Th e Concertgebouw was officially inaugurated on 11 April 1888. Public interest was so great that Amsterdam experienced its very first traffic jam (of carriages). Now, 125 years later, the RCO and the Concertgebouw are organising an anniversary concert together. Under the baton of its chief conductor Mariss Jansons, the orchestra is welcoming three popular guest soloists: Janine Jansen, Thomas Hampson and Lang Lang. This festive programme features Mahler and Strauss, both of whom conducted the orchestra on several occasions. Musicians from the RCO, the Vienna and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras are joining forces for a performance of the Elégie from Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. —— WAGNER: Prelude to ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’ // MAHLER: ‘Ging heut’ morgens über Feld’, ‘Rheinlegendchen’, ‘Lob des hohen Verstandes’ // PROKOFIEV: Piano concerto Nr 3 in C major, op. 26, 3rd movement // TCHAIKOVSKY: Serenade for strings: Élégie // SAINT-SAËNS: Introduction et Rondo capriccioso // R. STRAUSS: Suite from ‘Der Rosenkavalier’. (75′ / 90′ / 102′) (A865500020000)
Season Opening Concert: Christian Thielemann & Staatskapelle Dresden
Hanns Eisler believed that “if you wish to possess the future you must first conquer the past”. And so it is with his “Ernste Gesänge” (Serious Songs), which are not only concerned with memory, but also with the hope of future happiness. 50 years after the Dresden premiere, Christian Thielemann and Thomas Hampson perform this final work by Eisler at the Season Opening Concert 2013/2014 of the Staatskapelle Dresden. Not untypically for Bruckner, his Fifth Symphony is a confrontation with the past, in this case resulting in a “polyphonal masterpiece”. —– PROGRAM: Hans Eisler: Ernste Gesänge for Baritone and String Orchestra / Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, WAB 105
The Odeonsplatz Concert: ‘Wagner & Verdi’
2013 open air concert from the stunning Odeonsplatz in Munich was dedicated to the music of Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner performed by star tenor Rolando Villazón and world-famous baritone Thomas Hampson joined bySymphonieorchester and Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks. —— PROGRAM: Giuseppe Verdi: Ouverture to Les Vêpres Siciliennes; “Ce jour heureux est plein d’allégresse” from Don Carlos (Autodafé) // Jules Massenet: “Ce breuvage pourrait” – Vision fugitive from Hérodiade; “Ah! Tout est bien fini – O souverain” from Le Cid // Maurice Ravel: La Valse // Richard Wagner: “Freudig begrüßen wir die edle Halle” from Tannhäuser (Entry of the Guests); “Wie Todesahnung – O du mein holder Abendstern” from Tannhäuser; Prelude to Lohengrin, Act I // Giuseppe Verdi / Luciano Berio: L’Esule // Giuseppe Verdi: “Vedi le fosche notturne spoglie” from Il Trovatore (Anvil Chorus); “Dio, che nell’alma infondere” from Don Carlo
Festive Advent Concert at the Frauenkirche Dresden 2011
Mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch and baritone Thomas Hampson are the stars of this year’s traditional Advent concert in the historic Frauenkirche in Dresden. Conductor Christian Thielemann heads this particularly lavish program with the Staatskapelle Dresden in the famous Baroque church. Together with the State Opera Chorus, and in a setting of resplendent beauty, they perform inspiring and festive works such as arias from Bach’s Mass in B minor and his Christmas Oratorio. The festive Advent concerts have become an institution since the year 2000. The TV broadcast of the concert is watched by almost two million viewers in Germany alone.
Thomas Hampson sings Schumann
If there is one genre of music which baritone Thomas Hampson is exceptionally passionate about, it is the lied. To Hampson, song and singing are ‘the diary of our existence’ and he has invested a great amount of time, work and love to luring this genre out of the shadow of the more spectacular opera. One composer he particularly cherishes is Robert Schumann. Hampson begins this Schumann recital, recorded at Munich’s Prinzregententheater with Wolfram Rieger at the piano, with the cycle Zwölf Gedichte op. 35 on poems by Justinus Kerner. The second part of the recital is devoted to the original version of the popular Dichterliebe op. 48. While Hampson was preparing his first performance of the cycle based on poems by Heinrich Heine, he consulted the composer’s manuscript, only to find that the original cycle of 1840 was a completely distinctive work containing many musical and textual differences. Among the most notable differences was the presence of four songs that were omitted from the later cycle. These works – ‘Dein Angesicht so lieb und schön,’ ‘Lehn deine Wang an meine Wang,’ ‘Es leuchtet meine Liebe’ and ‘Mein Wagen rollet langsam’ – are featured here as first-ever recordings of these rediscovered works.
Journey
Born in Bolzano (Bozen, Italy) in 1934, Herbert Rosendorfer is a lawyer who introduced himself as an author in 1966 with his short story “Die Glasglocke.” This was followed by many novels, stage works, scripts and short stories, which revealed him to be an imaginative and multi-faceted author. A socio-critical satirist, he writes with a well-balanced mixture of wit, thought-provoking ideas and absurd-grotesque elements. All this is also found in his novel “Briefe in die chinesische Vergangenheit” (Letters to China’s Past) of 1983, which ranks among his most well-known books. Here the Chinese Kao-Tai travels from the 10th century to the Munich of the 20th century. In addition to his legal activities, Rosendorfer is honorary professor for contemporary Bavarian literature at the University of Munich and obtained the Bavarian Literature Prize in 1999.
Mahler, Rückertlieder
Just a few months before his final illness and death, Leonard Bernstein conducted three masterworks by Gustav Mahler in a concert at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal with the Vienna Philharmonic. The program consisted of the “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen”, the “Rückertlieder” and the “Kindertotenlieder”. The soloist was the American baritone Thomas Hampson. The trade publication “Musik & Theater” wrote: “I know of no other baritone today who can profess a similar mastery of these three Mahler song cycles on a vocal, emotional and textually sensitive level. […] a singular vocal accomplishment and a worthy conclusion of Bernstein’s extensive Mahler discography.”
Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Just a few months before his final illness and death, Leonard Bernstein conducted three masterworks by Gustav Mahler in a concert at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal with the Vienna Philharmonic. The program consisted of the “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen”, the “Rückertlieder” and the “Kindertotenlieder”. The soloist was the American baritone Thomas Hampson. The trade publication “Musik & Theater” wrote: “I know of no other baritone today who can profess a similar mastery of these three Mahler song cycles on a vocal, emotional and textually sensitive level. […] a singular vocal accomplishment and a worthy conclusion of Bernstein’s extensive Mahler discography.”
Mahler, Kindertotenlieder
Just a few months before his final illness and death, Leonard Bernstein conducted three masterworks by Gustav Mahler in a concert at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal with the Vienna Philharmonic. The program consisted of the “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen”, the “Rückertlieder” and the “Kindertotenlieder”. The soloist was the American baritone Thomas Hampson. The trade publication “Musik & Theater” wrote: “I know of no other baritone today who can profess a similar mastery of these three Mahler song cycles on a vocal, emotional and textually sensitive level. […] a singular vocal accomplishment and a worthy conclusion of Bernstein’s extensive Mahler discography.”
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.