Many share the dream of a global career – but what does it truly take to make that dream a reality? Following the charismatic cellist Anastasia Kobekina, the documentary offers a unique look behind the closed doors of her record label, concert halls and into her private life. Having started to play the cello at age four, Anastasia struggles with the decisions made for her and those she must make, when asking herself: “Is it my choice or the choice of my parents?” Torn between her own and other people’s expectations Anastasia forges her path through a demanding industry and inspires by proving her ambition, talent, and resilience.
Christmas with Benjamin Appl
The acclaimed baritone Benjamin Appl is constantly on the move, primarily in Europe, Japan, and South America. Now he returns to his hometown of Regensburg and joins forces with the Regensburger Domspatzen and soprano Elsa Dreisig to give a Christmas concert featuring carols from around the world. Melodies by John Rutter, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Cécile Chaminade, Michael Praetorius, as well as Traditionals from France, Sweden and Austria resound in the Basilica of the Nativity of Our Lady to the Ancient Chapel in Regensburg. The international Christmas programme musically draws on the traditions of multiple cultures and regions, hence appealing to a wide audience.
Richard Strauss – In the Twilight
He is a music mage. To this day, he fascinates audiences with his magical sense of sound. But the tracks of the luminous figure that is Richard Strauss are followed by a dark shadow in discreet agreement. Who is one, who is the other? How are they connected? The film IN THE TWILIGHT illuminates the multiple layers of the man and musician Richard Strauss. Oscillating between high key and low key, between darkness and light, visually striking spaces are revealed for the musical genius as well as the viewer´s desire for association.
Magic Moments of Music – Lang Lang at Carnegie Hall
Lang Lang chose a wide-ranging program for his solo debut in 2003. After a more classical first half with works by Robert Schumann and Joseph Haydn, he interprets the Chinese composer Tan Dun after the intermission, finally culminating with Franz Liszt’s Don Juan Fantasy. Even as a small boy, Lang Lang is drilled to be a pianist by his father: He is to become the best piano player in the world. He is rarely allowed to see his mother so that she does not keep him from practicing. When he invites his father on stage at the end of his Carnegie Hall debut to improvise together on a Chinese folk song, one chapter of life ends – and a new one begins. This defining moment deals with the difficult relationship between freedom and the sacrifices we make for it. Lang Lang lives his father’s dream, which becomes his own dream. It is about musical perfection and personal relationships, about virtuosity and emotions – themes that are reflected in Lang Lang’s performance and in his life. Not only for Lang Lang himself, but also for his long-time companions such as conductor Christoph Eschenbach, composer Tan Dun and his teacher Gary Graffman, this concert was a magical moment. Pianist Claire Huangci has also known Lang Lang since a young age, and Bruce Liu is currently considered the new shooting star on the piano. Together with audio producer Christian Gansch and body language expert Stefan Verra, they retrospectively classify Lang Lang’s legendary recital evening.
Magic Moments of Music – Angela Gheorghiu „La Traviata“ at Royal Opera House
It was a uniquely magic moment of music. In what would be the first and only time, the BBC dedicated its prime time weekend schedule to broadcast an opera live to an audience of millions. In place of popular motoring programme Top Gear, the British public were treated to La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi. Legendary conductor Sir Georg Solti convinced decision-makers at the BBC that it was time to introduce a phenomenal singer and performer to the world: Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu. Until this moment, Gheorghiu was a talent known only to a few. Solti himself was at the podium to conduct La Traviata for the first time in his storied career, while the staging was by theatre and feature film director Sir Richard Eyre – likewise working on his very first opera. Eyre agreed on one specific condition. “I wanted a soprano as described by Verdi himself: young, elegant and with a voice full of passion.” Angela Gheorghiu had all of these qualities and more. In an interview she said: “During the broadcast I felt that my time had arrived. I was in no doubt: it was now or never!” Alongside Angela Gheorghiu, who the film accompanies 30 years later to the Royal Opera House in London – the birthplace of her global success – are memories and reflections from tenor Frank Lopardo, who sang the role of Alfredo, opera director Sir Richard Eyre, BBC film director Peter Maniura, French-Danish singer Elsa Dreisig, conductor Marie Jacquot, opera critic Nick-Martin Sternitzke and the writer Salomé Balthus.
