Saul

In 2009, Claus Guth staged a highly impressive “Messiah” at the Theater an der Wien; with “Saul”, he created again breathtaking musical theater at its finest. Florian Boesch in the title role dominates the production as the ruler slipping into madness. Boesch is an elemental force that attracts attention on stage like a black hole. As David, British countertenor Jake Arditti gives a perfect presentation of the change from the innocent boy to the man who, after many dramatic events, becomes Saul’s successor. “The pure Handel stroke of luck!” (Neue Musikzeitung). Anna Prohaska (Merab), Giulia Semenzato (Michal) and Rupert Charlesworth (Jonathan) perform convincingly the roles of Saul’s children who succumb to David’s physical and spiritual charms. The Freiburger Barockorchester under Christopher Moulds holds a finely textured balance between powerful ensemble and delicate solo passages of Handel’s score. The Arnold Schoenberg Choir’s nuanced singing – alternately exulting, admonitory or mournful – is as inspiring as the sound of the renowned period-instrument ensemble. “Handel vividly, today, as a mirror of the metamorphoses of power.” (Kurier) / “Florian Boesch as Saul is a vocal and acting elemental force, simply an ideal cast.” (Die Presse)

Maria Callas: Magic Moments of Music – Tosca 1964

This film tells the story of one of the most magic moments of music. The beginning of 1964 held a great surprise for the music world: Maria Callas returns to the opera stage as prima donna. Her “Tosca” at the Royal Opera House becomes a sensation. Not even the Beatles received more press coverage. All this, for an artist whose glorious career was said to be over, with the singer herself passing over to legend. It is no longer her performances, but her scandals that, are dominating the headlines. Unlucky in love with her billionaire boyfriend Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas wants to show them all that the title of ”Primadonna assoluta” is still rightfully hers. On condition that famed stage director Franco Zeffirelli takes on the production, the exceptional vocalist is prepared to take on the role of Tosca. Her fans queue outside the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden for four, even five nights. To get their hands on the sought after tickets, they spend the freezing winter nights in sleeping bags and on fold up chairs. The film tells the story of the event from today´s perspective and features interviews with Antonio Pappano, Rolando Villazón, Rufus Wainwright, Thomas Hampson, Anna Prohaska Wolfgang Joop, Jürgen Kesting, Brian McMaster, Kristine Opolais. As bonus the performance of Tosca´s second act is included. It is one of the most dramatic acts in opera history. The film recording is one of the few opportunities to see Maria Callas on stage and witness her emotional dramatics and vocal competence.

Salzburg Festival Opening Concert 2011

Dorothea Roeschmann, Anna Larsson, Johan Botha – and rising star Anna Prohaska: master conductor Pierre Boulez the “grand seigneur de subtle minimalism and exquisitely beguiling sounds” (Der Standard), assembled a cast of tremendous distinction for this prestigious concert, conceived as a tribute to Gustav Mahler. After two works by Mahler´s pupil Alban Berg, featuring Roeschmann and Prohaska, the main event of the concert is Gustav Mahler´s large-scale cantata “Das klagende Lied” – a “great spectral opera for the mind´s eye (Wiener Zeitung)

Opening Concert of the Pierre Boulez Concert Hall

A stellar lineup of artists, headed by Daniel Barenboim, comes together for the opening concert of the Pierre Boulez Saal, the new architectural highlight of the Barenboim-Said

Akademie in Berlin – “a masterpiece of its kind” (The New Yorker). Anna Prohaska and Jörg Widmann join Daniel Barenboim, “who plays with the sureness of a sleepwalker”

(Süddeutsche Zeitung), for Schubert’s lyrical scene Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, while the latter also partners with the Boulez Ensemble’s strings in Mozart’s Piano Quartet. Karim Said

and Michael Barenboim take on Berg’s Chamber Concerto, and Widmann performs his own Fantasy for Solo Clarinet. The programme is bookended by Boulez’ fanfare-like Initiale

and sur Incises, for three pianos, three harps, and three percussionists. “Absolutely beautiful!” (FAZ)

Magic Moments of Music – The Centenary Ring in Bayreuth 1976

Uproar, disruption, violent dispute – this was the response to the much-anticipated centenary of the Bayreuth Festival in 1976, which presented a new production of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. But before Pierre Boulez could step up to the conductor’s podium and the curtain could rise on Bayreuth’s Green Hill for Patrice Chéreau’s bold new production, the festival was rocked by artistic and political upheaval. The film tells how one of the greatest scandals in opera went on to become one of the greatest musical moments in history.

Magic Moments of Music – Anna Netrebko & Rolando Villazón sing La Traviata

The performance of La Traviata at the 2005 Salzburg Festival drew attention from all over the world: It is not the first time on stage together for Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón in the leading roles – but it is here in Salzburg that they finally rise to superstardom. Each are brilliant on their own, but under the direction of Willy Decker, they shine above all as a couple, playing to the fantasies of the audience. Opera stars had never before been so up-close and personal, and had never been so present in the media. Previously unseen rehearsal scenes and interviews with Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazon, Thomas Hampson and Willy Decker bring this magic moment of music to life.

Salzburg Festival 2013: NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo

The NHK Symphony Orchestra first performance at the Salzburg Festival. —– PROGRAM: Toru Takemitsu: November Steps for Biwa, Shakuhachi and Orchestra (Soloists: Kaoru Kakizakai, Shakuhachi; Kakujo Nakamura, Biwa) / Toshio Hosokawa: Lamentation for Soprano and Orchestra after poems by Georg Trakl (world premiere, work commissioned by the Salzburg Festival; Soloist: Anna Prohaska) / Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique op. 14

Salzburg Festival: Opening Concert 2011

In the Mahler year 2011, the eminent Pierre Boulez conducted the traditional opening concert of the Wiener Philharmoniker at the Salzburg Festival. The concert begins with the “Lulu Suite” by Mahler’s pupil Alban Berg. The music for the tragic temptress is sung here by the “dazzling” (Der Standard) young soprano Anna Prohaska. In Berg’s concert aria “Der Wein”, Dorothea Röschmann delivers a “masterful interpretation” (Die Presse). The main work of the concert is Gustav Mahler’s large-scale cantata “Das klagende Lied” of 1898/99 – a “great spectral opera for the mind’s eye” (Wiener Zeitung). Scored for massive orchestral and choral forces, the work also calls for three soloists, who are sung here with power and intensity by Dorothea Röschmann, Elisabeth Kulman and Johan Botha.

Saul

After his impressive Messiah of 2009, Claus Guth once again succeeds in a breathtaking realisation of a Handel oratorio with Saul. Florian Boesch in the title role dominates the production as the ruler slipping into madness. He is an elemental force that attracts attention on stage like a black hole. As David, British countertenor Jake Arditti gives a perfect presentation of the change from the innocent boy to the man who, after many dramatic events, becomes Saul’s successor. “The pure Handel stroke of luck!” (Neue Musikzeitung). Anna Prohaska, Giulia Semenzato and Rupert Charlesworth perform convincingly the roles of Saul’s children who succumb to David’s physical and spiritual charms. The Freiburger Barockorchester under Christopher Moulds holds a finely textured balance between powerful ensemble and delicate solo passages of Handel’s score. The Arnold Schönberg Choir’s nuanced singing – alternately exulting, admonitory or mournful – is as inspiring as the sound of the renowned period-instrument ensemble.