Freedom, fraternity and humanity – this is what Beethoven’s 9th Symphony stands for. It opens the 10th Grafenegg Festival, performed by the Tonkunstler Orchestra, joined by 24 alumni of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) and “a soloist quartet which no one could possibly imagine to be more prestigious” (Die Presse). “Vogt’s tenor and the Wiener Singverein were especially moving” (Wiener Zeitung) and “the vocal performance by excellent bass René Pape, the fabulous soprano Camilla Nylund and the brilliant mezzosoprano Elena Zhidkova … in Beethoven’s Ninth was just sensational. Bravo!” (Kurier). Composer in Residence Christian Jost’s new work also centres around Beethoven, featuring the song “An die Hoffnung” (“To Hope”), and “convincingly used an impressive orchestra” (Der Standard), with “tenor Klaus Florian Vogt as a well-cast soloist” (Salzburger Nachrichten).
Die Zauberflöte
Accompanied by a luxurious team of professionals, consisting of the renowned stage director Peter Stein, his stage designer Ferdinand Wöger and conductor Ádám Fischer, Teatro alla Scala presents with Mozart’s Zauberflöte a production where orchestra, chorus, soloists as well as outfitters all consisted of students of the Academia Teatro alla Scala, the educational institution aimed to train the young talents, founded by the Teatro alla Scala in 2001. The result was more than stunning and an instant success with the audience of the ten sold out performances at La Scala, which is famous for its more than critical loggionisti. According to Die Presse, Fischer “gets the best out of the Academy Orchestra with delicate execution and humane phrasing” while the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung praises Fatma Said as Pamina and Yasmin Özkan as Queen of the Night.
Otello
A superb new Otello from the Salzburg Easter Festival: “Cura is a commanding Otello with his richly coloured tenor and both fragile delicacy and fiery ardour” (Südwestpresse). “Röschmann as Desdemona guarantees effortless perfection” (Neue Musikzeitung). “Álvarez as Iago would be hard to surpass” (Abendzeitung). This Salzburg production – featuring “a cast worthy of any festival” (Südwestpresse) – is conducted by Christian Thielemann, who displays a command of Verdian tragedy to match his celebrated sovereignty in Wagner. He and his great Dresden Staatskapelle, a consummate opera ensemble, “achieve wonders” (Die Presse), “generating Italian ‘Musikdrama’ with their incandescence and precise nuances” (Abendzeitung). In his fascinating staging, director Vincent Boussard integrates video with set and lighting design to create an idealized visual context for what he calls Otello’s “conflict of ancient and modern, of 2D and 3D”. Boussard’s Otello is above all: aesthetic. The nobly designed costumes are from the Parisian fashion designer Christian Lacroix, with whom Boussard has been cooperating for many years. Special attention is given to the handkerchief in this production, the leitmotiv object in which Otello proves the supposed deceit of his wife Desdemona.
Un Ballo in Maschera
Praise for the Bayerische Staatsoper’s new Ballo in maschera: “A formidable vocal feast” (Bayerische Staatszeitung). Ten years after stepping down as music director of the Bavarian State Opera, a “grand Zubin Mehta“ (Bayerischer Rundfunk) returned to Munich in March 2016 to celebrate his 80th birthday conducting Verdi’s masterpiece for the first time in a staged production. His cast features some of today’s finest Verdi singers: soprano Anja Harteros, singing Amelia for the first time and “filling every note with Verdian intensity”, tenor Piotr Beczala as a “visually and vocally dashing Riccardo” and George Petean as an “exemplary” Renato (Neue Musikzeitung). In director Johannes Erath’s musically super-sensitive new production, this historically-based tale of illicit love, conspiracy and betrayal unfolds in a surrealistic, shadowy setting transformed by lighting and projections. Special praise was showered by the enthusiastic critics on Maestro Mehta, who “creates concentrated musical connections, miraculously guiding his orchestra and unsurpassable voices the way a thermal lifts a paraglider … Musically the performance was a dream” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). “A total triumph” (La Razón). “This production shows what a utopia opera can be” (Abendzeitung).
