Dvorák, Symphony No.9 in E minor, op.95 “From the New World” (and Rehearsal)

In 1892 Antonin Dvorák accepted the invitation of a wealthy Mrs. Thurber to become the director of her National Conservatory of Music in New York. During the time he spent in America, he composed, among other works, the Symphony No. 9 (originally published as No. 5) “From the New World”. Dvorak was fascinated by Negro spirituals and the songs and dances of American Indians. In an interview, he claimed: “In the Negro melodies of America, I discovered all that is needed for a great and noble school of music.” Though the pentatonic and modal scales he used in the Ninth Symphony can also be found in folk music of many countries, including his native Bohemia, the melodies of the Ninth have become indelibly associated with America. Particularly “American” in flavor are the flute melody of the first movement, which recalls the spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, and the theme of the slow movement. The symphony was recorded during a concert given by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Karl Böhm at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal in the late 1970s.

Festive Gala at the Semperoper Dresden: Beethoven Symphony No. 9

“Everyone loves Beethoven’s ‘Ninth’,” says Christian Thielemann. Performing it with the Sächsische Staatskapelle was “one of the most beautiful things that has happened to me in my life”. For many it is the soundtrack for New Year’s Eve ever since Arthur Nikisch conducted this landmark in symphonic history over the turn of the year 1918/19 and established a tradition that has spread worldwide. New Year’s Eve was also the occasion for this concert performed in the festively lit Semperoper. Camilla Nylund, Christa Mayer, Klaus Florian Vogt and Georg Zeppenfeld form the vocal quartet of this performance, Christian Thielemann conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden. “Thielemann led the orchestra with composure […], made the music […] a sound speech, celebrated the melody in the slow movement. [The finale] culminated in a veritable thundering of joy.“ (Sächsiche Zeitung)

War and Peace

This ‘War and Peace’ will go down as a milestone in Jurowski’s tenure at the State Opera, and in Tcherniakov’s often divisive career. They rise to meet the moment, overcoming the work’s near untenability not only to argue for its place in the canon, but also to use it as a vehicle for a passionate statement against Russian nationalism.” (The New York Times) Prokofiev’s opera War and Peace is one of the monumental works in opera history and rarely performed because of its sheer violence and complexity: More than 70 characters are cast for this four-hour opera, which is based on Tolstoy’s masterpiece. With the appropriate preparation time, the Bayerische Staatsoper, one of the world’s top opera houses, has taken on this major work under the baton of its general music director Vladimir Jurowski and staged by Dmitri Tcherniakov, one of the most celebrated directors and born and raised in Russia – at the same time an expert on the subject.

Daphne

Richard Strauss’ opera Daphne, subtitled “bucolic tragedy in one act”, features lush, complex orchestrations and employs a large orchestra to convey its musical themes. The vocal writing is often highly virtuosic, showcasing the abilities of the singers in the lead roles. With Vera-Lotte Boecker – crowned “Singer of the year”, the prestigious Opernwelt Critics Award – he has found “an ideal Daphne, embodying both the youthful and the fated side of her character” (Bachtrack.com). “Thomas Guggeis conducted the admirable Staatskapelle Berlin with infinite delicacy and clarity” (La Libre Belgique). “Strong images that will have an impact for a long time to come.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung).

None But the Lonely Heart

24 song compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky are combined to create an intimate evening of musical theatre that shows five characters and their contradictory emotions: repressed feelings of love are juxtaposed with the search for intoxicating moments; the grief over broken relationships repeatedly leads to withdrawal and loneliness. An interpersonal dynamic develops in which unfulfillable longings, repressed memories and emotional dependencies of the individual characters are revealed. In a poetically dense sequence of images, the production also alludes to motifs from Tchaikovsky’s biography, which is characterised by ambivalences. Christof Loy’s staging includes rarely performed Lieder, interspersed with short works for piano and chamber music. “I don’t know which singer to single out, they were all great.” Opernwelt

Zubin Mehta conducts Pierrot Lunaire

Arnold Schönberg was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century and the “father” of musical Modernism. “Brilliant idea, just my kind of thing,” he noted in his diary, after hearing of the actress Albertine Zehme’s plans to set poems from Albert Giraud’s Pierrot lunaire to music. Each of the 21 miniatures has its own sound colour by the instruments employed: flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello. Under the among them Mojca Erdmann, Daniel and Michael Barenboim, perform in the concentrated studio-like atmosphere of the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin.

Robert Wilson – The Beauty of the Mysterious

We know Winston Churchill’s saying about a “riddle wrapped inside an enigma”. Nothing could better describe Robert Wilson’s symbolic productions. What do minimalist fuel pumps have to do with Shakespeare’s sonnets? Why does Parsifal wear a triangular helmet? How did Alice from Wonderland end up on the Reeperbahn? Why and how does all this move many audience member to tears? This film sets out on a journey to uncover the mystery in the heart of Robert Wilson’s mysterious art – with the help of Tom Waits, Willem Dafoe, Marina Abramovic, Coco Rosie, and Rufus Wainwright.

Nelsons conducts Beethoven No. 9

Performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony have a long tradition in Leipzig: as early as 1826, two years after the premiere in Vienna, there was the first complete performance

in Leipzig with the Gewandhausorchester. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy then finally established the symphony in the orchestra’s repertoire. The custom of performing the work on New Year’s Eve goes back to Arthur Nikisch in 1918. Later, conductors such as Hermann Scherchen, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Bruno Walter continued the New Year’s Eve concerts that take place regularly since the turn of the year 1945/46. Gewandhauskapellmeister Andris Nelsons is now continuing this tradition at the highest level.