’s Mass in B Minor
Just a few weeks before his 90th birthday, Herbert Blomstedt gifted himself a special birthday present: conducting Bach’s Mass in B Minor, in the Leipzig Thomaskirche – the composer’s former workplace. According to Blomstedt, Bach’s last complete vocal work is the climax of his creativity and is one of the most important works in his life: “It is like a reflection of doubt. It is enormously powerful music in the same way that a wedge is enormously powerful.” For Peter Wollny, director of the Bach-Archiv Leipzig, Bach’s magnum opus is “without doubt the most intellectually and musically varied and challenging of Bach’s compositions” and “one of the greatest achievements of Western culture.” The concert closed the Bachfest Leipzig 2017 and was performed by the Gewandhausorchester, the Dresdner Kammerchor, and the soloists Christina Landshamer, Elisabeth Kulman, Wolfram Lattke and Luca Pisaroni.
Gabriela Montero plays her first Piano Concerto
Accentus Music recorded Gabriela Montero playing her Piano Concerto No.1, the “Latin Concerto”, as well as Ravel’s Piano Concerto together with the pan-American YOA Orchestra of the Americas under the baton of Carlos Miguel Prieto. The performance took place in one of the most beautiful concert halls in the world: the Teatro del Lago in Frutillar, Chile. With her 1st piano concerto, Gabriela Montero extends an invitation to share in a multi-layered and passionate expression of her beloved, native continent. Additionally, the rehearsals have been filmed as well as impressions of country and people of this region. In an accompanying interview, Montero spoke about composing, improvisation and the interpretation of her own works. She also talked about her home country Venezuela, where she no longer performs for political reasons.