For the first time available on Blu-ray is this extraordinary artistic collaboration of three super stars: Herbert von Karajan, Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Berlin Philharmonic perform three popular violin concertos, filmed in 1984 and 1987 at the legendary Philharmonie Berlin. The very famous Beethoven Violin Concerto, the cardinal work in the violin repertoire, was filmed with 21-year old Anne-Sophie Mutter in 1984. In 1987 Karajan, together with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Berlin Philharmonic, inaugurated the Chamber Music Hall at Berlin Philharmonie with this festive performance of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. And New Year´s Eve concert in 1984 celebrated the 300th birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach. These concerts show that Karajan, throughout his career, championed the use of visual media and new audio technology to enhance musical expression.
Das Jagdgewehr (The Hunting Gun)
“Great moments: world premiere of Thomas Larcher’s opera ’Das Jagdgewehr’ at the Bregenz Festival.“ (Wiener Zeitung) Thomas Larcher has adapted Yasushi Inoue’s best-seller The Hunting Gun for his first opera, with a libretto by Austrian Book Prize winner Friederike Gösweiner. Austrian actor and film director Karl Markovics made his debut as stage director for an opera. The story tells of three women, who speak in three letters addressed to the same man, a hunter – his wife, his lover and his lover’s daughter. As the women react to the revelation of illicit love, the hunter’s life is laid bare. “The Austrian composer’s first opera is inventive” (The Times), “a clear, powerful text, some striking imagery and a luminous score of great beauty and originality ensure this opera’s success.“ (The Observer)
Yo-Yo Ma – Bach: Cello Suites
In 2018, Yo-Yo Ma began a two-year journey, setting out to perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s six suites for solo cello in one sitting, across 36 locations on 6 continents. For Yo-Yo, Bach’s 300-hundred-year-old music is one extraordinary example of how culture connects us and can help us to imagine and build a better future. In an unforgettable experience the 19 times Grammy ® Award winner and internationally acclaimed cellist performed the Cello Suites at the overwhelming Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. Yo-Yo Ma says: “These suites are so meaningful. They’re not only companions and friends, but they’ve also been reference points in my life”. “Soft sounds around me suggested that others were caught up in similarly strong emotions. How Ma has this effect on people is a mystery: I suspect it has to do with the warmth he brings to music that is fundamentally beyond comprehension. He makes the godlike human.” Alex Ross, The New Yorker
Il Trovatore
It’s an event that draws many thousands of music lovers to one of the most beautiful cities in the world every summer: the opera season at the ancient Arena di Verona. The 2,000-year-old roman amphiteatre with its gigantic stage dimensions is one of the largest and best preserved Roman construction of its kind, and with over 22,000 seats it is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular open-air venues of the world! The revered master of opera Franco Zeffirelli, who died shortly before the premiere of Il Trovatore, created a legendary scenery with groups of giant sized armoured knights, a fortress turning into a luminous cathedral, an enormous choir, horses, breathtaking fights: “his perhaps best arena production” (Opernglas). It brings Anna Netrebko to the Arena of Verona where she is giving her much-anticipated debut in one of Giuseppe Verdi’s most popular operas. Next to Anna Netrebko as Leonora perform Verdi accomplished baritone Luca Salsi as Count di Luna and Yusif Eyvazov returns to the Arena as his powerful-voiced opponent Manrico. MET star Dolora Zajick as Azucena and young rising Italian bass Riccardo Fassi as Ferrando join the prestigious ensemble. „Zeffirelli gives to the arena what it merits: a colourful, multifaceted staging in which impressive mass scenes alternate with intimate moments […]“ (Der Neue Merker) “Unforgettable” (Verona Settegiorni)
LA Phil 100 – The LA Phil Centennial Birthday Gala
A century to the day after the orchestra’s first concert on 24th October 1919, the centennial season culminates in a “splashy gala night” (San Francisco Classical Voice) at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the current and former chief conductors Dudamel, Mehta and Salonen sharing the podium. The repertoire is a true reflection of the DNA that makes the LA Phil the LA Phil and “the defining factor of this orchestra is its ability to blend genres and styles to create totally new takes on classical works.” (The Guardian) The New York Times recently called the LA Phil “America’s most important orchestra. Period”. Look no further than this concert´s program: Ravel’s La Valse – Zubin Mehta; Lutoslawski’s Symphony No. 4 – Esa-Pekka Salonen; Strawinsky’s Firebird Suite – Gustavo Dudamel and the World Premiere of Daníel Bjarnason’s New Work for Three Conductors! BONUS LA Phil – The Tradition of the New. The documentary portrays the LA Phil and its continual creative reinvention on the occasion of this jubilee. Including a historical part to trace the steps that played a part in where the orchestra stands today + interviews with the current and former chief conductors Dudamel, Mehta, Salonen + Frank Gehry, John Adams + music critics, and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic staff.
