They live two lives. They work to survive, but music is their passion. At night they perform in sold out concert halls, and clean toilets the morning after. They tickle the ivories and sort out the trash in close succession. They interpret Beethoven just before repairing exhaust pipes. They are survival artists. A musician is asked: “Can you make a living?” The reply: “Some can, others cannot.” This story is about the others: Professional musicians who practise their art with great passion and skill, but still have to work on the side. Either just to make ends meet or to maintain a certain quality of life: As a garbage collector, an auto mechanic or doctor.
Lucerne Festival 2016: Rattle conducts Berliner Philharmoniker
Even if the music world is often dominated by rivalry, examples of genuine friendships can certainly be found. Take Johannes Brahms and Antonín Dvorák: a pair whose friendship was free of self-interest. And sure enough, his first publication, the spirited Slavonic Dances, enjoyed a sensational success. The Berlin Philharmonic paid homage to this musical friendship by pairing Dvorák’s bravura Slavonic Dances with the Second Symphony of Brahms, also composed in 1877. And as an “appetizer” Sir Simon Rattle has commissioned a new work from his compatriot Julian Anderson. PROGRAM: Julian Anderson: Incantesimi for Orchestra; Dvorák: Slavonic Dances, Op. 46; Brahms: Symphony No. 2
PopScandals
PopScandals is a two part journey in time through the juiciest, dirtiest and hottest pop scandals of the last 60 years! Whether naked truths, jarring stage performances or accidental slip ups, PopScandals shows what shocked respectable citizens and the conservative establishment and left the youth rejoicing. From the stuffiness of the 50s when a pelvic thrust or flash of a breast was enough to stir up a storm, to the age of social media, where staged scandals have become an integral part of pop culture. Using the big stars as an example, PopScandals tells of what was needed at which point in time to create a legendary scandal, or to avoid one. PopScandals makes it noticeable and possible to experience the technological development and commercialization of the “scandal machine” the media have created, having become a scandal in itself.
Peace ‘n’ Pop
From the anti Vietnam protests up to the struggle for civil rights, and Yoko Ono´s and John Lennon´s “Bed Peace”. The resistance of Britain´s music establishment against the Falkland war, and pop culture´s reaction on the “War on Terror“ – This two-part documentary tells the story of the pacifistic inflections in western pop culture.
Exclusive interviews and music by o.a. Pink, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Dixie Chicks, Asaf Avidan, Joshua Redman, Nneka, The Avener, La Canaille, Ed Sheeran. Ken Follett, Hanif Kureishi, Nitin Sawhney, New Model Army and many more.
Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration
Located in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, Tanglewood is one of the world’s most beloved music festivals and serves as the summer home for the famed Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). Tanglewood 75th Anniversary Celebration festures the BSO, the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, under the direction of conductors Keith Lockhart, Andris Nelsons, John Williams and David Zinman. Performers include pianists Emanuel Ax and Peter Serkin, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and vocalist James Taylor, as well as the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver. Program: COPLAND Fanfare for the Common Man; BERNSTEIN Three dance episodes from On the Town; Selections / Great American Songbook; HAYDN Piano Concerto in D, 2nd & 3rd movements; TCHAIKOVSKY Andante cantabile, for cello and strings; SARASATE Carmen Fantasy, for violin and orchestra; RAVEL La Valse; BEETHOVEN Choral Fantasy
Loud, Hard, Magical – The Sound Of Finland
The film takes the audience on a road trip into the unique Finnish music scene: a mixture of melancholy, metal and humour. Bassist and Sibelius descendent Lauri Porra, and the cello quartet Apocalyptica interpret Finnish’s unofficial national anthem ‘Finlandia’ in their own style and in doing so, delve deep into the culture and psyche of this young nation.
The Finns nurture an eclectic mixture of musical styles, they do so with a dark and anarchistic humour, as well as a deeply felt melancholy. The breadth of musical style ranges from Finnish Tango to deafening heavy metal, from all male choirs that shout to a long line of successful Finnish conductors.
Magic Moments of Music – Maria Callas & Tosca
The beginning of 1964 held a great surprise for the music world: Maria Callas returns to the opera stage as prima donna. Her “Tosca” at the Royal Opera House becomes a sensation. Not even the Beatles received more press coverage. All this, for an artist whose glorious career was said to be over, with the singer herself passing over to legend. It is no longer her performances, but her scandals that, are dominating the headlines. Unlucky in love with her billionaire boyfriend Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas wants to show them all that the title of ”Primadonna assoluta” is still rightfully hers. On condition that famed stage director Franco Zeffirelli takes on the production, the exceptional vocalist is prepared to take on the role of Tosca. Her fans queue outside the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden for four, even five nights. To get their hands on the sought after tickets, they spend the freezing winter nights in sleeping bags and on fold up chairs. A British broadcaster has recorded the opera’s second act. It is one of the most dramatic acts in opera history – to save the artist Cavaradossi from his torturer; Tosca ends up murdering the chief of police Scarpia. The film recording is one of the few opportunities to see Maria Callas on stage and witness her emotional dramatics and vocal competence.
Gidon Kremer – Finding your own voice
He is a violinist of the century who is a stranger to entertainment. He is an exception in an industry that is aimed currently at market value, marketing and mass appeal: Gidon Kremer is one of the most exciting artist personalities of our time. Gidon Kremer – Finding your own voice is a calm and thoughtful portrait of the great violinist and intellectual. Over the course of one year, Paul Smaczny accompanied Gidon Kremer with the camera, observing him with his Kremerata Baltica Chamber Orchestra in Paris and his native Riga, and as a soloist in Moscow and Tokyo, as well as encountering him as a socially and politically active person. Gidon Kremer – Finding your own voice seeks to find out what drives a person like Gidon Kremer, what lies behind making music, where the deep meaning of music lies hidden. A film about a great intellectual who sees himself as a mediator of values whose ethos is alien to, indeed contrary to, any form of narcissism and profit-seeking.
Jordi Savall – Jerusalem
It is one of the oldest existing cities in the world and at the same time one of the most contested: Jerusalem. All three major monotheistic religions refer to it as the “Holy City”. Jerusalem has been and still is the center of fierce conflicts for centuries. With his ensembles Hespèrion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya, however, Jordi Savall is already making this wish come true in a musical way. Together with guest musicians from Israel, Palestine, Syria, Armenia, Greece, and Turkey, they trace the history of Jerusalem authentically and in a touching manner. Jordi Savall places Islam, Judaism, and Christianity on equal footing, allowing the musicians to sow a seed of hope for peace.
Das Land des Lächelns
Franz Lehár’s “Das Land des Lächelns” is one of the best-known operettas of all time. For this new production Piotr Beczala, a world star who cultivates the tradition of the famous Tauber style like no other, returned to the Opernhaus Zürich as Sou-Chong. He has an equal partner in Julia Kleiter, who played the role of Lisa. Fabio Luisi and Andreas Homoki also know that the genre of operetta requires particular care – which is why they have assumed personal responsibility for this production. Homoki lets the plot take place in a Paris Variététheater from the 1920s, complete with show staircase and heavy curtains. To emphasize the operatic elements, he purged the piece, cutting several secondary roles and shortening dialogues. “Julia Kleiter as Lisa and Piotr Beczala as Sou-Chong – unhappy lovers, but vocally a dream couple!” SRF