Axel Köhler’s production of Der Freischütz at the Dresden State Opera was described by Die Presse as “a minor miracle in Dresden”. In the words of the Salzburger Nachrichten, Köhler “scored a bulleye” with his sombre and satanic interpretation of Weber’s Romantic opera about love, temptation, souls sold to the Devil, obsession and faith. According to the Financial Times, Christian Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle conjured up a sense of “mortal terror from the orchestra pit. […] Thielemann is in command of every detail. That makes for utterly gripping listening.”
Der Freischütz
Axel Köhler’s production of Der Freischütz at the Dresden State Opera was described by Die Presse as “a minor miracle in Dresden”. In the words of the Salzburger Nachrichten, Köhler “scored a bulleye” with his sombre and satanic interpretation of Weber’s Romantic opera about love, temptation, souls sold to the Devil, obsession andfaith. According to the Financial Times, Christian Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle conjured up a sense of “mortal terror from the orchestra pit. […] Thielemann is in command of every detail. That makes for utterly gripping listening.”
Il Mondo della Luna
2009 marked Haydn´s anniversary year as well as Nikolaus Harnoncourt´s 80th birthday. For this occasion the maestro chose Il mondo della luna, a delicious mixture of satire, comedy and science fiction based on a popular comedy by Carlo Goldoni. Haydn´s music unleashes a display of fireworks performed with irresistible energy by Harnoncourt and his ensemble. Renowned actor and director Tobias Moretti relates the story as a magical fairy tale infused with slapstick and fantasy costumes. “This piece is extreme, completely insane and very funny. Wherever you puncture the surface of Haydn, you come upon sheer madness.” Nikolaus Harnocourt
Il Mondo della luna
It was an ideal constellation for an extraordinary musical event: the coincidence of the Haydn anniversary year with the 80th birthday of Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The universally acclaimed specialist of the Viennese Classical era chose a work by Haydn for his birthday tribute, ‘Il Mondo della Luna’. The dramma giocoso of 1777 is a delicious mixture of satire, comedy and science fiction based on an immensely popular comedy by 18th-century dramatist Carlo Goldoni.
Blomstedt conducts Bach’s Mass in B Minor
Just a few weeks before his 90th birthday, Herbert Blomstedt gifted himself a special birthday present: conducting Bach’s Mass in B Minor, in the Leipzig Thomaskirche – the composer’s former workplace. According to Blomstedt, Bach’s last complete vocal work is the climax of his creativity and is one of the most important works in his life: “It is like a reflection of doubt. It is enormously powerful music in the same way that a wedge is enormously powerful.” For Peter Wollny, director of the Bach-Archiv Leipzig, Bach’s magnum opus is “without doubt the most intellectually and musically varied and challenging of Bach’s compositions” and “one of the greatest achievements of Western culture.” The concert closed the Bachfest Leipzig 2017 and was performed by the Gewandhausorchester, the Dresdner Kammerchor, and the soloists Christina Landshamer, Elisabeth Kulman, Wolfram Lattke and Luca Pisaroni.
C.P.E. Bach – 300 Years: The 1786 Charity Concert
A concert in celebration of the 300th birthday of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach from the Konzerthaus Berlin. The famous RIAS Kammerchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik are performing works by C.P.E. Bach, his father J. S. Bach and G. F. Haendel. ——- PROGRAM: C.P.E. Bach · Introduction / J.S. Bach · Credo (Symbolum Nicenum) / G.F. Händel · Arie: Ich weiß, daß mein Erlöser lebt / G.F. Händel · Hallelujah / C.P.E. Bach · Sinfonie / Magnificat (Lobgesang Mariens) / Heilig with double chorus. Length: approx. 105′ / 58′ (2nd half) / 43′ (Magnificat)
Christmas Oratorio
Bach’s timeless, irresistible Christmas Oratorio returns to Leipzig – and to St. Thomas’s Church, where several of its six gorgeous cantatas were heard for the very first time in 1734-35! Adding to the historical import of this unmissable event are the Gewandhausorchester, one of the world’s oldest and most venerated orchestras founded in 1781, and the Thomanerchor (St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig), a legendary ensemble formed over eight hundred years ago in 1212 and directed by Bach himself between 1723 and 1750. The eighteenth person to hold the post of Thomaskantor since Bach, Andreas Reize leads the impeccable orchestra and choir – joined by soloists Christina Landshamer, Benedikt Kristjánsson, and Konstantin Krimmel – in a festive and delightful performance of one of those cherished works from which the holiday spirit flows unfettered and ebullient.