Christoph Koncz brings Mozart’s violin back to life: together with Les Musiciens du Louvre, the esteemed violinist plays the Violin concertos Nos. 4 & 5. Christoph Koncz plays on Mozart’s original Salzburg concert violin, made available by the International Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg. This was the violin on which Mozart had played as concertmaster in the Salzburg Hofkapelle.
LA Phil 100 – The Centennial Birthday Gala
A century to the day after the orchestra’s first concert on 24th October 1919, the centennial season culminate in a baton-waving conductor’s summit at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with Dudamel, Mehta and Salonen sharing the podium. The repertoire is a true reflection of the DNA that makes the LA Phil the LA Phil. If you’re wondering why the New York Times recently called the LA Phil “America’s most important orchestra. Period.”, look no further than this concert’s program: Ravel’s La Valse conducted by Zubin Mehta; Lutoslawski’s Symphony No. 4 conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen; Strawinsky’s Firebird Suite conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and the World Premiere of Daníel Bjarnason’s
New Work for Three Conductors!
The LA Phil at 100
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is turning 100 and throwing an epic party – the orchestra marks the milestone with public celebrations, education and social-impact initiatives, showcasing and honoring the diversity of Los Angeles. The anniversary documentary portrays the LA Phil and it’s continual creative reinvention on the occasion of this jubilee. The documentary includes a historical part to trace the steps that played a part in where the orchestra stands today, shows the orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel at rehearsals and concerts, captures the work with YOLA and the collaboration with artists like Herbie Hancock and John Williams.
Beethoven Piano Concerto Cycle – Jan Lisiecki
Just aged 25, Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki has won acclaim for his extraordinary interpretive maturity, distinctive sound, and poetic sensibility. The New York Times called him “a pianist who makes every note count”. Lisiecki’s insightful interpretations, refined technique and natural affinity for art give him a musical voice that belies his age. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is one of the world’s finest chamber orchestras, renowned for fresh, brilliant interpretations of the world’s greatest orchestral music.
Juan Diego Florez – Besame Mucho
Peruvian star tenor Juan Diego Flórez goes back to his roots with this recital performed at the Wiener Konzerthaus. His passion for Latin American music started at an early age, when he was still a child. It was a deep and lasting passion and his initial encounter with it turned into a lifelong passion. “I grew up with vals criollos, Marineras, boleros, rancheras and tangos, magnificent songs from Latin America,” says tenor star Juan Diego Flórez. His grandmother played tangos on the piano and his father Rubén is a folk singer famous in Peru who has a great deal of love for the great Chabuca Granda, who achieved her success with classics like “José Antonio”. But songs from Cuba and Mexico, especially those by José Alfredo Jiménez, and from other Latin American countries also fascinated Flórez from an early age. “This music goes straight to the heart,” he confesses, “because it deals with things that affect us all directly, such as home, family, the joy of love and the pain of love.” Flórez wants to convey a representative image of the Latin American continent using “songs that are all exemplary of the people and their various countries.
Khatia Buniatishvili in Kiev: Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition
Khatia Buniatishvili is making a guest appearance at the International Center of Culture and Arts in Kiev. The programme is the piano suite PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION, that was written by Mussorgsky in honour of his deceased friend, the architect Victor Hartmann. Originally composed by Modest Mussorgsky for solo piano, the suite comprises 10 pictures by Hartmann illustrated in separated movements and connected by the Promenade theme that depicts an imaginary tour of an art collection. The final movement depicts an architectural design for Kiev, The Bogatyr Gates. Buniatishvilis musical promenade reveals an extraordinary thrilling interpretation, accompanied by impressions of Kiev’s cultural life including visits at artists friends and the current mayor of Kiev, the former heavyweight champion, Vitali Klitschko.
The Heart of Sound – A Musical Journey with Vittorio Ghielmi
The Island of Sardinia is very rich in traditional song, music and dance of all kinds, and supports two distinct forms of polyvocal singing. The first is the secular sung dance-music Cantu á Tenores tradition, the second is the Coro or Cuncordu tradition of sacred ritual music, which in the quite recent past they were an integral part of numerous socio/religious rituals. World-renowned Viola da Gamba player, conductor and composer Vittorio Ghielmi (who appears with orchestras such as Il Giardino Armonico, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra or the London Philharmonic Orchestra) has been on a lifelong quest to find and create authentic interpretations of ancient-classical music.The film documents a special and unique way of making music that contributes to the vitality of rural life and thus provides a closer picture at Sardinia off the beaten tourist tracks. The sound track as well follows untrodden paths: the fruits of this collaboration reward the audience with music never ever played before.
Bienvenido Gustavo!
“Red Carpet Special” of Gustavo Dudamel’s Inaugural Concert as musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
W.A. Mozart: Concerto For Two Pianos
Mozart’s Concert for two pianos belongs to the most artful and ambitious works of this genre. Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich, these days two of the leading interpreter’s of Mozart’s Music, performed this work at the “Mozartwoche 2008” in Salzburg. Jonathan Nott conducts the Camerata Salzburg. Also on the programme: Mozart’s Serenade D Major KV 185 „Antretter-Serenade“. At the age of 16, Pierre-Laurent Aimard was awarded the chamber music prize of the Paris Conservatoire. In the same year he won the first prize at the international Olivier Messiaen Competition. In 1977, at the invitation of Pierre Boulez, he became a founding member of the Ensemble InterContemporain. In addition to his work with contemporary music, Aimard has recorded the five Beethoven piano concertos with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, at the invitation of Harnoncourt. Tamara Stefanovich enjoys a busy performance schedule which includes recitals, music festivals and concert performances with some of the world’s leading symphonic and chamber orchestras.
20 years Walt Disney Hall – LA Phil & Gustavo Dudamel
The Los Angeles Philharmonic marks the 20th anniversary of Walt Disney Concert Hall at its annual gala concert by paying homage to Frank Gehry, architect behind the iconic downtown LA venue. The prelude from Bach’s Partita, the first piece performed in the then-still-under-construction Hall, opens the program, followed by Esa-Pekka Salonen’s transformation of its melody into his piece FOG accompanied by Lucinda Childs, performing her own original choreography. Gehry’s love of the sea, orchestral music, and jazz is combined into offerings from Herbie Hancock, GRAMMY Award-winning R&B singer H.E.R., and Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who conclude the program with Debussy’s La mer. PROGRAM Bach: Violin Partita No.3, Prelude; Salonen: FOG; Hancock: Maiden Voyage; Debussy: La mer; H.E.R. & LA Phil