Symphonies in F & D minor for the first time released on DVD/Blu-ray! On the occasion of the Bruckner bicentenary, the Wiener Philharmoniker recorded its first ever complete Bruckner cycle under the baton of Christian Thielemann. In addition to the well-known canon of nine symphonies, the two earliest Bruckner symphonies in F minor and D minor, which are a world premiere on DVD and Blu-ray, were also recorded for the first time in the orchestra’s history. This uniquely complete edition from the Musikverein and Salzburg Festival, featuring 11 symphonies, also includes extensive conversations with Christian Thielemann about each symphony and insights into his rehearsal work. “Two symphonies that document Bruckner’s path to mastery quite excellently. (…) Conclusion: The next interesting Bruckner milestone in the cycle.” (Kurier) / “Masterly, kapellmeisterlike, dreamlike.” (Der Standard) / Beautiful to weep for and artistically accomplished. […] The interpretation of the Fifth may be considered a milestone. The way the musicians realised this work was simply grandiose.” (Kurier) PROGRAM Bruckner: Symphony in F minor (Study Symphony), Symphony in D minor (Nullte), Symphony No. 5; BONUS: Discovering Bruckner with Christian Thielemann
Bruckner 11 ? Christian Thielemann & Wiener Philharmoniker
On the occasion of the Bruckner bicentenary, the Wiener Philharmoniker recorded its first ever complete Bruckner cycle under the baton of Christian Thielemann. In addition to the well-known canon of nine symphonies, the two earliest Bruckner symphonies in F minor and D minor, which are a world premiere on DVD and Blu-ray, were also recorded for the first time in the orchestra’s history. This uniquely complete edition from the Musikverein and Salzburg Festival, featuring 11symphonies, also includes extensive conversations with Christian Thielemann about each symphony and insights into his rehearsal work. ?Thielemann has found a symbiosis with the Vienna Orchestra that makes unrivalled interpretative statements possible, especially for this repertoire?. (Die Presse on Bruckner 3). PROGRAM: Bruckner: Symphonies Nos 3 & 6; BONUS: Discovering Bruckner with Christian Thielemann
Bruckner 11 – Christian Thielemann & Wiener Philharmoniker
On the occasion of the Bruckner bicentenary, the Wiener Philharmoniker recorded its first ever complete Bruckner cycle under the baton of Christian Thielemann. In addition to the well-known canon of nine symphonies, the two earliest Bruckner symphonies in F minor and D minor, which are a world premiere on DVD and Blu-ray, were also recorded for the first time in the orchestra’s history. This uniquely complete edition from the Musikverein and Salzburg Festival, featuring 11symphonies, also includes extensive conversations with Christian Thielemann about each symphony and insights into his rehearsal work. “Thielemann has found a symbiosis with the Vienna Orchestra that makes unrivalled interpretative statements possible, especially for this repertoire”. (Die Presse on Bruckner 3). PROGRAM: Bruckner: Symphonies Nos 3 & 6; BONUS: Discovering Bruckner with Christian Thielemann
Bruckner 11 – Christian Thielemann & Wiener Philharmoniker
Symphonies in F & D minor for the first time released on DVD/Blu-ray! On the occasion of the Bruckner bicentenary, the Wiener Philharmoniker recorded its first ever complete Bruckner cycle under the baton of Christian Thielemann. In addition to the well-known canon of nine symphonies, the two earliest Bruckner symphonies in F minor and D minor, which are a world premiere on DVD and Blu-ray, were also recorded for the first time in the orchestra’s history. This uniquely complete edition from the Musikverein and Salzburg Festival, featuring 11 symphonies, also includes extensive conversations with Christian Thielemann about each symphony and insights into his rehearsal work. “Two symphonies that document Bruckner’s path to mastery quite excellently. (…) Conclusion: The next interesting Bruckner milestone in the cycle.” (Kurier) / “Masterly, kapellmeisterlike, dreamlike.” (Der Standard) / Beautiful to weep for and artistically accomplished. […] The interpretation of the Fifth may be considered a milestone. The way the musicians realised this work was simply grandiose.” (Kurier) PROGRAM Bruckner: Symphony in F minor (Study Symphony), Symphony in D minor (Nullte), Symphony No. 5; BONUS: Discovering Bruckner with Christian Thielemann
Bruckner 11 – Christian Thielemann & Wiener Philharmoniker
