The Subscription Concert Series of the Wiener Philharmoniker from the Golden Hall of the famous Musikverein are special concerts reserved for subscribers. Due to the exceptional quality of the concerts and the limited offer, the average waiting time for subscribers is more than 10 years. With this series, these very special concerts are made available for the first time audiovisually to a wider audience worldwide. Conductor Herbert Blomstedt, honorary member of the orchestra, is a regular guest at the subscription concerts. For this one he chose Carl Nielsen’s Fifth Symphony: “It is full of Danish humour: very serious and at the same time very comic and yet sublime.” As a counterpoint to Nielsen’s exciting experimentation, Greek star violinist Leonidas Kavakos interprets Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto, one of the most beloved and frequently performed works in the violin concerto repertoire. “Leonidas Kavakos, together with the Philharmoniker, makes this beautiful work a true celebration.” (klassik-begeistert.de)
Through the Eyes of Yuja
This film is a journey with the famous pianist Yuja Wang. With more than 120 performances a year, she lives a nomadic lifestyle. The exploration of Yuja’s wanderings is a travelogue of exciting venues, glitzy cities and encounters with extraordinary artists, such as Gustavo Dudamel, Gauthier Capuçon and Leonidas Kavakos and personalities of other professional horizons but there is also a downside: fatigue, jet lag, pressure, doubts, hostilities, disorientation, and loneliness. With a bittersweet reference to the transience of life, the film reveals the invisible that complements the visible and shows us this artist in a very personal way. “Pianists have to be alone all the time, and it’s hard, it’s lonely. Being a musician is almost like a very isolated life, and the only time you actually get to communicate is on stage with music. It’s not a bad thing. I think being solitary, it really allows us to think about life and to think about why people write this music. […] It makes you start to wonder about things that are beneath the surface.” Yuja Wang
The Odeonsplatz Concert: Harding & Kavakos
“Kavakos plays Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with a Kavakos-like supremacy making every trill flash and carving out every piece of scale with iron precision. […] It’s all about conciseness, about attitude, a kind of highly energetic music-making that knows no limits of expression.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) “Klassik am Odeonsplatz” is a summer highlight in the musical life of the Bavarian capital. This concert from the 2022 edition features famous masterpieces as Dvorák “New World” Symphony and the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto played by Leonidas Kavakos together with Daniel Harding on the podium of the Münchner Philharmoniker. PROGRAM: Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto; Dvorák: Symphony No. 9; Johann Strauss: Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka
Mozart, Violin Concerto in A major, K.219 (Mozartwoche 2002)
Mozart, who was also an accomplished violinist, wrote all of his five violin concertos in Salzburg in 1775, apparently for his own personal use. Their style can best be described as cosmopolitan and reflects the many musical currents he had been exposed to while on his travels in Italy and elsewhere. Aristocratic, suave, witty, wonderfully melodious, they are dazzling gems that conceal an inner core of challenging material that can be truly mastered only by the very best violinists. The Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos was born in Athens in 1967 and, thanks to a fellowship of the Onassis Foundation, attended a master class given by Joseph Gingold at the University of Indiana. He has been invited to take part in many chamber music festivals, and presents his own festival in Athens every year. As proven in this recording, he is also a remarkable conductor. He plays the “Falmouth” Stradivarius of 1692. The former “Camerata academica Salzburg” was renamed simply “Camerata Salzburg” in 2001. It was founded in 1951 by Bernhard Paumgartner, who was its head and mentor for many years. From 1978 to 1997 its artistic director was Sándor Végh and in 1997 Roger Norrington was appointed principal conductor of the ensemble. The Camerata Salzburg can be heard every year at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Salzburg Festival.
Mozart, Violin Concerto in B flat major, K.207 (Mozartwoche 1999)
Mozart, who was also an accomplished violinist, wrote all of his five violin concertos in Salzburg in 1775, apparently for his own personal use. Their style can best be described as cosmopolitan and reflects the many musical currents he had been exposed to while on his travels in Italy and elsewhere. Aristocratic, suave, witty, wonderfully melodious, they are dazzling gems that conceal an inner core of challenging material that can be truly mastered only by the very best violinists. The Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos was born in Athens in 1967 and, thanks to a fellowship of the Onassis Foundation, attended a master class given by Joseph Gingold at the University of Indiana. He has been invited to take part in many chamber music festivals, and presents his own festival in Athens every year. As proven in this recording, he is also a remarkable conductor. He plays the “Falmouth” Stradivarius of 1692. The former “Camerata academica Salzburg” was renamed simply “Camerata Salzburg” in 2001. It was founded in 1951 by Bernhard Paumgartner, who was its head and mentor for many years. From 1978 to 1997 its artistic director was Sándor Végh and in 1997 Roger Norrington was appointed principal conductor of the ensemble. The Camerata Salzburg can be heard every year at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Salzburg Festival. Alexander Janiczek, who conducts this concert, comes from Salzburg and has been the concertmaster of the Camerata Salzburg since 1991.
