According to stage director Sven-Eric Bechtolf “Don Giovanni is a romantic hero of metaphysical proportions.” He sees Don Giovanni as a person who is craving for freedom and a lack of boundaries in a puritan society. The role is performed by Italian bass-baritone Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, one of today’s leading Mozart singers (like Luca Pisaroni who sings Leporello, and Lenneke Ruiten who performs Donna Anna). Leading the Wiener Philharmoniker is the German conductor Christoph Eschenbach, a heir of George Szell and Herbert von Karajan.
Richard Strauss – At The End of the Rainbow
Richard Strauss – who regarded himself as the last great composer ‘at the end of the rainbow’ – for sure is one of the most interesting artists of his time. This documentary by Eric Schulz (also known for the film “Karajan – The Second Life”) on the occasion of the composer’s 150th birthday gives insight into the personality and the works of Richard Strauss with never-released archive material and high-class interview partners such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Klaus König, Raymond Holden, Christian Strauss, Walter Werbeck, Emma Moore.
Salzburg Festival: Verdi, Il Trovatore
“Anna Netrebko – better than Maria Callas” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) – Since her sensational success in “La Traviata” the soprano Anna Netrebko, now even more popular than ever before, returns regularly to the great festival hall at the Salzburg Festival. This time she shines as Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic opera “Il Trovatore” at the side of Placido Domingo and the critics go wild: “A triumph” writes the New York Times, while the Neue Zürcher Zeitung speaks of “truly divine sounds”. Alvis Hermanis staged the plot that revolves round two rival brothers who love the same woman and only learn they are related at the moment of her death, using sets that “in their opulent adherence to detail and fantastically illuminated atmosphere (…) offer much more than just a decorative sight for sore eyes“ (Salzburger Nachrichten).
Salzburg Festival: Verdi, Don Carlo
The Salzburg Festival hosts a new production of Verdi’s “Don Carlo”, directed by Peter Stein and embodied by Jonas Kaufmann. The production is based on the original version of the opera, which includes those passages that were cut shortly before the first performance in 1867. Verdi’s masterpiece demands world-class singers at the peak of their powers, such as Jonas Kaufmann, “who combines absolute technical stability with the highest musical intelligence”, and soprano Anja Harteros, who’s “Elisabetta is quite simply sublime: majestically phrased, rich in nuance, clear of diction and moving easily from immaculately floated pianissimo to sterling fortissimo”. (The Telegraph)
Eugene Onegin
Director Andrea Breth has produced an intimate chamber play that mines the depths of veracity, precision and charisma of her singer-actors. The title role is a tour de force for any baritone, who must walk a tightrope between cynical, insufferable snob and sympathetic, broken-hearted lover. This is carried off superbly by Peter Mattei, who ‘has acquired a fabulous vocal profile and is a gifted actor blessed with debonair selfconfidence.’ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) But the true hero of the opera is Tatyana, a multi-layered, conflicted, driven, doubt-ridden heroine. As portrayed by the dazzling Russian soprano Anna Samuil, this Tatyana ‘is ready to start a revolution.’ (F.A.Z.)
Il Mondo della luna
It was an ideal constellation for an extraordinary musical event: the coincidence of the Haydn anniversary year with the 80th birthday of Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The universally acclaimed specialist of the Viennese Classical era chose a work by Haydn for his birthday tribute, ‘Il Mondo della Luna’. The dramma giocoso of 1777 is a delicious mixture of satire, comedy and science fiction based on an immensely popular comedy by 18th-century dramatist Carlo Goldoni.
