Right from her first acclaimed Deutsche Grammophon recording of the work with Claudio Abbado and the Berliner Philharmoniker, Ravel’s brilliant jazz-inspired Piano Concerto in G has been a staple of Martha Argerich’s repertoire: a work whose scintillating rhythms, sparkling passage-work and melodic inspiration seem tailor made to the legendary Argentinian pianist’s remarkable gifts. And that fact is clear to see and hear in this thrilling performance filmed in the Alte Oper in Frankfurt in September 1990, in which Argerich is joined by the Orchestre National de France and conductor Charles Dutoit.
The Odeonsplatz Concert: Viotti & Wang
The Odeonsplatz is one of the most beautiful places in Munich. The surrounding historic buildings distinguish this location as an open-air arena for about 8,000 spectators. The square is named after a popular concert hall, the Odeon, which was built by Ludwig I of Bavaria in the early 19th century. “Klassik am Odeonsplatz” is a summer highlight in the musical life of the Bavarian capital. Yuja Wang shines in Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, furthermore Lorenzo Viotti conducts popular works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Chabrier, and Ravel. PROGRAM Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2; Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol; Chabrier: Espana; Ravel: Bolero
Jenufa
Leoš Janácek’s third opera, with its echoes of folk music from the composer’s native Moravia, was his first real success and got the name “Moravian national opera”. Besides
this, Janácek’s music has a special quality: while it explores psychological extremes leading to violence and infanticide and lays bare characters’ emotions in an unsparing manner,
no one is judged. Jenufa has a special relationship with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden: when it premiered in Berlin in 1924, its success on the German stage was assured until nowadays. “Rattle reveals a dynamic understanding of Janácek’s musical language in a reading that’s urgent, unsentimental and richly flavoured” (bachtrack.com). The FAZ described the production as “a beguiling mixture of speaking articulation and tonal roundness.”
Salzburg Festival 2022: Christian Thielemann & Elina Garanca
“What a sound pleasure, what a playing culture! […] Bruckner’s ‘Ninth’ without burdens, without any heaviness. Symphony in Schubert’s sense, seductive, apollonian.” (Kronenzeitung) To mark the bicentenary of Anton Bruckner’s birth in 2024, Christian Thielemann, the Wiener Philharmoniker and Unitel record the first Bruckner cycle with a single conductor in the orchestra’s history. After a truly magnificent performance of the Seventh Symphony in 2021, the stellar conductor returns to the Salzburg Festival with the Ninth to finish the cycle. In the first part of the concert, Christian Thielemann joins forces with Latvian star mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor for Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody. PROGRAM: Brahms: Alto Rhapsody for voice, male chorus and orchestra, Op. 53; Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D minor
Salzburg Festival 2021: Currentzis conducts Mozart
The concerts of Greek-Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis and his musicAeterna orchestra are often more of an art performance and sacred act than just the brilliant interpretation of a musical work and are among the highlights in classical musical life. The focus of the concert by Teodor Currentzis and musicAeterna at the Salzburg Festival 2021 was on two works – the symphonies K 550 and K 551, W.A. Mozart’s final contributions to the premier class of orchestral music. “It was just a stirring concert.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) PROGRAM: Mozart: “Alzai le flebili voci al signor” Cantata K. 469; Symphony K. 550, Maurerische Trauermusik, Symphony K. 551 “Jupiter”, Aria “Non mi dir” from Don Giovanni
Mozart Week 2021: Cara Sorella Mia – Letters and music
A concert dedicated not only to Mozart as a composer, but to Mozart the universal artist: his letters to his sister Nannerl are an art in themselves and show the wit and humor of this young and lively composer. The letters are read by the famous Austrian actress, Adele Neuhauser and are embedded into the performance of Mozart’s most beautiful sonatas for violin and piano. Played by the young violinist Emmanuel Tjeknavorian on Mozart’s own original violin and at his side playing Mozart’s original piano is Marie Sophie Hauzel. The venue is the Tanzmeistersaal of Mozart’s townhouse in Salzburg. Versions available: Concert & letters only: 68′ / Concert, letters & documentary elements: 77′. PROGRAM Violin Sonata K. 302, Violin Sonata K. 378, Violin Sonata K. 304, Violin Sonata K. 304, Violin Sonata K. 526 + Letters by W. A. Mozart to his sister Maria Anna (read in German)
My time will come – Gustav Mahler as remembered by Natalie Bauer-Lechner
Filmmaker Beate Thalberg has crafted a docu-drama based on a little- known source of information on Gustav Mahler, the diaries of Natalie Bauer-Lechner, Mahler’s long-time confidante. The film portra Mahler’s private and professional life from his student years in Vienna up to his marriage with Alma Schindler. The diaries evoke the man behind the artist and testify not only to Mahler’s erratic character and to his humor, but also to his dramatic struggle for recognition as a composer.
Salzburg Festival 2025: Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Handel’s gripping Baroque opera comes to life as a high-stakes drama of power, passion and intrigue. Dmitri Tcherniakov’s “powerful” (Kurier) production sets political rivalry against a fiery love story in the confines of an underground bunker. Christophe Dumaux is a thrilling Cesare, “with his mercurial countertenor and pointed acting” (Der Standard). At his side, Olga Kulchynska gives her Salzburg debut as a “lyrical” Cleopatra: “Bright high notes, precise filigree technique, youthful freshness: she has it all” (Salzburger Nachrichten). The rest of the cast is equally “superb” (Der Standard), above all Lucile Richardot as Cornelia “with her smouldering mezzo” (BR Klassik) and Federico Fiorio as her son Sesto. Baroque specialist Emmanuelle Haïm conducts her orchestra Le Concert d’Astrée from the harpsichord, “completely in her element” (Salzburger
Nachrichten). A scenic and musical collaboration full of intensity, imagination and electrifying theatre.
Salzburg Festival 2024: The Gambler
Based on a short novel by Dostoyevsky, Prokofiev’s The Gambler unfolds in the fictional casino town of Roulettenburg, where a variety of characters converge and clash. These characters include a General indebted to a covetous Marquis, the General’s resentful stepdaughter Polina, and Alexey, who harbors feelings for her. Director Peter Sellars, known for his insightful interpretations of overlooked masterpieces, challenges us to mirror the bravery of Dostoyevsky and Prokofiev – the courage to confront our inner darkness. The musical direction of Russian conductor Timur Zangiev shines together with the vocal performances of the exceptional cast:”Asmik Grigorian portraying a passionate Polina, and Sean Panikkar delivering a powerful performance as Alexei” (Financial Times).
Salzburg Festival 2023: Falstaff
Falstaff is Giuseppe Verdi’s third opera based on a Shakespeare play and the last opera he composed. Designed as a comedy of errors, it illustrates the abysses of human inadequacies. Christoph Marthaler, “that wondrous theatre magician” (Tiroler Tageszeitung), stages the comedy as a tongue-in-cheek Orson Welles homage, who himself
impersonated and filmed “Falstaff” in 1965, and moves the action from Windsor around 1400 to a chaotic film set of the 1960s: a confusion of identities and genres. “Avantgardiste conductor and Falstaff debutant Ingo Metzmacher gave his Falstaff orchestra the ride of its life. It was mighty and infectious.” (operatoday.com) The Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley in the title role is convincing with his “magnificent playing marked by precise laconism” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Russian soprano Elena Stikhinas in the role of Alice “enchants with heavenly heights” (Südwest Presse). “Creative and innovative” Kurier