Considered one of the world’s leading specialists of Baroque music, Nikolaus Harnoncourt founded the “Concentus Musicus Wien” in 1953. It has since become one of the world’s most respected ensembles specializing in the performance of early music on original instruments or faithful reproductions. With its opulent decor and gilt ornamentation, the Austrian Baroque church of Waldhausen provides a setting evocative of Bach’s times. An added highlight of the program is the retelling of the Nativity story with the magnificent carved figures of two master wood-carvers of the Baroque period from Upper Austria. Also heard on the recording are the distinguished tenor Peter Schreier, bass Robert Holl and the Tölzer Boys’ Choir.
The Turn of the Screw
The central dramatic situation of the opera, based on Henry James’s novella, lies in the conflict between the governess and two evil spirits, the former servant Quint and the former governess Miss Jessel, both of whom exerted a great influence on the two children and who after death – at least this is what the governess believes – are trying to establish their hold over the youngsters. The question of whether the ghosts really exist or are only a figment of the young woman’s feverish imagination remains open in the Henry James tale. Indeed, in the opera the ghosts are seen and heard; consequently, in the film, Petr Weigl leaves open the possibility that they are only imagined by the governess. The viewer can decide whether “The Turn of the Screw” is a fairy-tale battle between good and evil or a tragedy about destructive influences on inexperienced youth. Britten’s score stands in contrast to the abundance of ideas to be found both in the literary model and the libretto. The score is tighter and the music formally more consistent than in his other operas. The work consists of a prologue and 16 scenes which are connected by orchestral intermezzos – variations on the main theme. This main theme is a 12-tone scale which, however, Britten in no way considered to be a negation of tonal hierarchy, but rather as a ramification of that technique. “The Turn of the Screw”, written in 1954, was premiered that same year at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice with the English Opera Group.
Documentary on the Filming of “Elektra” – “Do I hear the music? It pours out of me.”
The “Elektra” documentary is the last testimony to a life of artistic fulfillment, an homage to the conductor Karl Böhm. The streets and squares of Vienna unfold before our eyes as the automobile bringing Karl Böhm to the recording studio drives through the city with which Karl Böhm had the most intimate musical relationship. And when he steps up to the conductor’s desk in the Sophiensaal, we are about to witness his last great performance. We see him conversing with the singers and the orchestra, rehearsing, criticizing, encouraging, and reminiscing: “Strauss once told me¿” At the end of the production, after Elektra’s dance, he sits back silently in his chair – exhausted but happy. On 14 August 1981, shortly after the shooting of the film, Karl Böhm died, aged almost 86. His death marked the end of an era. This documentary provides fascinating insights into the work of the director Götz Friedrich. And it also illustrates the dramatic power of musical tragedy, for example in the masterful depiction of Clytemnestra by Astrid Varnay, herself once a fabulous Elektra, and in the outstanding interpretations of top singers such as Leonie Rysanek, Catarina Ligendza, Hans Beirer, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Josef Greindl, Kurt Böhme and others.
Introduction to Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen”
Horowitz in London
Recorded and broadcast in May 1982, Horowitz’s technique was begining to decline, though he retained all the fire of his playing. Introduction: Interview (00:05:30). Programm: Robert Schumann, Kinderszenen op.15, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor, op. 36; Frédéric Chopin, Waltz in A-flat major, op. 69 No. 1
Jubilee Concert – 100 Years Berliner Philharmoniker
Who better than Herbert von Karajan, the Berliner Philharmoniker’s only conductor-for-life, to celebrate the 100th anniversary in 1982 of the orchestra’s founding? In this exceptional concert, the famous Austrian maestro conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”, whose lively revolutionary character that perfectly suits the orchestra’s vast interpretive powers and corresponds well with the mood for the celebration of the founding of the trail-blazing orchestra a century before.
Falstaff
When Carlo Maria Giulini returned to conducting public performances of opera after an absence of fourteen years, he chose for the occasion one of the enduring comic masterpieces – Verdi’s Falstaff. The composer was almost eighty when he broke the six-year silence following the premiere of Otello, and startled the musical world by revealing his complete mastery of comic invention. It is true that much of the success for this consummate work of genius is due to a libretto of extraordinary brilliance by Arrigo Boito, who took the substance of the piece from The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV, but nothing can detract from Verdi’s capacity for matching it with music of real wit and humour. Renato Bruson, the renowned interpreter of Verdi and one of the leading lyric baritones of the day, sings the title role. Katia Ricciarelli leads the trio of merry wives with Lucia Valentini-Terrani as Mistress Quickly and Brenda Boozer as Meg Page. Leo Nucci sings the role of Ford and the young lovers are here portrayed by Dalmacio Gonzalez and Barbara Hendricks. Stunning designs by Hayden Griffen and Michael Stennett provide the perfect setting for this witty interpretation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece.
Beethoven Cycle – Symphony No. 5
“It’s very big, absolutely crazy!” cried Goethe when he heard Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The conductor Herbert von Karajan—a true connoisseur of Beethoven’s work—and the Berliner Philharmoniker present here an exceptional interpretation of the Symphony No. 5. Despite suffering from worsening deafness at the time of the masterpiece’s composition, Beethoven persevered and would succesfully complete his project of a large orchestral work defined by four fateful notes… as he would later explain this particular musical obsession, “this is the way that destiny knocks at the door”!
Beethoven Cycle – Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral”
In 1805, Beethoven wrote to a dear friend in anticipation of a visit to the countryside about “how delighted I shall be to ramble for a while through bushes, woods, under trees, through grass, and around rocks! No one can love the country as much as I do. For surely woods, trees, and rocks produce the echo which man desires to hear.” Just three years later, his magnificent homage to nature, the celebrated Symphony No. 6, received its premiere. Baptised as the “Pastoral” Symphony by Beethoven himself, the work comes to life in this brilliant interpretation by the great Maestro Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker.