When Lis Jeppesen – the Sylphide of our time – in diaphanous white costume and with shining wings, dances for the Scottish farmer James, whom she has entranced with her love and beauty, we are witnessing the first scene of the most famous and enduring ballet by August Bournonville. Of all his surviving ballets it is the oldest and most widely performed. The Royal Danish Ballet rightly regards its interpretations of the Bournonville classics as being in the purest and most faithfully maintained tradition. Lis Jeppesen dances the lead role of La Sylphide, a role which demands lyrical interpretation as well as superb technique. Equal expressiveness and faultless dancing are required of James, here performed by Nikolaj Hübbe. Sorella Englund is the brilliant interpreter of the role of Madge, the witch and fortune-teller, whose rejection by James leads her to seek dreadful revenge on him, with tragic consequences.
Leonard Bernstein in Salzau 1988 – Part I: Introduction and Rehearsal of Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 1 in F minor, op.10
Dmitry Shostakovich (* St. Petersburg, 1906 – + Moscow, 1975) immediately made a name for himself with his First Symphony. In spite of political pressure from the Soviet authorities on account of his alleged “Western formalism”, and in spite of certain critiques from Western commentators, Shostakovich is considered as the Soviet Union’s major symphonist and one of Russia’s greatest composers. The influence of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky- Korsakov, Mahler, Stravinsky and Hindemith is evident in his early works.
Mahler, Kindertotenlieder
Just a few months before his final illness and death, Leonard Bernstein conducted three masterworks by Gustav Mahler in a concert at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal with the Vienna Philharmonic. The program consisted of the “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen”, the “Rückertlieder” and the “Kindertotenlieder”. The soloist was the American baritone Thomas Hampson. The trade publication “Musik & Theater” wrote: “I know of no other baritone today who can profess a similar mastery of these three Mahler song cycles on a vocal, emotional and textually sensitive level. […] a singular vocal accomplishment and a worthy conclusion of Bernstein’s extensive Mahler discography.”
Bernstein, Prélude, Fugue and Riffs
Leonard Bernstein was one of the greatest and most universal musical personalities of our time. He secured an international reputation as a performing artist (conductor and pianist) and as a composer. With regard to his creative activity, it should be noted that he was just at home in the world of serious, “avant-garde” music as in that of sophisticated “light” music. His first works betrayed the distinct influence of Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith. However, they already included stylistic traits derived from jazz. Bernstein’s music is stamped by exceptionally expressive melodies and striking rhythms. This and their primeval vitality helped them become popular all over the world.
Leonard Bernstein in Moscow – Documentary about the first foreign tour of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra with Leonard Bernstein to Moscow
Leonard Bernstein in Salzau 1988 – Part II: Introduction and Performance of Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 1 in F minor, op.10
Dmitry Shostakovich (* St. Petersburg, 1906 – + Moscow, 1975) immediately made a name for himself with his First Symphony. In spite of political pressure from the Soviet authorities on account of his alleged “Western formalism”, and in spite of certain critiques from Western commentators, Shostakovich is considered as the Soviet Union’s major symphonist and one of Russia’s greatest composers. The influence of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky- Korsakov, Mahler, Stravinsky and Hindemith is evident in his early works.
Sibelius, Symphony No.7 in C major, op.105
Conceived in one sole movement, the Symphony No. 7 is a triumphant display of “organic-thematic growth,” with melodies and rhythms blending into one another, giving birth to new elements and branching out to develop in passages reminiscent of symphonic movements. Sibelius’s last symphony was given its first performance in Stockholm on 24 March 1924 and was first heard in Finland in 1927. In the mid 1980s, Unitel began recording a complete cycle of Sibelius symphonies with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic. Bernstein’s death in 1990 unfortunately cut short this project after the release of Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 7. They were recorded live at Vienna’s Musikvereinssaal and were the object of stellar reviews. Bernstein, in the words of a leading Austrian daily, “painted a canvas of late-romantic splendor with the Philharmonic’s sound – the incomparable brilliancy of the strings, the glowing intensity of the brass – in a way that only the greatest conductors can.” (Symphony No. 1) And in its review of the Second Symphony, a major Viennese newspaper wrote: “For the sake of Jean Sibelius, Leonard Bernstein leaps with fanatical zeal into the heaving waves of late romantic emotions.” It is not surprising that Leonard Bernstein felt so passionately about Sibelius’s music. In many respects, it strikingly parallels that of Gustav Mahler. In fact, Sibelius’s oeuvre is seen along with Gustav Mahler’s as the most important symphonic legacy between late romanticism and modernity. And as Mahler’s glowing advocate, Bernstein was suited like none other to disseminate the music of his great colleague Jean Sibelius.
Leonard Bernstein: Teachers and Teaching – An Autobiographic Essay by Leonard Bernstein
This 60-minute program honors the great American conductor, pianist and composer Leonard Bernstein as a teacher. It assesses his importance, his credo and his sense of obligation to pass on to following generations what he himself learned and experienced. Leonard Bernstein saw himself as a link in a long chain of musical tradition leading from Koussevitzky, Mitropoulos, Reiner and Copland to himself and on to a younger generation represented by Seiji Ozawa and Michael Tilson Thomas, and to the youngest musicians he particularly enjoyed teaching, those who were still dreaming of a career. The film shows Leonard Bernstein as the great “roaming rabbi” of music and love, two concepts which were synonyms for him, just like learning and teaching. We see the great musician who offered his knowledge without reservation and was still developing himself in his last years, eager to learn from other artists. The film also shows Bernstein during rehearsals with orchestras, with famous soloists (e.g. Krystian Zimerman), in conversation with friends and pupils and at work in Vienna, New York, Tanglewood and Salzau.
I due foscari
Giuseppe Verdi was just 31 years old when his sixth opera “I due Foscari” was given its world premiere in Rome. He was then still at the beginning of his career, which later led to his fame as Italy’s leading opera composer, and he wrote his stage works at a brisk pace: in March 1844 “Ernani” was premiered in Venice, in November came the “Due Foscari” in Rome. “Verdi is now the man of the day in the musical world,” write Heinrich Heine after the world premiere. The literary source of the opera is a drama from the history of Venice by the English poet Lord Byron (1788-1824), whose works inspired many musicians, above all in the 19th century. His “Two Foscari” is not particularly effective on the stage, but Verdi took precisely this lack of theatricalness as an occasion to bring to the stage the interpersonal conflicts through a psychological characterization of the singers. He wrote enchantingly impressive music for this opera, which never ranked among the great successes of the master; from the very beginning, it vegetated on the outskirts of the repertoire as a special insider tip among connoisseurs. “I due Foscari” was recorded in 1988 at Milan’s La Scala with Renato Bruson, Alberto Cupido and Linda Roard-Strummer in the lead roles; stage director was Pier Luigi Pizzi, the musical direction was in the hands of Gianandrea Gavazzeni, who was an outstanding personality in Italian music life of the20th century as conductor and music author.
Karajan conducts the Tannhäuser Overture
This outstanding recording of Wagner’ Tannhäuser Overture with Herbert von Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was made live at the 1987 Salzburg Festival.