The opening of Copenhagen’s new concert hall, the spectacular Koncerthuset, was celebrated with a very special project: to present their new home to a broad public the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Thomas Dausgaard performed four popular works within the classical symphonic tradition, Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 (Length: 39’), Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9 (Length: 45’), Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 (Length: 49’) and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 (Length: 35’). Additionally, the performances were filmed on highest standards and with an extensive setup of cameras.
Michael Nyman in Concert
The Michael Nyman Band live at Studio Halle: Michael Nyman, who is famous for his Oscar nominated film score for Jane Campion’s film “The Piano”, is without doubt one of the great contemporary composers. Fitting the theme of the Handel-Year 2009, Michael Nyman celebrated the German premiere of his newest composition “The Musicologist Scores” in Handel’s hometown Halle. In that piece the composer looks deeply into the subject of Handel’s work. Furthermore, many other of Nyman’s works were performed. All over the world the powerful, energetic playing of The Michael Nyman Band – developed under Nyman‘s leadership over a period of three decades – brings his works to sparkling life and has long since become a characteristic feature of his music.
Brahms, Sonatas for Violin and Piano
As Anne-Sophie Mutter herself puts it, ‘the apple was ripe and simply had to be picked.’ The ‘apple’ is the complete cycle of Brahms’ sonatas for violin and piano. Mutter, perhaps the best-known and most widely respected violinist of our time, has been fascinated by the Brahms sonatas since her youth. Several early recordings testify to her love for these works which, in her words, reflect Brahms’ understanding of ‘the singing quality’ of the violin. Over the years, she and her longtime piano partner Lambert Orkis have ‘ripened’ their interpretation of these works. Now, with the sonatas ‘under their skin’, the multiple award-winning violinist and her partner felt the time was right for their first audiovisual recording of the complete set.
Diana Damrau – Diva Divina: Nine Months With The German Opera Star
She is simply one of the best singers in the world,’ proclaimed the New York Sun triumphantly after another of Diana Damrau’s spectacular performances at the Metropolitan Opera. And while The Guardian gushed: ‘The German soprano…has become a cult figure,’ the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted succinctly: ‘Whoever says coloratura says Damrau.’ In private moments with her parents and her first teacher, Damrau talks about her childhood and youth, about her discovery of opera while watching TV, her early career and her international breakthrough in 2002 in roles such as Donna Anna and Zerbinetta. The film portrays an exciting, high-intensity, fast-paced jet-set life tempered by the harmony of a rewarding family life with her husband, her parents and, at the end of the film, with her brand-new baby!
The Most Beautiful Operas of All Time
Reach out with ‘The Most Beautiful Operas of All Time’ format to a viewership beyond the typical classical music fans: Present the most beautiful operas of all time by combining the broadcast of the documentaries with the according opera productions in as many different stagings as you like. Let the viewers not only discover the rich world and full variety of opera music but also let them choose the ‘most beautiful opera of all time’ and create the classical music TV-event which is widely perceived in all media. Documentaries: AIDA, LA BOHÈME, CARMEN, DON GIOVANNI, FIDELIO, LOHENGRIN, DER ROSENKAVALIER, TOSCA, LA TRAVIATA, DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE
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The Most Beautiful Song – A Search for Singers with Thomas Quasthoff (Documentary)
Thomas Quasthoff founded this contest ‘Das Lied’ to ensure that the Lied, which the baritone calls ‘the most beautiful form of music making,’ continues to hold its place in the concert repertoire of the future. The film accompanies some of the young singers during the competition’s three rounds, providing a showcase not only for beautiful voices and poignant Lieder, but also, and above all, for emotions. The hopes and disappointments, the joys and doubts, the tension and exhilaration of the young singers are all captured on film. And it soon emerges that the contest is as stimulating and galvanizing for the jurors as it is for the contestants! Excerpts from the closing gala concert recorded at the sumptuous Apollo Hall of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin round off the film.
The most beautiful song – A search for singers with Thomas Quasthoff (Concert)
Thomas Quasthoff founded international song competition for young singers, ‘Das Lied,’ to ensure that the Lied, which the baritone calls ‘the most beautiful form of music making,’ continues to hold its place in the concert repertoire of the future. According to Quasthoff, the goal of this project is to find the successors to the greatest singers of today and to discover new voices. In addition to Thomas Quasthoff, one of the top baritones and Lied singers of our day, the jury includes such distinguished vocalists as Brigitte Fassbaender and Annette Dasch, as well as the famed accompanists Helmut Deutsch and Charles Spencer. Among the prizewinners who perform at the gala concert are German baritone Tobias Berndt and Austrian baritone Daniel Schmutzhard.
Recital Diana Damrau
One of the warmest personalities on the opera and concert stage today, soprano Diana Damrau has put together a beguiling program for her recital at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. The selection of Romantic to fin-de-siècle pieces not only underscores her own vocal artistry, but also pays tribute to her accompanist Xavier de Maistre and, in particular, to the diaphanous delicacy of his instrument, the harp. The use of the harp to replace the piano in a voice recital is a truly unique and unexpected musical treat. De Maistre does more than simply transpose the piano part to his instrument; under the fingers of the Wiener Philharmoniker’s solo harpist, the ethereal sound of this instrument melds consummately with the soprano’s finely honed vocal part, so that the masterpieces by composers such as Schumann, Fauré and Debussy sound as if they had been conceived for voice and harp.