Tchaikovsky’s greatest ballet score meets Swedish dance royalty in Mats Ek’s staging of The Sleeping Beauty – performed here in 1999 by Cullberg Ballet, the company (founded by Ek’s mother) for which this production was created. The tradition that Ek inherited was one of innovation, and his Sleeping Beauty – updated, pared back and stripped of its traditional Romantic opulence – caused controversy when it was first seen in 1996. Today, it’s regarded as a classic, driving straight to the poetic, sometimes troubled heart of the original fairy tale: a near-perfect modern visualisation of Tchaikovsky’s impassioned music.
Mozartwoche 1999
Interview with Wolfgang Wagner
Twilights of the Gods: Comparison of Productions
Pierre-Dominique Ponnelle about Shostakovich’s Symphony No.8
Pierre-Dominique Ponnelle was born in Munich and studied there as well as in Weimar with Otmar Suitner and in Berlin and Salzburg with Herbert von Karajan. From the start of his career, he has been active in the fields of symphony and opera alike, conducting at the theaters in Kassel, Marseille, Bratislava, Zurich and elsewhere. The spectrum of his symphonic repertoire ranges from the classical period to contemporary music. He has guest conducted numerous orchestras, including the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Baden-Baden, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Luxembourg…, the State Orchestras of Armenia, Greece, Slovenia, Lithuania, Ukraine…, the Philharmonic Orchestras of Strasbourg, Zagreb, Monte Carlo, Dresden, Munich and St. Petersburg. In addition, he has appeared at the Festival dei due Mondi in Spoleto and Charleston, as well as at other festivals. From 1992 to 1996 he was associated with the Minsk State Philharmonic Orchestra, first as Principal Guest Conductor and later as Principal Conductor. The main focus of his work there was on Brahms, Mahler, Bruckner and Shostakovich, as well as on large choral works. His successful activity there has been documented by CDs and television recordings. Ponnelle ended his collaboration with this orchestra in late 1996 and is presently active once again as a guest conductor.
Interview with Ann Murray
Beethoven, Trio in B flat major, op.97 (“Erzherzog-Trio”) (Mozartwoche 1999)
The Wiener Klaviertrio was founded in 1988 by the pianist Stefan Mendl, the cellist Marcus Trefny and the violinist Wolfgang Redik. In addition to intensive studies with the Trio di Trieste, the Beaux Arts Trio and the Haydn Trio Wien, the three musicians also worked with Isaac Stern, Joseph Kalichstein and members of the LaSalle and Guarneri Quartets. The ensemble has been undertaking extensive concerto tours throughout Europe, in the United States and Canada since the early 1990s. Moreover, the three musicians regularly appear at many festivals, such as the “Flanders Festival” and the “Schubertiade Feldkirch”. After its successful concert cycle in Vienna’s Konzerthaus with the entire piano trio oeuvre of Ludwig van Beethovens, the Wiener Klaviertrio presented all of Schubert’s piano trios in London’s Wigmore Hall as well as in Vienna’s Musikverein in the 1996/97 season. This concert was recorded in late January 1999 at the Mozartwoche Festival in Salzburg.
Mozart, Trio in E major, K.542 (Mozartwoche 1999)
The Wiener Klaviertrio was founded in 1988 by the pianist Stefan Mendl, the cellist Marcus Trefny and the violinist Wolfgang Redik. In addition to intensive studies with the Trio di Trieste, the Beaux Arts Trio and the Haydn Trio Wien, the three musicians also worked with Isaac Stern, Joseph Kalichstein and members of the LaSalle and Guarneri Quartets. The ensemble has been undertaking extensive concerto tours throughout Europe, in the United States and Canada since the early 1990s. Moreover, the three musicians regularly appear at many festivals, such as the “Flanders Festival” and the “Schubertiade Feldkirch”. After its successful concert cycle in Vienna’s Konzerthaus with the entire piano trio oeuvre of Ludwig van Beethovens, the Wiener Klaviertrio presented all of Schubert’s piano trios in London’s Wigmore Hall as well as in Vienna’s Musikverein in the 1996/97 season. This concert was recorded in late January 1999 at the Mozartwoche Festival in Salzburg.
Mozart, Contredance K.535, “La Bataille” (Mozartwoche 1999)
The Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg has been the orchestra of the city and Land of Salzburg since 1958 and regularly concertizes at the Salzburg Festival and the Mozartwoche. The principal conductor is the Dutch-born Hubert Soudant, who led the Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de France in Paris from 1981 to 1983 and the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra from 1983 to 1986. In addition to his activities in Salzburg, Soudant is also the principal conductor of the Orchestra and Opéra des Pays de Loire in Nantes and Angers, France.
Mozart, Piano Concerto in D major, K.537 “Coronation Concert”, and Sonata in A minor, K.310, III. Presto (Mozartwoche 1999)
The Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg has been the orchestra of the city and Land of Salzburg since 1958 and regularly concertizes at the Salzburg Festival and the Mozartwoche. The principal conductor is the Dutch-born Hubert Soudant, who led the Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de France in Paris from 1981 to 1983 and the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra from 1983 to 1986. In addition to his activities in Salzburg, Soudant is also the principal conductor of the Orchestra and Opéra des Pays de Loire in Nantes and Angers, France. Gianluca Cascioli is the soloist in the Piano Concerto K. 537, the “Coronation Concerto.” Mozart wrote this work, his penultimate piano concerto, in 1788, perhaps in an attempt to revive his now waning popularity in Vienna. It owes its name “Coronation” to the assumption that it was performed by Mozart in Frankfurt in 1790, during the festivities for the coronation of Leopold II as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.