This Blu-ray box contains legendary concerts from 1977 – 1990 of Leonard Bernstein conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker, Orchestre National de France and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Additional included is the Centennial Celebration Concert at Tanglewood, featuring John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, Andris Nelsons, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tony Yazbeck and many more, performing works by Bernstein, Williams, Mahler and Copland. CONTENT: BD 1 Jean Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 5, 7 // BD 2 Beethoven & Haydn // BD 3 Haydn: Symphonies: Nos. 94, 92, 88 // BD 4 Berlioz, Roussel, Saint-Saëns, Thomas // BD 5 Bernstein at 100
Solti conducts Haydn: The Creation
Haydn’s oratorio Die Schöpfung (The Creation) is one of the enduring miracles of classical music: a work of visionary scope and life-affirming freshness, created by a composer approaching his 70th birthday. Sir Georg Solti was nearing the end of his long and extraordinary career when he made this unique recording under studio conditions in the Herkulessaal, Munich – and in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, he could hardly have had more inspirational collaborators. With a trio of handpicked soloists, the result is a performance with an unforgettable atmosphere: a deeply moving meeting of two of music’s most irrepressible spirits.
Solti conducts Shostakovich & Tchaikovsky
Two very different Russian symphonies, each with a powerful story to tell. Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony was his final masterpiece, an impassioned outpouring of melody and sorrow whose very name means “full of emotion”. Shostakovich’s Ninth might seem like its polar opposite: crisp, playful and bristling with pitch-black humour. But in Stalin’s Russia, those were dangerous qualities. Few conductors felt the tug of history like Sir Georg Solti, and few drove more directly for a piece’s heart. This recording with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, captured live at Munich’s Philharmonie am Gasteig, finds both conductor and orchestra at their uncompromising best.
Solti conducts Mendelssohn & Shostakovich
Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony begins with a burst of pure sunlight. Shostakovich’s Tenth opens under altogether darker skies. But both composers are burning to communicate, and for Sir Georg Solti – a conductor who never compromised on energy, integrity or pure, heartfelt commitment to the music he performed – that was enough. In this live recording from the Philharmonie am Gasteig in Munich he conducts one of his favourite orchestras: the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, renowned (then as now) for the lustre of its sound and its profound, instinctive understanding of the symphonic tradition. This is great music making at its most spontaneous – and masterful.
Mariss Jansons conducts Shostakovich Symphony No. 5
In the first concert of their tournee through the musical metropolises of South-America starting in Buenos Aires, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the baton of their musical director Mariss Jansons were celebrated by the audience for their interpretation of the 5th symphony by Shostakovich. In the sold out Teatro Colón, one of the biggest and most beautiful opera houses in the world, they “succeeded in delivering a moving, profound interpretation at the highest musical level” (SZ).
Odeonsplatz Concert 2025: Franz-Welser Möst & Daniil Trifonov
For 25 years, the Odeonsplatz Concert has been an open-air highlight of the classical music summer, attracting over 16,000 viewers each year. Star pianist Daniil Trifonov opened the evening with a thrilling performance of Prokofievís Third Piano Concerto, accompanied by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst. In the second half, Welser-Möst delighted the audience with the irresistible melodies from Richard Strauss’s Rosenkalavier. “Trifonov remains the ideal choice for Prokofiev” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). PROGRAM Prokofiev: Piano Concerto, No. 3; R. Strauss: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier (arranged by Franz Welser-Möst); J. Strauss: Unter Donner und Blitz
The Odeonsplatz Concert: Gilbert & Fleming
Nestled in the historic city centre of Munich, the Odeonsplatz provides the perfect venue for one of the open-air highlights of the year: “Klassik am Odeonsplatz”! This time one of the greatest opera stars of our days, soprano Renée Fleming is joining the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Alan Gilbert’s baton. PROGRAM Songs by Tchaikovsky, Korngold, Bernstein, von Flotow; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.5
BR: Festive Gala with Lang Lang and Mariss Jansons
Feel like taking a world tour? Let Mariss Jansons and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks take you to Europe, America and Asia in their festive gala programme. They are joined by super star Lang Lang, who performs the dreamy Andante from Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C major as well as an excerpt from the Yellow River Concerto, a popular piece from his native China. To end the concert maestro Jansons unleashes a musical firework display with an Hungarian Dance by Brahms and Rumanian folk music by Ligeti.
BR: Pappano conducts Rachmaninoff and Bernstein
Only once has Sir Antonio Pappano been a guest of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks – time for a reunion with the British star conductor at the Philharmonie in Munich! Pappano has earned the highest reputation as long-standing music director at London’s Opera House Covent Garden and of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome. In Munich, his extraordinary programme includes Sergei Rachmaninoff’s magnificent Second Symphony, which demonstrates the outstanding melodic qualities of the Russian composer, who is regarded as the “Last of the Romantics”. To celebrate the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein, Pappano presents the rarely heard Symphony No. 2, which shows the young American conductor and composer in search of meaning. With this work, dubbed “The Age of Anxiety”, the composer struck the nerve of the post-war generation who oscillated between loneliness and the craving for pleasure and longed for stability in faith. Kirill Gerstein, “who is emerging as one of the most respected pianists of his generation” (New York Times), gives his debut with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in the dark, urban piece of Bernstein. As the symphony’s dazzling protagonist, he will bring his jazz experience to this highly topical piece.
The Odeonsplatz Concert: Macelaru & Damrau
Leonard Bernstein: Candide – Overture; Jules Massenet: “Suis je gentille ainsi? Allons, il le faut…” from the opera “Manon”; Jules Massenet: Thaïs: Méditation; Erik Satie: Gymnopédies 1 and 3 (orchestrated by Debussy); Charles Gounod: “Un bouquet..Ah, je ris de..” from the opera “Faust”; Antonín Dvorák: Symphony No 9 E minor, op 95 – “From the New World”