With ‘Gold and Silver’, André Rieu presents a festive Christmas concert recorded in his home town of Maastricht. Together with his Johann Strauss Orchestra, the star violinist gets the audience in the mood for the festive season and presents a varied programme featuring classical melodies, festive tunes and popular Christmas carols. An elaborately designed set featuring 150 chandeliers, 50 candelabras and an ice rink creates the perfect atmosphere. Soloists Emma Kok, The Platin Tenors, Anna Majchrzak, Micaëla Oeste and Madieke Schoots.
Gala Concert from the Semperoper Dresden 2026
André Rieu – Waltz the Night Away
“Waltz the Night Away!” is André Rieu’s 2025 concert film, recorded on the Vrijthof square in Maastricht. Against the historic backdrop of this famous square, André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra present an open-air concert that transforms the Vrijthof into an atmospheric open-air ballroom. The programme features a varied selection of classical waltzes, well-known pop classics, popular tunes and traditional folk songs. Soloists Emma Kok, The Platin Tenors, Anna Majchrzak, Micaëla Oeste, Madieke Schoots, Michel Tirabosco and Los del Río.
Münchner Philharmoniker, Shani and Seong-Jin Cho in Tokyo
Filmed in Tokyo’s legendary Suntory Hall in April 2026, Lahav Shani and the Munich Philharmonic are joined by the brilliant Seong-Jin Cho in a programme focusing on two groundbreaking firsts: Beethoven’s exuberant, expansive First Piano Concerto and Mahler’s vividly pictorial First Symphony – a work that redefined what the symphony could be as the 19th century approached its end. With Mozart’s Overture to Die Entführung aus dem Serail as an arresting curtain-raiser, this concert presents more than a century of music central to the Austro-German tradition, performed at the very highest level. PROGRAMME: Mozart – Overture to Die Entführung aus dem Serail K.384; Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15; Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major “Titan”
Mao Fujita plays Mozart in Valencia
An open-air concert in the Renaissance courtyard of Valencia’s Old University offers a summer evening of classical music in a uniquely atmospheric setting. The program focuses on works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, enriched by the rarely heard Overture from Vicente Martín y Soler’s opera L’arbore di Diana. Japanese pianist Mao Fujita, who is praised for the clarity, naturalness, and refinement of his Mozart interpretations, performs Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467. The concert concludes with Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183, an early, intensely expressive work characterized by its dramatic drive and youthful urgency. With the Orquesta de Valencia led by Alexander Liebreich, the evening promises a vivid and elegant celebration of classical music — beautifully framed by one of Valencia’s most historic and atmospheric courtyards.
Alim Beisembayev plays Chopin and Karlowicz
Recorded at the prestigious Poznan Philharmonic Concert Hall, this concert brings together three major figures of Polish music history. The Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra performs under the baton of Lukasz Borowicz, with celebrated pianist Alim Beisembayev as soloist. The programme opens with Stanislaw Moniuszko’s Overture to the opera Halka, one of the key works of Poland’s national operatic tradition. This is followed by Mieczyslaw Karlowicz’s Eternal Songs, Op. 10, a richly atmospheric symphonic poem and a landmark of the Polish late-Romantic repertoire. The centrepiece of the evening is Fryderyk Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, a celebrated concerto that combines virtuosic brilliance with lyrical intimacy, placing the solo piano at the heart of an evocative orchestral setting.
Lucerne Festival 2026: Riccardo Chailly & Lukas Sternath
A program of rich colors and late-Romantic intensity unfolds as Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra open the evening with Scriabin’s shimmering Rêverie, a brief yet atmospheric sound vision. Rising star Lukas Sternath then performs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s rarely heard Piano Concerto No. 4, presented in the composer’s 1941 revision, where virtuosity, modern clarity, and lyrical depth find a remarkable balance. After the interval, the orchestra explores the dramatic world of Rachmaninoff’s opera Aleko through a selection of orchestral scenes full of passion, contrast, and dance. The concert concludes with Ottorino Respighi’s brilliant orchestrations of Rachmaninoff’s Cinq Études-Tableaux, transforming the piano pieces into vivid symphonic landscapes.
Lucerne Festival 2026: Opening Concert with Riccardo Chailly
The Lucerne Festival launches its 2026 summer season with a program celebrating the breadth of American music. Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra pair the vibrant sound world of George Gershwin with the early symphonic voice of Charles Ives. Gershwin’s Cuban Overture sets a spirited opening, alive with rhythmic drive and Caribbean color. Pianist Frank Dupree then brings his versatility to the Concerto in F major, where Gershwin seamlessly fuses the pulse of jazz with classical structure, culminating in a sparkling, high-energy finale. After the interval comes a shift in tone with Ives’s Symphony No. 1 in D minor, a work rooted in the late-Romantic tradition yet already hinting at the originality that would define his later music. Its lush orchestral writing and subtle surprises offer a compelling counterpart to Gershwin’s urban flair. Together, these works form an opening night that blends vitality, virtuosity, and the spirit of discovery—an ideal start to the Festival’s summer season.
Martha Argerich, Silvain Cambreling & Symphoniker Hamburg
She is a legendary pianist, a ‘lioness at the piano’, renowned for her spirited playing: Martha Argerich is the protagonist of the ‘Martha Argerich Festival’, named after her, which will took place for the eighth time in 2026. Alongside conductor Sylvain Cambreling and the Symphoniker Hamburg, Argerich presents a programme focused on dialogue. The first part highlights one of the most beloved piano concertos of all time, the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major by Beethoven. In the second, the orchestra showcases the full range of its sound with the Concerto for Orchestra by Bartók, a work where each instrumental section has the chance to show its virtuosity.
The Acropolis Open-Air with Lukas Sternath
Written during the tumult of the Napoleonic Wars, Beethoven’s fifth and final piano concerto is both epic and moving. Young Austrian pianist Lukas Sternath plays as soloist with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, conducted by Constantinos Carydis. The programme continues with a selection from Skalkottas’ 36 Greek Dances, composed between 1931 and 1936, to go back to Austrian classicism, with Mozart’s Symphony No. 35 and the elegant and graceful ballet from the opera Idomeneo. The concert took place in Athens, with a view of the ancient Acropolis.