A piece of music as a ticket: his Vespers of Mary brought Claudio Monteverdi an engagement in Venice, where he made musical history as Kapellmeister of St Mark’s Cathedral. A one-way ticket, as it later turned out, but he remained loyal to this city and contributed to making it a magnet for composers and musicians from all over Europe. After his debut at Whitsun 2016, it was clear: Pablo Heras-Casado absolutely has to come back! Finally, the time has come: the star conductor once again took the podium of the Barocktage Residence Orchestra. Together with the Concentus Musicus Wien, a select cast of singers and the Ensemble Aedes he opened the International Baroque Days Stift Melk 2021 with Monteverdi’s gigantic work!
Salzburg Festival 2021: Muti conducts Missa solemnis
Since the death of Herbert von Karajan in 1989, the prestigious Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s concerts around Ascension Day (15 August) have firmly been in the hands of Riccardo Muti. Always sold out, they are among the highlights of every festival summer. For this year’s concert and on occasion of his 80th birthday, the maestro was acclaimed for his interpretation of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, a piece he has never conducted before. “Muti is a master in conveying extremes: monumentality, where it is compositionally intended, and highest internalization alternate with each other in a dense interplay.” FAZ
Salzburg Festival 2017: Mozart Requiem
Teodor Currentzis and his Russian ensemble musicAeterna give their long awaited Salzburg Festival debut at the Felsenreitschule with an exhilarating interpretation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem. The Greek-Russian star conductor, “visually the rock star amongst all conductors” (Kleine Zeitung), is for many today’s most exciting Mozart conductor. The musicAeterna orchestra and its fabulous choir, completely dressed in solemn black cassocks and afoot throughout the concert, perform with full verve and complement each other perfectly: “compelling and in its greatness hardly comparable” (Kronen Zeitung). The young quartet of excellent soloists – Anna Prohaska, Katharina Magiera, Mauro Peter and Tareq Nazmi – is “smoothly blending in with the ensemble” (Salzburg.com). The “phenomen Teodor Currentzis sets Salzburg on fire!” (Kleine Zeitung)
Salzburg Festival 2013: Nikolaus Harnoncourt & Wiener Philharmoniker, Joseph Haydn: “The Seasons”
The great conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt takes the podium to lead the Vienna Philharmonic and cast of high-class singers joined by the Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus in Haydn’s oratorio Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons).
Salzburg Festival 2013: Britten, War Requiem
“Intensive, touching… a deeply moving plea for peace” (News) – Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem marks the composer’s 100th birthday with a stellar Salzburg Festival cast: Anna Netrebko, Ian Bostridge and Thomas Hampson in the solo parts, accompanied by the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under the baton of Antonio Pappano. A “truly moving” performance, according to La Stampa newspaper.
BBC Proms 2023: Northern Soul
Curated by writer and broadcaster Stuart Maconie, the Northern Soul Prom is here to get you on your feet. This stomping celebration of British club culture brings a symphonic edge to the beats that took English towns across the industrial North and Midlands by storm in the 1960s and 1970s. What began as a celebration of forgotten American soul B-sides became a euphoric release at all-night dances for a young generation living for the weekends. “Extraordinary sound […] a full rhythm section and an unbelievable cast of vocalists” (The Prickle) “Pure euphoria, sweeping most of the pension-age crowd to their feet” (The Times)
BBC Proms 2023: Bollywood Legend – Lata Mangheshkar
Don’t miss this Prom’s tribute to the Nightingale of India: ‘Queen of Melody’ Lata Mangheshkar, whose voice was the soundtrack for generations of cinema-goers. The legendary Bollywood playback singer died in 2022, aged 92. For this concert, her legacy is celebrated by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra plays under the direction of Michael Seal, Indian singer Palak Muchhal and her younger brother Palash are doing the vocal parts. Together, they mark the immense career and catalogue of an extraordinary, era-defining artist. “Celebrate the musical legacy of Hindi cinema!” (The Daily Telegraph)
BBC Proms 2019: Karina Canellakis conducts Dvorák and Janácek
Janácek’s monumental Glagolitic Mass, steeped in Moravian rhythms, is heard alongside Dvorák’s fairy-tale tone-poem The Golden Spinning Wheel and and a World Premiere by Zosha Di Castri, a new work that marks the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s mission to the Moon. Karina Canellakis conducts the massed forces of the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, BBC Singers and soloists in one of the 20th century’s great choral masterpieces. “The performance of the season” (The Times) PROGRAM Zosha Di Castri: Long Is the Journey – Short Is the Memory; Dvorak: The Golden Spinning Wheel; Janacek: Glagolitic Mass
John Wilson at the BBC Proms 2019 – The Warner Brothers Story
Ten years since their first Proms appearance together, John Wilson and the John Wilson Orchestra present an evening of sumptuous technicoloured scores from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. With music from films including The Sea Hawk, The Constant Nymph, Calamity Jane, A Streetcar Named Desire and Harry Potter. “Audiences had a wonderful time, applauding wildly, stomping their feet” (The Times)
John Wilson at the BBC Proms – Tribute to Leonard Bernstein
John Wilson and his orchestra are an annual Proms highlight, bringing the glitz and glamour of old-time stage and screen to the Royal Albert Hall. The performance this year is all about Leonard Bernstein – America’s multitalented conductor, pianist and composer. He reinvented the musical with the anger, energy and feral beauty of West Side Story, his updated take on Romeo and Juliet. A starry cast of soloists including Proms favourite Julian Ovenden and the West End’s Louise Dearman join the John Wilson Orchestra and Maida Vale Singers for a tribute to the composer that includes Bernstein’s biggest hits as well as a selection of rarities. And with vivid colour, foot-tapping energy, and evident enjoyment on the part of conductor, orchestra and chorus America’s multitalented conductor, pianist and composer could not have been better remembered: “An evening of highlight after highlight – John Wilson together with his handpicked forces brought the house down. 5 out of 5 stars!” (Evening Standard)