A rare opportunity to see the work of the great conductor Sergiu Celibidache (1912-96). He agreed to set aside his long-held antipathy to recordings of his work to enable the cameras to capture this concert from the Philharmonie in Munich, in which he conducts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
Symphony No. 3 in D minor
In this live concert recording from the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Haitink conducts the NOS Women’s Choir, the North Holland Boys’ Choir and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 in D minor, with soloist Carolyn Watkinson (contralto).
Satyagraha
From the Staatsoper Stuttgart 1983 Produced and designed by Achim Freyer, Satyagraha is conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. Glass’s opera evokes impressions of Gandhi’s years in South Africa and his development of the philosophy of satyagraha (a Sanskrit word meaning ‘love/strength’) as a political and revolutionary tool. The text is drawn from the great Hindu spiritual treatise, the Bhagavad Gita, and sung in the original Sanskrit – a sacred language which is no longer spoken. This device enhances the ceremonial quality of the work and complements the ritual atmosphere built up by Glass’s hypnotic music.
William Walton Gala Concert
Sir Andre Previn conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra in this gala concert, given to mark the eightieth birthday of one of Britain’s best-loved twentieth-century composers, Sir William Walton (1902-83). Recorded live from London’s Royal Festival Hall, in Walton’s presence, it features three of his most famous works: the Coronation march, Orb and Sceptre, Concerto for Violin in B minor (soloist Kyung-Wha Chung), and Belshazzar’s Feast for baritone (Sir Thomas Allen), chorus (the Philharmonia Chorus) and orchestra.
Nigel Kennedy – Blue Note Sessions
The Nigel Kennedy Quintet, recorded live in Paris at the New Morning Jazz Club during the Bose Blue Note Records Festival on April 3, 2007.
The Beggar’s Opera
John Gay (1685-1732), a genial poet and playwright with a talent for satire, got the idea for The Beggar’s Opera from his friend, the satirist Jonathan Swift, who had mentioned to him that “A Newgate pastoral might make a pretty sort of thing”. In general, ballad opera, set among London’s criminal classes and full of satirical jibes about corruption in high places, suited English taste better than Handel’s heroic operas by the 1720s.
Created specially for television, this Beggar’s Opera captures the quality and satiric edge of the Hogarth engravings which influenced Gay’s original version.
The music for this production has been arranged from the eighteenth-century folksongs of the original (selected by Johann Christoph Pepusch) by baroque specialists Jeremy Barlow and John Eliot Gardiner, who conducts The English Baroque Soloists, performing on authentic period instruments.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who and star of the films including Tommy, McVicar and Lisztomania, heads a distinguished cast as the villainous hero Macheath.
Raphael
For four centuries after his death, Raphael (1483-1520) occupied a pre-eminent position in the world of art but, while his greatness is still unquestioned, his popularity has waned over the past hundred years. This three-part study reappraises his work and considers why the values represented in his art are in eclipse. Filmed in Italy in the centres where Raphael lived and worked, the programmes also travel around Europe to survey his influence.
Rudolf Nureyev’s La Bayadere
Exotic and mysterious India serves as the backdrop to this story of doomed love between the warrior Solor and the bayadère, Nikiya, who is killed by her jealous rival, Gamzatti. Breathtaking sets and costumes are designed by Ezio Frigerio and Franca Squarciapino in this exceptional production, recorded at the Palais Garnier in Paris. Direction and choreography in this fully restored version of Petipa’s original ballet are by Rudolf Nureyev.
The Glory of the Kirov
From the early 20th century, the Maryinsky Ballet, later the Kirov, dazzled audiences with the beauty of dance. This fascinating footage of many of the company’s greatest dancers draws on five years’ research in Russia’s film archives. Extracts from: Swan Lake, Raymonda, Viennese Waltz, Reflection, Le Corsaire, Laurencia, The Tale of Serf Nikish, The Dying Swan, Pas de Quatre, Syrinx, Spartacus, Romeo and Juliet, The Ice Maiden, Les Sylphides
Ernani
Ernani, Verdi’s fifth opera (1844) is melodic from beginning to end. Based on Victor Hugo’s play, whose tumultuous reception in 1830 marked a decisive turning point in the development of romantic drama, this violent and sombre story of frustrated passion, honour fatally impugned, and ambition thwarted and rewarded, is set by the young composer to a succession of irresistible tunes, unsurpassed even in his mature works. The opera’s dramatic impetus is unstoppable. For Luca Ronconi’s production, four of the world’s leading Verdi singers were engaged: Placido Domingo as the bandit, Ernani; Renato Bruson as the scheming, dangerously suave King Charles of Spain; Nicolai Ghiaurov as the proud Spanish Grandee whose implacable sense of honour propels the action to ist tragic conclusion; and Mirella Freni as the gentle heroine desired by these three rivals.