La Clemenza di Tito (Mozart 22)
Mozart was still working on “The Magic Flute” when he was commissioned to write a festive opera for the coronation of Leopold II in Prague as King of Bohemia on 6 September 1791. Though in poor health, he accepted, even though he had little more than four weeks to write it. He immediately had Metastasio’s text revised by the poet Mazzolà, who not only built in the duets, trios, quintet and sextet that Mozart needed to hone the work’s emotional veracity, but also brought the abstract political dimension down to a human, emotional level. From a lofty reflection on politics and justice, it became a conflict between friends and lovers. Emperor Titus plans to marry Berenice, thus arousing the rage of Vitellia. She urges Sesto, who loves her, to lead a revolt against Titus. After further complications, Titus resolves to marry Vitellia. Vitellia tries to stop Sesto, but in vain: he has burned down the Capitol and tried to kill his best friend Titus. The Emperor escapes, but, surrounded by manipulation and betrayal, the future seems bleak¿ This opera seria, Mozart’s very last opera, is both a distillate of late 18th-century opera as well as an anticipation of the 19th-century opera with its tormented heroes. Director Martin Ku¿ej tells the story straightforwardly, digging into the substrata of the work to bring out the complex psyches of the characters, their neurotic impulses, their sexual drives and the motives of their intrigues. Ku¿ej’s “Clemenza” is a mad whirl of love, murder, arson and rebellion. He is ably supported by the Vienna Philharmonic under Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and a stellar cast that proves just how much flesh and blood pulses through this work. Michael Schade, one of the most exciting lyrical tenors of today, is a Titus who sings with fire and dignity. The dramatic soprano Dorothea Röschmann, who made her international breakthrough in Salzburg in 1995 as Susanna (“Figaro”) under Harnoncourt, portrays Vitellia as a power-hungry schemer with a broken soul. The incomparable mezzo Vesselina Kasarova paints her Sesto with all the passion and torment of a lover forced to betray his best friend. On a par with them are Aleksandra Kurzak (Servilia), Malena Ernman (Annio) and Luca Pisaroni (Publio). Premiered in 2003, this production of “Tito” was universally acclaimed as a musical and dramatic triumph in its 2006 reprise within the Mozart 22 cycle.
Young People’s Concerts: A Copland celebration
Awarded three Emmys and hailed by Variety as “a rare moment in the symbiosis of the arts and broadcasting,” Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts left their mark on television history. Aired on CBS from 1958 to 1972, these 52 onehour programs were written and hosted by Leonard Bernstein. With the New York Philharmonic and guest artists providing the live music, these programs brought musical concepts and music history to life for generations of viewers. “Lectures accompanying music might not sound like the formula of a hit kids’ TV program, but Bernstein was the secret ingredient who made it work” (Variety). Balancing scholarship and showmanship, Maestro Bernstein brings the full range of his magnetic personality to play in these programs. And he succeeds in infecting viewers young and old, connoisseurs and the uninitiated, with his overwhelming love of music.
Young People’s Concerts: Thus spoke Richard Strauss
Awarded three Emmys and hailed by Variety as “a rare moment in the symbiosis of the arts and broadcasting,” Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts left their mark on television history. Aired on CBS from 1958 to 1972, these 52 onehour programs were written and hosted by Leonard Bernstein. With the New York Philharmonic and guest artists providing the live music, these programs brought musical concepts and music history to life for generations of viewers. “Lectures accompanying music might not sound like the formula of a hit kids’ TV program, but Bernstein was the secret ingredient who made it work” (Variety). Balancing scholarship and showmanship, Maestro Bernstein brings the full range of his magnetic personality to play in these programs. And he succeeds in infecting viewers young and old, connoisseurs and the uninitiated, with his overwhelming love of music.
Young People’s Concerts: Liszt and the devil
Awarded three Emmys and hailed by Variety as “a rare moment in the symbiosis of the arts and broadcasting,” Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts left their mark on television history. Aired on CBS from 1958 to 1972, these 52 onehour programs were written and hosted by Leonard Bernstein. With the New York Philharmonic and guest artists providing the live music, these programs brought musical concepts and music history to life for generations of viewers. “Lectures accompanying music might not sound like the formula of a hit kids’ TV program, but Bernstein was the secret ingredient who made it work” (Variety). Balancing scholarship and showmanship, Maestro Bernstein brings the full range of his magnetic personality to play in these programs. And he succeeds in infecting viewers young and old, connoisseurs and the uninitiated, with his overwhelming love of music.