Gustavo Dudamel – Tango under the Stars
Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic accent the colors, rhythms, and passion of music by leading composers from Argentina in this invigorating evening at the Hollywood Bowl: Astor Piazzolla, the master of Nuevo Tango, who´s four tangos feature on stage the dance company Tango Buenos Aires, known worldwide as the most authentic and uncompromising representative of the tango, Alberto Ginastera, one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas and Piazzolla´s first teacher, and Lalo Schifrin, who, beside his concert music, is the composer of the famous scores of Mission: Impossible and Dirty Harry. His “Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra”, a world premiere recording, is composed for Ángel Romero, an iconic master of the classical guitar.
Ballet Hispánico – CARMEN.maquia and Club Havana
Ballet Hispánico, a “strong ambassador of not just Latino culture but of dance itself” (Broadway World), brings its bold and eclectic brand of contemporary dance to the screen with two audience favorites: CARMEN.maquia, an electrifying modern take on Bizet’s passionate opera choreographed by Spaniard Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, and Cuban-born Pedro Ruiz’s Club Havana, a virtuosic re-imagining of a sizzling nightclub filled with the exhilarating rhythms and colors of Havana’s golden era. Celebrating over 45 years of bringing individuals and communities together to celebrate and explore Latino cultures, Ballet Hispánico is the new expression of American contemporary dance.
Romeo & Juliet
From grand spectacle to poignant close-ups, experience Helgi Tomasson’s bravura interpretation of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet like you’ve never seen it before. With passionate choreography, spine-tingling swordsmanship, and a celebrated score by Sergei Prokofiev, San Francisco Ballet’s passionate retelling of the Bard’s greatest tragedy has packed houses around the world. Romeo & Juliet is one of the Company’s most popular and widely toured ballets and has been seen by more than 200,000 people since it premiered in 1994. Choreographed by Helgi Tomasson, with sets and costumes by Jens-Jacob Worsaae, this visually stunning production and the brilliant dancers of SF Ballet bring this powerful and touching tragedy – and Renaissance-era Verona – vividly to life. “Tomasson lifts Shakespeare’s complex and familiar language off the gilded pages and translates it into lucid classical choreography that is visceral, fresh, and ultimately sublime” (Huffington Post).
Mefistofele
Best-known today as the librettist of Verdi’s final Shakespearean masterpieces, Otello and Falstaff, the multitalented Arrigo Boito was also a fine composer in his own right. Hugely ambitious in scope, and some 20 years in the making, his first (and only completed) opera, Mefistofele, sets out to encompass nothing less than the whole of Goethe’s vast poetic drama Faust (part I and II), and is considered the very central work of his phase between Verdi and Puccini. Making his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper, director Roland Schwab (a protégé of the legendary Ruth Berghaus) plays devil’s advocate by setting the opera in a nightmarish atmosphere. “The exceptional solistic cast” (ORF) features René Pape, Joseph Calleja, Kristine Opolais and Karine Babajanyan.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
You don’t just see an Ailey performance, you feel it. Experience this electrifying modern dance program that includes four audience favorites: Wayne McGregor’s sumptuous Chroma with a score by Jack White and Joby Talbot; Ronald K. Brown’s powerful Grace, with music by Duke Ellington, Roy Davis Jr., and Fela Kuti; Robert Battle’s humorous, high-flying Takademe; and Alvin Ailey’s beloved Revelations – “one of the great works of the human spirit” (New York Times) – that will rock your soul.
George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker
Experience the wonder of New York City Ballet’s iconic holiday classic on the big screen. In George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky’s beloved melodies transport the young and young at heart to a magical world where mischievous mice besiege a battalion of toy soldiers, and an onstage blizzard leads to an enchanted Land of Sweets. Balanchine’s stunning choreography shines amidst awe-inspiring set pieces, ornate costumes, and grand one-of-a-kind visual effects, like the one-ton Christmas tree that grows to an astonishing 40 feet. NYCB’s beloved production has been performed in New York City every year since ist premiere on February 2, 1954, and is seen live by more than 100,000 people annually.