Together with the Wiener Symphoniker and cellist Gautier Capuçon, Petr Popelka proves to be “a conductor who knows how to unleash storms” (Kurier). First, Capuçon shines with a repertoire favourite – Antonin Dvorák’s cello concerto in B minor. “In the midst of the marvellously accompanying symphony orchestra, he was able to showcase all his skills and, above all, his stunningly full-bodied instrument” (Die Presse). What followed in the second half was equally brilliant with Strauss’ tone poems Don Juan and Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche: The Dream Team captivated the audience with their exuberant joy of playing and a cornucopia of sound…enchanting changes of mood and tempo, magical moments of calm, poetry and light-footed mischief: it was all there” (Der Standard). PROGRAM: Dvorak – Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 104; Strauss – Don Juan, Op. 20; Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Op. 28
Springtime in Vienna 2024
Say goodbye to winter blues with this musical bouquet of wonderful melodies. Every year, the Wiener Symphoniker ring in the spring season with their Easter Concert, which has been a major highlight of Vienna’s musical calendar for more than 40 years. This edition features conductor Manfred Honeck, the Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien and world-class soprano Diana Damrau, who dazzles the audience with Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro”, Lehár’s “Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß” and Poulenc’s “Gloria” among others. PROGRAM: Music by Bruckner, Brahms, Puccini, Lehar, Orff, Poulenc.
Lorenzo Viotti conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker
“The Wiener Philharmoniker are phenomenal anyway. Under Lorenzo Viotti they were intoxicating: the strings sizzled, the audience raved” (Hamburger Abendblatt) Lorenzo Viotti makes a striking debut with the Wiener Philharmoniker, starting with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol, which captivates the audience with its dynamic contrasts. He then shifts to Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead, transforming it into a “theater of sound.” Finally, with Dvorák’s Symphony No. 7, Viotti showcases his temperament, balancing powerful fortissimo and soft, clear accents. PROGRAM: Rimsky-Korsakov – Capriccio espagnol; Rachmaninoff – Isle of the Dead; Dvorak – Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70
Franz Welser-Möst conducts Schönberg, Strauss and Ravel
In this subscription concert, Franz Welser-Möst and the Wiener Philharmoniker whisk the audience away to the early 20th century and its variety of styles, from preserving tradition to embracing modernity. Starting with Hindemith’s Konzertmusik for wind orchestra, the superb wind section shows what they are made of: “From the very first fanfare sounds of the opening movement you could feel the fun they had” (Die Presse). With the rarely performed Strauss fantasy on Die Frau ohne Schatten, Ravel’s La Valse and Schönberg’s Variations for orchestra, Welser-Möst shows top form at the podium: “It’s impressive how Welser-Möst gives each piece its own aura. How he leads the perfectly studied musicians to snappy steps and artfully stylised dance forms, or how he revels in the splendour of sound in Strauss and Ravel” (Kronenzeitung).
Gonzales-Monjas, Villazon & Mozarteum Orchestra
New Mozarteumorchester Salzburg chief conductor Roberto González-Monjas and his orchestra are a pair that has “sought and found” (APA) each other, perform Salieri’s rarely heard Sinfonia “Il giorno onomastico”. The concert is bookended by Mozart’s first and last symphonies, for which González-Monjas “presented a striking interpretative calling card” (Salzburger Nachrichten). Rolando Villazón completes the evening with three of Mozart’s arias, utilizing his full range as a performer: “The arch-comedian […] plays all his trump cards of dramatic and gestural, but also vocal expressiveness” (Salzburger Nachrichten). Mozart: Symphony in E flat major, K. 16; “Va’ dal furor portata”, K. 21, Aria for tenor and orchestra; From La clemenza di Tito, K. 621: Aria of Tito “Se all’impero, amici dèi”; “Con ossequio, con rispetto”, K. 210, Aria for tenor and orchestra; Symphony in C major, K. 551 “Jupiter”; Salieri: Symphony in D major “Il giorno onomastico” (arr. Pietro Spada)
The Vienna Christmas Concert
The Wiener Symphoniker perform a grand Advent concert at Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral featuring a diverse program conducted by Marie Jacquot. The concert includes works from various composers, such as Michael Praetorius, Leopold Mozart, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Albert Malotte, and Adolphe Adam. Soprano Fatma Said, tenor Jonathan Tetelman, and the Singverein will explore global Christmas traditions, with classics like Bach’s “Jesus bleibet meine Freude” and “O du fröhliche” concluding the event.
Thielemann conducts Brahms
“There is no clearer plea for a Brahms cycle with this conductor and this pianist” (Kurier) said the press about this concert by the Wiener Philharmoniker under the direction of Christian Thielemann. It is the continuation of their Brahms cycle, the performance of all of the composer’s symphonies and instrumental concertos. This part of the cycle includes Brahms’ Third Symphony and his Second Piano Concerto, which is considered one of the most difficult concertos in the piano literature. The exceptional pianist Igor Levit takes up this challenge and “seemingly took the heaviness out of the solo parts, […] his wondrous Brahms feeling enchanted in moments of floating tempi as well as in the midst of fine mists of sound that arose from rapid whispers. A summit of delicacy” (Der Standard). Together with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Christian Thielemann, it’s “a combination that one cannot imagine can be surpassed today” (Kurier) PRORAM Brahms: Symphony No. 3, Piano Concerto No. 2
Salzburg Festival 2023: Roberto González-Monjas conducts the Mozarteum Orchestra
Roberto González-Monjas, designated principal conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra, “put an interpretive exclamation mark on his Festival premiere with a purely sacred programme”: Mozart’s Coronation Mass, the main work of the evening, is combined with two church sonatas, the famous motet “Exsultate, jubilate” for soprano and orchestra and the equally famous choral work “Ave verum corpus”. Together with a young quartet of singers led by soprano Nikola Hillebrand (in her “Exsultate” she is “crystal-clear in sound, technically precise and sensitive in interpretation”), González-Monjas provides “youthful and cheeky pathos and a breath of fresh air” (Salzburger Nachrichten)
Vienna Boys Choir – 525th Anniversary Concert
Boys have been singing at Vienna’s “Hofburgkapelle” since 1296. In 1498, the future Emperor Maximilian I moved his court and court music from various residences to Vienna. In doing so, he had laid the foundation for the Wiener Hofmusikkapelle and eventually also for the Wiener Sängerknaben (The Vienna Boys Choir). In this festive jubilee concert at Vienna’s Musikverein celebrating the 525th anniversary of the choir, the Wiener Sängerknaben and all choirs associated to it, the Chorus Primus, the Wiener Chormädchen, the Chorus Juventus and the “alumni” forming the Chorus Viennensis, are singing works that are all especially related to the choir – by Ludwig Senfl and Josquin Desprez, the Strauss dynasty or also by Mozart, Haydn and Bruckner, some of them recorded for the very first time.
Opening Concert Mozart Week 2023
Ivor Bolton, who was chief conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra from 2004 to 2016, returns to Salzburg for a special concert: designed in the style of an 18th-century “academy”, it offers a colourful mix of early and late works, large and small form, instrumental and vocal works. Solo support comes from violinist Clarissa Bevilacqua with Mozart’s Adagio in E major and Rondo in C major. The young Italian won the “Salzburg Mozart Competition” in 2020 in the violin category as well as the prize for the best Mozart interpretation. Austrian baritone Rafael Fingerlos sings selected arias from Bastien und Bastienne and Zaide. “A Mozart cross-section of high sensual appeal” (Kronenzeitung).