Filmed mainly in Vienna’s splendid “Musikvereinssaal,” the Mozart symphonies conducted by Karl Böhm are all interpreted by one of the world’s foremost orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, whose principal conductors have included Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and, of course, Karl Böhm. “Thanks to Bruno Walter’s exemplary performances, particularly of Mozart’s works, I grabbed on to Mozart and fell in love with him so much that I had only one wish: to conduct Mozart, Mozart, Mozart.” (Karl Böhm) A symphony for connoisseurs, K. 504 reflects the taste and discernment of the audience it was intended for: the musical public of Prague. Since his “Marriage of Figaro” was the hit of the town in late 1786, Mozart decided to travel to Prague; in his luggage was the D major symphony, premiered on 19 January 1787. Written between “Figaro” and “The Magic Flute,” it shares unmistakable affinities with these two works and even quotes a theme from “Figaro” in the finale. And it is also a work in which Mozart could be completely himself. He thus indulged in a draatic slow introduction, and in some austere contrapuntal writing in the first movement. Since the wind players in the Bohemian capital were rightly praised for their excellence, Mozart also rewarded them with some truly beautiful pages. Karl Böhm was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. Though Wagner was one of Böhm’s first loves, his friendship with Richard Strauss led to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography, Böhm wrote that “Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets of this, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart.” Böhm’s discovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations into unforgettable events.
Beethoven, Symphony No.8 in F major, op.93
When the Eighth Symphony was first performed in 1814, it was not accorded the same tumultuous reception as the Seventh. Beethoven was not pleased because he considered it the superior of the two. This is a short and concise work, replete with gaiety and little musical jokes. The second movement, in fact, is a witty imitation of the ticking of the newly invented metronome. For the third movement, Beethoven returns to the classical minuet of the 18th century. This recording is part of Bernstein’s complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra live in Vienna. The series won the Ace Award, the U. Cable TV Association’s top award for outstanding quality and entertainment value. Bernstein’s impassioned renderings of Beethoven move audiences in a unique way. “Beethoven has always meant universality to me, ever since my early adolescence, when I first heard that unforgettable cry of ‘Brüder!’. From that moment on, every… symphony came to mean heart-to-heart communication, travelling satellite-fashion via the cosmos itself. I offer [this cycle] to all music-loving ears as a testament of faith and of my most profound reactions to this greatest of all composers.” (Leonard Bernstein, 1980)
Beethoven, Symphony No.2 in D major, op.36
When, in the mid 1960s, Herbert von Karajan decided to record on film all nine Beethoven symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic, he began with the “Fifth” and asked the famous French movie director Henri-Georges Clouzot (Quai des Orfèvres) to direct. Recognizing in the music-loving director a kindred soul and master of the symbolic image, Karajan found an inspired partner. In another of Karajan’s first efforts, he asked six directors to “stage” one movement each of a Beethoven symphony. For a full week, the directors had the Berlin Philharmonic and Herbert von Karajan – all in full dress – at their disposal, with all the 35mm film, cameras, lighting and technical assistance they needed. Karajan’s most controversial production was Hugo Niebeling’s highly personal interpretation of the “Pastorale”, with its abstract shots of instruments, rapid rhythms, fade-ins and symbolically arranged colors.
Tannhäuser
“Thunderous applause, elation”, wrote the prestigious Germany daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Rome’s La Repubblica noted the “triumphal success and storm of applause” that greeted Giuseppe Sinopoli and the ensemble at Tannhäuser’s 1989 Bayreuth Festival premiere. Directed by Wolfgang Wagner, Richard Wagner’s grandson, this Tannhäuser production was one of the high points of the Bayreuth Festival during the latter part of the 1980s. The abstract starkness of Wolfgang Wagner’s production is underscored by the crystalline clarity and vigor of Giuseppe Sinopoli’s conducting, which particularly highlights the progressive aspects of the score. This Tannhäuser production gathers together some of the great Wagner singers of our time such as Cheryl Studer (Elizabeth), Wolfgang Brendel (Wolfram), Richard Versalle (Tannhäuser) and Hans Sotin (Landgrave).