Mozart, Violin Concerto in D major, K.211 (Mozartwoche 1999)
Mozart, who was also an accomplished violinist, wrote all of his five violin concertos in Salzburg in 1775, apparently for his own personal use. Their style can best be described as cosmopolitan and reflects the many musical currents he had been exposed to while on his travels in Italy and elsewhere. Aristocratic, suave, witty, wonderfully melodious, they are dazzling gems that conceal an inner core of challenging material that can be truly mastered only by the very best violinists. The Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos was born in Athens in 1967 and, thanks to a fellowship of the Onassis Foundation, attended a master class given by Joseph Gingold at the University of Indiana. He has been invited to take part in many chamber music festivals, and presents his own festival in Athens every year. As proven in this recording, he is also a remarkable conductor. He plays the “Falmouth” Stradivarius of 1692. The former “Camerata academica Salzburg” was renamed simply “Camerata Salzburg” in 2001. It was founded in 1951 by Bernhard Paumgartner, who was its head and mentor for many years. From 1978 to 1997 its artistic director was Sándor Végh and in 1997 Roger Norrington was appointed principal conductor of the ensemble. The Camerata Salzburg can be heard every year at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Salzburg Festival. Alexander Janiczek, who conducts this concert, comes from Salzburg and has been the concertmaster of the Camerata Salzburg since 1991.
Blomstedt conducts Brahms, Bach & Nielsen
“Leonidas Kavakos, together with the Philharmoniker, makes this beautiful work a true celebration.” (klassik-begeistert.de) Herbert Blomstedt made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic late in life, only in 2011, at the age of 83. But since then he has been a regular guest and, since 2019, even an honorary member of the orchestra. In this concert he presents a work from his Scandinavian homeland: Carl Nielsen’s Fifth Symphony. “Carl Nielsen’s music breathes a special, unfathomable mood”, says Blomstedt. “It is full of Danish humour: very serious and at the same time very comic and yet sublime.” As a counterpoint to Nielsen’s exciting experimentation, Greek star violinist Leonidas Kavakos interprets Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto, one of the most beloved and frequently performed works in the violin concerto repertoire.
Beethoven – The Complete Violin Sonatas
Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Sonatas for Piano and Violin” were almost all composed in a relatively quick succession between 1797 and 1803, in Beethoven’s early days, and are now part of the classic repertoire of the violin literature. Leonidas Kavakos’s and Enrico Pace’s interpretation of the complete Sonata Cycle set new standards, was nominated for the Grammy Award and was celebrated by the press: “Together these two make magic” (Buffalo News), “an ideally attuned, technically perfect duo” (Die
Presse).
Le Concert de Paris 2022
It is now a well-established tradition: every year, on July 14, the Orchestre National de France welcomes the summer with a large musical gathering at the foot of the Eiffel Tower with stunning fireworks! Conducted by Cristian Macelaru, and accompanied by the Chorus of Radio France, the orchestra invites the audience around the world and thousands of people on the spot, to experience great arias and famous concert pieces in the company of prestigious soloists like Alice Sara Ott, Nadine Sierra, Lea Desandre, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Gautier Capuçon Erwin Schrott and Leonidas Kavakos.
RCO Opening Night 2021: Daniel Harding & Leonidas Kavakos
The Royal Concertgebouworkest is celebrating the new season with a grand gift to the city, the country and the world. On Friday 10 September, the Concertgebouworkest opens the 2021/2022 season with a festive concert open-air in the heart of Amsterdam – that evening, music sounds through the streets from Dam Square. In this way, the musicians and the public bring the city back to life, ringing in the new season with you in this spectacular way! Daniel Harding is not only a conductor but also a pilot for Air France. Tonight, he leads us on a musical journey through Europe, ending in Paris. PROGRAM Roukens: CHASE; Strauss: DON JUAN; Paganini: LA CAMPANELLA; Verdi: LA FORZA DEL DESTINO; Boulanger: D´UN MATIN DE PRINTEMPS; Ravel: TZIGAN; Gershwin: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS + encores