On the occasion of the Bruckner bicentenary, the Wiener Philharmoniker recorded its first ever complete Bruckner cycle under the baton of Christian Thielemann. In addition to the well-known canon of nine symphonies, the two earliest Bruckner symphonies in F minor and D minor, which are a world premiere on DVD and Blu-ray, were also recorded for the first time in the orchestra’s history. This uniquely complete edition from the Musikverein and Salzburg Festival, featuring 11 symphonies, also includes extensive conversations with Christian Thielemann about each symphony and insights into his rehearsal work. “With the First, they […] provided an hour of happiness. […] An overwhelming event, entirely of philharmonic sound”. (Kronen Zeitung) // “Thielemann conducted Bruckner’s Seventh as a human drama in philharmonic splendour”. (Die Presse) PROGRAM: Bruckner: Symphony Nos 1 & 7; BONUS: Discovering Bruckner with Christian Thielemann
Herbert Blomstedt – Wiener Philharmoniker at Salzburg Festival
Now in his nineties, Herbert Blomstedt, former conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, is still a powerful interpreter of the symphonic repertoire. His programme with the Wiener Philharmoniker is straightforward: it begins with Honegger’s brilliant Third Symphony and ends with Brahms’ Fourth. The eminent maestro, one of the orchestra’s favourites since his debut at the 2011 Salzburg Mozart Week, continues to enchant audiences with his enormous presence, verve and artistic drive. “A stirring, long-lasting listening experience. At the end, standing ovations and boundless cheers.” (br-klassik.de) “Fortunately, they still exist, the magical moments when time stands still, when music reaches and touches people.” (Die Presse) PROGRAM Honegger: Symphony No. 3 “Liturgique”; Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Beethoven: 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 // “Muti mastered the work and presented it as stringently as perhaps no one else can do it today.” Die Presse
Christian Thielemann – Wiener Philharmoniker at Salzburg Festival
Christian Thielemann is a compelling advocate for German music, and his Salzburg Festival 2020 programme with the Wiener Philharmoniker is smack-dab at the heart of his favoured repertoire. For his long-awaited return to the Summer Festival, he opens with Wagner’s Wesendock Songs, considered musical sketches for the opera Tristan und Isolde, with terrific Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca as soloist. The centerpiece is Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, the Romantic. Storms of applause. “Together with an orchestra that breathes with her, Elina Garanca proved that she currently represents the non plus ultra in the mezzosoprano category. Grandiose the fusion of intensity and noble sound” Der Standard “An event with goose bumps“ Kurier PROGRAM Wagner: Five Poems for female voice and piano “Wesendonck Lieder”; Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 “Romantic”
Elektra
Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The Lithuanian soprano Ausrine Stundyte as vengeful and traumatized Elektra turns the opening of the Festival into a real knockout performance! Her sister Chrysotemis is sung by her compatriot Asmik Grigorian, who made her international breakthrough as acclaimed Salome at the 2018 Salzburg Festival, and whose performance once again draws the audience into spell. Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as Klytämnestra, Derek Welton as Orest and Michael Laurenz as Ägisth complete an ensemble of top-notch singers. The staging by Krzysztof Warlikowski of this work about matricide, obsession, revenge and physical degradation is a deep psychological study of a broken family. Franz Welser-Möst brings his trademark flair to the pit where the brilliantly effervescent and then again heartrendingly gentle playing Wiener Philharmoniker create gloriously exultant Strauss moments. “To have chosen Elektra of all pieces, was audacious – and to have brought it off so well, triumphant”
Orphée aux Enfers
Operetta enthusiast Barrie Kosky has landed a gigantic success with Offenbach’s subversive and hilarious reversion of the Orpheus myth at the Salzburg Festival. Kosky created a magically precise and witty staging with numerous extravagant costumes in a glittering opulent scenery and a literally devilish choreography. For the dialogues he has found an impressively ingenious solution as they are not spoken by the singers. Rather they are performed by the brilliant German actor Max Hopp as John Styx “who performs a true vocal miracle” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) in a slapstick-like manner. The superb cast impresses with virtuoso singing as well as ravishingly comedic acting, first and foremost the American coloratura soprano Kathryn Lewek as Eurydice “with crystal clear coloraturas and sovereign top tones” (Salzburger Nachrichten), the Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter as severe L’Opinion publique or the Austrian bass baritone Martin Winkler as foolish father of the gods Jupiter. Under the Italian conductor Enrique Mazzola’s precise conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker provide an exquisite “sparkling orchestral sound” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). “A frantic and fabulous show” (New York Times)