It is hard to believe that for decades Karol Szymanowski´s masterpiece, his magnificant opera King Roger of 1926, led such a shadowy existance until it was revealed for what it is by such powerful champions as Simon Rattle: one of the 20th century´s finest operas. The visually strong production by David Pountney provided the Bregenz Festival with one of it´s most abiding successes in recent years. Scott Hendricks in the baritone title role and Olga Pasichnyk as his queen, Roxana, were both rapturously applauded. “What grandiose music!” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
Salzburg Festival Opening Concert 2009
In one of the most unusual opening concerts of recent decades, Nikolaus Harnoncourt launched the 2009 Salzburg Festival with an exploration of the dance element in Austrian music. Dances by Schubert and Josef Strauss provided an introduction to the magnificent “Dance of Death” that emerged from the octogenarian maestro´s hands in Schubert´s C major Symphony (“Great”). The perfect orchestra for these authentically Viennese and yet universally valid works was, of course, the Vienna Philharmonic. “An interpretation of incomparable richness” (Münchner Merkusr)