“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)
Jordi Savall conducts Mozart’s Requiem
The Catalan old master, conductor, gambist and musicologist Jordi Savall, one of the greatest interpreters of historically informed performance practice, joins the Mozart Music Week with his orchestra “Le Concert des Nations” and his “Capella de Catalunya” choir. Playing exclusively on original instruments or instruments built according to historical specifications, Savall juxtaposes two of Mozart’s most famous and popular works: his Serenade No. 13, K. 525, better known by its nickname “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”, and his Requiem, which remained unfinished and has since been the subject of wildest speculation and mysterious conspiracy theories. “The performers succeed in making the well-known piece sound fresh and by no means banal. […] Despite the many excellent perfor mances available on record, Savall’s interpretation sounded unique.” (Das Opernmagazin)
Salzburg Festival 2022: Lang Lang & Daniel Barenboim
“Lang Lang makes the garlands of sound sparkle with crystal clarity” (Wiener Zeitung) Ever since its first performances in 2007, the concerts of Daniel Barenboim’s West- Eastern Divan Orchestra have been among the first to be sold out at the Salzburg Festival. In 2022, the orchestra presents a Spanish night with Lang Lang as soloist. PROGRAM Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole for Orchestra, Boléro; de Falla: Noches en los jardines de España for piano and orchestra; Debussy: “Ibéria“ from Images pour orchestre
Diana Damrau and Jonas Kaufmann – Lieder
Diana Damrau and Jonas Kaufmann interpret love songs by the two important romantic song composers Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. In their concert evening full of stirring emotions, the stars of the classical world sing of love in all its facets: from reverie and longing, from the happiness of fulfilment to disappointment, resignation and renunciation. The two artists are accompanied by their longtime partner on the piano, Helmut Deutsch.“A deeply felt, rapturous performance” (The Guardian)
¡Cincuentañero! – Rolando Villazón’s 50th Birthday Gala
Rolando Villazón assembles his friends, all of them prominent guests, for a festive gala concert. The first part of the performance is dedicated to his musical heartfelt friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, followed by “hits” from opera, operetta and popular songs from Europe and Mexico in the second part. The singers are accompanied by the Camerata Salzburg under Lithuanian conductor Giedre Šlekyte. “A showcase of great operatic voices” (Salzburger Nachrichten)
Salzburg Festival 2021: Currentzis conducts Mozart
The concerts of Greek-Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis and his musicAeterna orchestra are often more of an art performance and sacred act than just the brilliant interpretation of a musical work and are among the highlights in classical musical life. The focus of the concert by Teodor Currentzis and musicAeterna at the Salzburg Festival 2021 was on two works – the symphonies K 550 and K 551, W.A. Mozart’s final contributions to the premier class of orchestral music. “It was just a stirring concert.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) PROGRAM: Mozart: “Alzai le flebili voci al signor” Cantata K. 469; Symphony K. 550, Maurerische Trauermusik, Symphony K. 551 “Jupiter”, Aria “Non mi dir” from Don Giovanni
Mozart Week 2021: Opening Concert
To let Mozart’s 265th birthday pass uncelebrated just because a pandemic is raging worldwide? That was out of the question for Rolando Villazón, superstar among tenors and artistic director of the Salzburg Mozart Week! To pay tribute to the great composer, he invited the audience to a large, digital celebration concert and did not miss the opportunity to warble a few arias himself. Keri-Lynn Wilson is on the podium of the Mozarteum Orchestra, Luca Pisaroni and Giulia Semenzato bring Italian fire to the stage and sing selected Mozart arias. In addition, the concerto for flute, harp and orchestra resounds in the Mozarteum’s Great Hall. Mathilde Caldérini, principal flute of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and Xavier de Maistre on the harp compete in a contest of euphony.
Making of “Die Jahreszeiten”
“Jubilation!” (Kronen Zeitung) in the Great Festival Hall in Salzburg for Joseph Haydn’s oratorio The Seasons with Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. The conductor tunes his “Wiener” to peak performance and shows as few others can how “to coax the tenderest expressive pianissimo shiver from the violins and violas into the almost inaudible”, enthuses the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Karajan or Beauty As I See It
Who was Herbert von Karajan? What lurks behind the enigmatic face of this man, on whom more has been written than on any other member of his profession? For many, he was the epitome of classical music, for others the embodiment of the music market. He was the last dictator among orchestral conductors, and the first successful large-scale music entrepreneur. And in everything he did, he was ahead of his time. This documentary is the first to truly penetrate behind Karajan’s regal façade. The program is structured along the personal recollections and interviews, the rehearsals and concerts of the maestro. Much of the material has been drawn from the archives of Unitel, the firm that produced his music films for 12 years. This footage is supplemented by many candid and revealing comments by some of the men and women who accompanied him on his path to legendary status. The result is a multi-faceted, multi-layered portrait of the artist – a portrait that ultimately deepens the mystery of one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century.
Wiener Blut
Shortly after Strauss’ death, Adolf Müller Jr. compiled one of the most famous Strauss operettas from motifs from the waltz Wiener Blut (1873) and other works, which continues to carry the magic of Vienna out into the world. Nikolaus Habjan stages the piece at the magical and intimate Schönbrunn Palace Theatre as an imaginative, fast-paced romp. “Staged with charming verve and plenty of wit” (Kleine Zeitung) “By taking the emotions depicted seriously, director Habjan gets everything right when it comes to the eternally difficult subject of operetta. Love, jealousy, vanity and hurt feelings are always relevant” (Die Presse). “Staged with charming verve and plenty of wit”
(Kleine Zeitung)