Hommage à Séville
Così fan Tutte
Karl Böhm knew that the quality of his opera productions depended heavily on the choice of the right singers for each role. “When I set my mind on doing a certain opera with a certain cast, and it doesn’t work, then I become furious and throw a fit,” he once said. In this “Così” production, Böhm has gathered some of the greatest Mozart specialists of the 20th century: Gundula Janowitz, a warm, lyric soprano whose Munich “Pamina” under Knappertsbusch was one of the high points of her early career, before she went on to sing at all major opera houses as well as the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals; Christa Ludwig, who began singing under Karl Böhm at the Vienna State Opera in 1955, and who was later hailed as the best Mozart and Strauss mezzo-soprano of her generation; Luigi Alva, the Peruvian tenor whose light and elegant voice has made him one of the most sought-after lyrical tenors for Rossini and Mozart roles; Hermann Prey, whose rich baritone has captivated not only the opera public the world over but also lovers of the German Lied; Walter Berry, who has sung practically the entire repertoire of great Mozart bass-baritone roles at the Salzburg Festival, the Met, Covent Garden and the Vienna State Opera.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Wolfgang Wagner’s universally praised Bayreuth Festival production of “Die Meistersinger” most clearly demonstrates the originality of its conception in its treatment of Beckmesser. Refusing to caricature Beckmesser, to represent him simply as a fool or a pedant, Wolfgang Wagner allows the character the status of a genuine poet with a melancholy, almost elegiac quality. The production dispenses with the usual clichés and the excessive pathos which often lend the opera an overly “German” quality, and concentrates on the specifically human aspect of the characters, which other productions have tended to neglect. Hans Sachs is seen not as a solemn patriarch, but as a likable middle-aged man; Stolzing emerges as a sensitive, thoughtful individual drawn towards the bourgeoisie, rather than as an aggressive aristocrat. Wolfgang Wagner has succeeded in liberating “Die Meistersinger” from its aura of Teutonic heaviness and retrieving the light and color of the original: late medieval Nuremberg truly comes to life.
Cavalleria Rusticana
Based on a drama by Giovanni Verga, “Cavalleria Rusticana” relates the lives and passions of simple Sicilian peasants. It was the first opera of the “verismo”, or realist, school. Director Åke Falck adds a cinematic dimension to what would otherwise be a fairly straightforward screen document of celebrated director Giorgio Strehler’s La Scala production by means of outdoor shots of Sicily’s splendid landscapes during the overture and intermezzo. Combined with the lavish set and costumes by Luciano Damiani, these images intensify the feeling of a sultry southern landscape as a background to the inflamed passions and violence of the action. As Santuzza, Fiorenza Cossotto’s passionate intensity make a good contrast to Adriana Martino’s gaily-dressed, light-hearted Lola. Gianfranco Cecchele makes a rakish Turiddù, and Giangiacomo Guelfi is a strong, swaggering, confident Alfio. The production was filmed in 1968.
Hänsel und Gretel
Based on a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, Engelbert Humperdinck’s beloved opera is traditionally often performed at Christmastime as a treat for children. Humperdinck had originally planned to write a simple work with a spoken text and folksong-like melodies. It turned out to be a full- fledged, Wagnerian-style opera that was premiered in 1893 by no less a conductor than Richard Strauss, who termed the work “a masterpiece of the first rank.” For this lavish production staged and directed by August Everding, a cast of top singers has been put together, including Brigitte Fassbaender, Edita Gruberova, Hermann Prey, Helga Dernesch and Sena Jurinac. Sir Georg Solti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic.
Die Fledermaus (The Bat)
The corks pop and the champagne flows in this sparkling production of Johann Strauss’s world-famous operetta with the ensemble of the Bavarian State Opera. Carlos Kleiber conducts Strauss’s music with a temperament, vigor and sensuality that bring to mind contemporary reports on Johann Strauss’s own conducting style: “His whole body was conducting – the hands, head, eyes, torso and feet of the master”. But Kleiber can also invoke another inspired model and predecessor for his interpretation: in 1894, Gustav Mahler conducted the work at the Hamburg Stadttheater, lavishing his usual care and precision on it and paving its way into the repertoire of all major opera houses.