In this edition of Hollywood in Vienna the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna and Hollywood’s renowned conductor David Newman takes us to the mysterious world of crime, where we encounter exciting characters of great movie classics. Starting off with Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, we experience the breathtaking suspense of Alfred Hitchcock (Spellbound, Psycho) and then witness the Third Man, hiding in the darkness of Vienna’s sewer system. Accompanied by Ennio Morricone’s music from The Untouchables, we meet Chicago’s great Al Capone and Nino Rota introduces us to the powerful Mafia boss of the Corleone family – The Godfather. After heading to America’s Wild West we are approached by a mysterious lone gunman in a desolate ghost town (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). Later we experience erotic obsessive moments with Jerry Goldsmith’s soundtrack to Basic Instinct and Hans Zimmer’s music for Inception takes us to the mysterious world of unconsciousness and shared dreamings. And we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series with the captivating Bond music by David Arnold.
Verdi, Messa da Requiem
In time for the Verdi Year 2013 the Teatro alla Scala has come up with a special project: Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with an exquisite quartet of soloists – Anja Harteros, Elina Garanca, Jonas Kaufmann and René Pape – conducted by Daniel Barenboim, the Teatro’s Maestro scaligero. This first performance in Milan is followed by performances at the Lucerne and the Salzburg Festival and in the Berlin Philharmonie in 2013.
St. Matthew Passion
The double choir is the essential musical aspect on which Iván Fischer’s interpretation of Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion is based. Only by consistently seizing on that duality will all the complementary layers stand out as they should. He describes this essential fundamental aspect as follows: ‘You can’t do the St Matthew in an unreligious way. The only approach is from a deep, universally religious feeling.’ Anyone the least bit familiar with Fischer knows that this won’t simply be a repeat performance; he is sure to go even deeper.
Bach, Weihnachtsoratorium (Christmas Oratorio) BWV 248
This production of Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” was recorded at two highly exceptional places: Palestine and Israel, the authentic, historical locations of the Christmas story. The recording of the work’s first three cantatas took place in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, and the second set of cantatas at the Evangelical Church in Jerusalem on Christmas Day. Conductor Riccardo Chailly leads the Zurich Opera’s acclaimed early-music ensemble along with a roster of top soloists. The program is interspersed with shots of various historical sites of Israel and Palestine.
Beethoven, Missa solemnis in D major, Op.123
The concert commemorating the bombardment of Dresden in World War II features Beethoven’s mighty choral work under the direction of Christian Thielemann. Playing with vibrancy and passion, the Staatskapelle Dresden made a profound impression on the entire audience. Particularly remarkable is the fabulously homogeneous solo quartet formed of Krassimira Stoyanova, Elina Garanca, Michael Schade and Franz-Josef Selig. Another major vocal feat was accomplished by the Saxon State Opera Choir, which mastered the extremely difficult choral part with effortless proficiency.
Stabat Mater op. 58
Recorded live from the Vladislav Hall in the Hradchin, Prague, Václav Neumann conducts the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Prague Philharmonic Choir in a deeply moving performance of Dvorák’s choral work. (Sung in Latin)
Requiem Op.89
Václav Neumann conducts the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Prague Philharmonic choir in this performance of Dvorák’s Requiem Op. 89, recorded live from the magnificent St. Veit’s Cathedral in Prague.
Bach, Matthäuspassion (St. Matthew’s Passion) BWV 244
Johann Sebastian Bach’s monumental St. Matthew Passion in a recording from Leipzig’s historic St. Thomas church, where it was first performed in 1729. Georg Christoph Biller, who was appointed the 18th “Thomaskantor” since J.S. Bach in 1992, leads Leipzig’s internationally acclaimed Gewandhaus Orchestra, the St. Thomas Choir and other distinguished artists such as Andreas Schmidt (Jesus), Olaf Bär (Pontius Pilate), Monika Frimmer, Bogna Bartosz and Martin Petzold
Mozart, Requiem K. 626
The Requiem is not only Mozart’s last composition, but also the one most shrouded in mystery. The purportedly enigmatic patron who ordered the work and the fatal illness that befell Mozart while he was working on it long nurtured the macabre legend of Mozart composing his own Requiem mass commissioned by Death himself. The Requiem was completed by Mozart’s friend and pupil Franz Saver Süssmayr on the basis of Mozart’s sketches and instructions. The somber woodwinds and brass, the artless melodies and the stirring shifts from intricate contrapuntal writing to mighty homophonic blocks convey an otherworldly, apocalyptic feeling seldom encountered in Mozart’s works. Despite its almost operatic solo passages and large orchestra, the Requiem was intended for the church, and is indeed an ideal work for the theatrically sumptuous and brilliant Baroque churches of Austria and southern Germany. The abbey church in Diessen (Bavaria) is a splendid example: completely rebuilt in the early 18th century by one of the leading South-German Baroque architects, it provides an admirable setting for Leonard Bernstein’s sensitive conducting of the Requiem. This production, which the Maestro dedicated to his wife Felicia Montealegre on the tenth anniversary of her death, is a moving and memorable tribute to commemorate Mozart’s and others’ deaths.