Mischa Maisky – A Birthday Concert
The cellist Mischa Maisky is one of the greats of his profession. Now he has given a concert with Paavo Järvi and the German Chamber Philharmonic Bremen, performing the works that have given particular shape to his life. The occasion for the concert on July 3rd, 2023, as part of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, was Maisky’s 75th birthday. PROGRAM Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Nocturne in D minor; Bruch: Kol Nidrei; Haydn: Symphony Nos. 93 and 104
Magic Moments of Music – Sergiu Celibidache and the Berliner Philharmoniker
It was only through the request of the then Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker that the concert came about in 1992. The legendary Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache and the Berlin Philharmonic were to be reconciled. Celibidache had shaped the orchestra in over 400 concerts between 1945 and 1954 after the end of the Second World War. When, after the death of Wilhelm Furtwängler the orchestra chose Herbert von Karajan as his successor instead of Sergiu Celibidache, a dispute arose, and the two eventually parted ways. Celibidache withdrew, deeply offended, and refused any offer of further collaboration. It took 38 years for Sergiu Celibidache to return to the podium of the Berlin Philharmonic. It went down in music history as the so-called ‘reconciliation concert’. Celibidache made it a condition that he would receive twice as many rehearsals as usual. The program included Anton Bruckner’s 7th Symphony. In addition to rehearsal and concert excerpts, the film features Celibidache’s son, Serge Ioan Celebidachi, contemporary witnesses from the Berlin Philharmonic, the orchestra’s horn player Sarah Willis, the young French conductor Marie Jacquot, his last conducting student Rémy Ballot, and the Romanian conductor Cristian Macelaru. They provide insight into Sergiu Celibidache’s personality, working methods, and understanding of music.
Music ex machina – AI in Classical Music
Music created with the assistance of artificial intelligence is a well-established secret in the world of pop. Today, AI is also making serious inroads in the classical domain, bringing us to the threshold of a new era in classical music. From the recording of the first samples to the premiere performance at the Semperoper in Dresden, the film accompanies the creation of the opera “Chasing Waterfalls”, which was co-composed by artificial intelligence. We follow the AI as it reconstructs Beethoven’s 10th symphony and watch it perform with Robbie Williams, and we see how pianist Dirk Maassen at the Sony Science Lab in Paris and saxophonist Asya Fateyeva at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg interact with AI in real time, and how Spanish professor Eduardo Miranda in Plymouth is using quantum computers to create music entirely from scratch. Experts Kenza Ait Si Abbou and Christian Mio Loclair comment on these fascinating developments as well as the currently highly topical Chat GPT platform.
Magic Moments of Music – Barenboim and WEDO in Ramallah
Music under extreme conditions: Only six years after its founding, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra gave what is probably its most legendary concert: the orchestra founded by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said with young Israeli and Arab musicians gave a concert in the Darwish Palace of Culture in Ramallah in 2005. A historic event and a musical moment of glory at the same time. In Israel, Barenboim was attacked. But the orchestra set an example with its concert, underlined by the choice of programme: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 (‘Fate Symphony’). Beethoven’s vision of the reconciliation of people – that was what moved Barenboim. The “peace concert” – Barenboim himself did not call it that – attracted international attention and was broadcast worldwide. This star hour shows the concert and makes musical history tangible in short documentary passages. Contemporary witnesses and prominent interview partners put the concert into perspective from today’s point of view.
Magic Moments of Music – Hélène Grimaud 9/11 in London
On 11 September 2001, the world paused. This concert at the Royal Albert Hall shows how grief and horror can be transformed into a musical moment of glory, and how music can be a means of consolation in these tragic moments. Hélène Grimaud makes her Proms debut with the Orchestre de Paris under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach. The musicians enter the stage visibly affected and discharge their anger and sadness in their playing. Hélène Grimaud succeeds in a deeply emotional interpretation of Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto. Her playing alternates between intensity and clarity. The wordless communication with the maestro is moving, not least after the first movement: the moved audience partially breaks into applause – Grimaud and Eschenbach cast emotional and assuring glances at each other. They know at that moment: This evening gets under your skin and will not soon be forgotten.