Beethoven Project – A Ballet by John Neumeier
Beethoven Project is John Neumeier’s choreographic tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven, blending elements of Narrative and Symphonic Ballet. Based on the “Eroica Variations”, piano and chamber music, the “Prometheus” Ballet and the “Eroica” Symphony, John Neumeier describes his idea of the Beethoven Project: “My ballet is an attempt to give physical shape to the form and emotion of Beethoven’s music. The music continues to offer me the most direct biographical material. My choreography, however, does not illustrate historical facts. What interests me, are the contradictory aspects of our image of Beethoven in relation to the music itself. As a choreographer, I look for the emotional essence of characters and situations, communicated by movements alone.”
Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)
At Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, maestro Fabio Luisi gives “a superb performance” (Operawire) of Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), the forerunner of grand Wagnerian dramas. His Italian Richard Wagner debut is infused with energy and drive, under his direction the orchestra and chorus of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, together with Coro Ars Lyrica, sparkle “in what was a five star performance” (Operawire). Thomas Gazheli stars as the Dutchman, who has been condemned to endlessly wander the seas until the day of Judgement. Marjorie Owens shines as his saviour Senta.
Don Quichotte
The “striking interpretation” (Neue Musikzeitung) of Jules Massenet’s operatic rarity Don Quichotte at Bregenz Festival, received an “unanimous jubilation for director Mariame Clément, her outfitter Julia Hansen and the entire stage team: a typical Bregenz Festival orchid flourished!“ (Neue Musikzeitung Online). But this opera is also a musical discovery, not least because of the outstanding cast: “the balsamic sound of well-being of Gábor Bretz, David Stouts mobile Sancho Panza is also wonderfully shaded (Salzburger Nachrichten) and “Anna Goryachova impresses as Dulcinée with vocal clarity and scenic presence”. (Wiener Zeitung) “The Bregenz Festival discovers a dreamlike operatic beauty full of melancholy and farewell” (Salzburger Nachrichten)
Ricciardo e Zoraide
World Premiere recording on DVD! To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the premiere of the Rossini rarity, the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro staged Ricciardo e Zoraide with an all-star cast. Juan Diego Flórez makes his debut as the crusader Ricciardo, giving a “masterclass in bel canto” (Bachtrack), his high notes are “… still thrilling with their laser-like precision” (Financial Times). The South African soprano Pretty Yende – “radiant and richly expressive” (Financial Times) as Zoraide – proves that she is “a virtuosa in Rossini singing” (Neue Musikzeitung). On the 150th anniversary of the composer’s death and 200 years after ist premiere, Ricciardo e Zoraide rings out with an artistic quality that is second to none, thanks to the skills of an “absolute Champions League ensemble” (Online Merker). Due to the “attentive conducting of Giacomo Sagrapanti, practically nothing stands in the way of enjoying the beauty of this rarely performed score to the fullest” (Online Merker). The result is an incredible orchestral performance.
Les Contes d’Hoffmann
The “superb, sinister“ Tales of Hoffmann at the Dutch National Opera with “excellent soloists, the impressive John Osborn” (Theaterkrant) and “Christine Rice, a vocally and physically voluptuous Giulietta“ (bachtrack.com), “mezzosoprano Irene Roberts, who plays and sings brilliantly” (Groene Amsterdammer) and “Erwin Schrott, singing the four villains for the first time, made it look like a blast.” (bachtrack.com) “Les Contes d’Hoffmann is a parade of golden voices”. (Volkskrant) Maestro Rizzi conducted with elegance and momentum the chorus and the „excellent playing Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra”. (Volkskrant) “Spectacular” (Trouw) “This production effortlessly fascinates from start to finish.“ (Theaterkrant)