PROGRAM: Wagner: Ouvertüre zu »Der fliegende Holländer«, »Eine Faust-Ouvertüre« d-Moll (Fassung 1855), Gebet des Rienzi »Allmächt´ger Vater«, Ouvertüre zu »Rienzi«, Vorspiel zu »Lohengrin«, »Gralserzählung« des Lohengrin »In fernem Land«; Henze: “Fraternité”. Air pour Orchestre (1999); Wagner: »Rom-Erzählung« des Tannhäuser »Inbrunst im Herzen«, Ouvertüre zu »Tannhäuser«
The Odeonsplatz Concert: ‘Wagner & Verdi’
2013 open air concert from the stunning Odeonsplatz in Munich was dedicated to the music of Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner performed by star tenor Rolando Villazón and world-famous baritone Thomas Hampson joined bySymphonieorchester and Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks. —— PROGRAM: Giuseppe Verdi: Ouverture to Les Vêpres Siciliennes; “Ce jour heureux est plein d’allégresse” from Don Carlos (Autodafé) // Jules Massenet: “Ce breuvage pourrait” – Vision fugitive from Hérodiade; “Ah! Tout est bien fini – O souverain” from Le Cid // Maurice Ravel: La Valse // Richard Wagner: “Freudig begrüßen wir die edle Halle” from Tannhäuser (Entry of the Guests); “Wie Todesahnung – O du mein holder Abendstern” from Tannhäuser; Prelude to Lohengrin, Act I // Giuseppe Verdi / Luciano Berio: L’Esule // Giuseppe Verdi: “Vedi le fosche notturne spoglie” from Il Trovatore (Anvil Chorus); “Dio, che nell’alma infondere” from Don Carlo
Season Opening Concert: Christian Thielemann & Staatskapelle Dresden
Hanns Eisler believed that “if you wish to possess the future you must first conquer the past”. And so it is with his “Ernste Gesänge” (Serious Songs), which are not only concerned with memory, but also with the hope of future happiness. 50 years after the Dresden premiere, Christian Thielemann and Thomas Hampson perform this final work by Eisler at the Season Opening Concert 2013/2014 of the Staatskapelle Dresden. Not untypically for Bruckner, his Fifth Symphony is a confrontation with the past, in this case resulting in a “polyphonal masterpiece”. —– PROGRAM: Hans Eisler: Ernste Gesänge for Baritone and String Orchestra / Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, WAB 105
Lorin Maazel and Alice Sara Ott: Fauré, Ravel, Stravinsky
Music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries is on the program of this concert given by the Münchner Philharmoniker under its principal conductor Lorin Maazel and with pianist Alice Sara Ott. The young German-Japanese soloist dazzles in the main work of the program, Maurice RAVEL’s Piano Concerto in G major, a sparkling work in the spirit of Mozart and Saint-Saëns. Also on the program is Gabriel FAURÉ’s “Pelléas et Mélisande”, a poetic orchestral suite. Closing the concert is Igor STRAVINSKY’s exuberant “Pétrouchka” for solo piano and orchestra, and, as an encore, RAVEL’s vibrant “La Valse”. —– Program: Gabriel FAURÈ: Pelléas et Mélisande, Op. 80; Maurice RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G major; Igor STRAVINSKY: Petrushka – Burlesque in four scenes (Original Version of 1911), Maurice RAVEL,La Valse
The Kálmán Gala
With this Gala Concert from the Semperoper in Dresden, Christian Thielemann gives eloquent testimony to an early love of his, the operetta. Since the beginning of his conducting career he has had a fascination for this genre. Time and again he has drawn parallels between the heavyweight Wagner and lighter works, his principal aim being to demonstrate the skills he acquired while conducting operettas: “Anyone who can handle The Merry Widow,” he says, “will have no problems with Lohengrin.” For this gala he turned his attention to Lehár’s contempory Emmerich Kálmán. He found two enthusiastic partners in Ingeborg Schöpf, the leading soprano from the Dresden State Operetta company, and internationally acclaimed tenor Piotr Beczala, and was frenetically applauded by the audience. They are joined by the Dresden State Opera Chorus and the Dresden Opera Ballet dancing in the beautiful interiors of the Semperoper.
Sol Gabetta and Hélène Grimaud in Concert
Two outstanding artists, pianist Helene Grimaud and the cellist Sol Gabetta, performing a highly acclaimed recital in Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall. On the programme cello sonatas by DEBUSSY (D minor), BRAHMS (No. 1 op. 38) and SHOSTAKOVICH: op. 40., and furthermore SCHUMANN’s Fantasiestücke op. 73. “Both bestselling artists it’s very easy to see why they’ve joined together. There are four extremely different composers featured, each one calling for a completely different musical approach. What is particularly brilliant is that these two capture the essence of each composer and their world. Lyrical and light Debussy, heartwrenching Shostakovich, dark and brooding Brahms and the strangely whimsical Schumann. I look forward to hearing how this musical partnership matures over the coming years”.(Readings, Australia)
Daniel Barenboim – 70th Birthday Concert
Performing the solo parts of two of the great piano concertos in the concert repertoire – BEETHOVEN’s Piano Concerto no. 3 and TCHAIKOVSKY’s Piano Concerto no. 1 – in one sitting is a feat that few pianists can pull off apart from Daniel Barenboim. Pianist, conductor and chamber musician extraordinaire, Daniel Barenboim hands over the reins of “his” orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin, to his close friend and colleague Zubin Mehta. To honor his friend the composer Elliott CARTER, who passed away at the age of 103, Barenboim performs a work written especially for him by Carter. —– Program: BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3; ELIOTT CARTER: Dialogues II for piano and orchestra; TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 1
Christian Thielemann – Brahms Cycle: Symphony No. 2 and Piano Concerto No. 2 with Maurizio Pollini
The third part of Christian Thielemann’s Brahms Cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden. On the program: BRAHMS’ piano concerto no. 2 B major op.83, with Maurizio Pollini as soloist, and Brahms’ symphony no. 2 D major. The evening is completed by Ferruccio Busoni’s: “Lustspiel-Ouvertüre” op. 38
Christian Thielemann – Brahms Cycle: Symphony No. 4 & Violin Concerto
Christian Thielemann and Lisa Batiashvili performing Brahms in Dresden. The concert is part of Christian Thielemann’s Brahms-Cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden. On the program: Brahms, Academic Festival Overture in C minor, Op. 80, the Violin Concerto D major, Op. 77 and the Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98.
Albrecht Mayer and Christian Thielemann: Bruckner, Strauss
Christian Thielemann’s international fame rests to a large extent on his interpretations of BRUCKNER. In this concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker he conducts the composer’s most popular work, the Fourth Symphony. As the epithet “Romantic” implies, Bruckner here creates a vision of a better past. The Oboe Concerto by RICHARD STRAUSS which opens the concert has a similarly nostalgic flavour. The soloist is Albrecht Mayer, principal oboist with the Berliner Philharmoniker since 1992.—– Program: Richard STRAUSS, Oboe Concerto in D major; Johann Sebastian BACH, Sinfonia from Cantata BWV 156, Anton BRUCKNER, Symphony No. 4 in E flat major “Romantic”