“A shining hour”, trumpeted Vienna’s Kurier after the premiere of Richard Strauss’ “Die Frau ohne Schatten” at the Salzburg Festival, which was also the premiere of Christian Thielemann as opera conductor there. True to the Festival’s tradition, this production features a line-up of great Strauss singers, such as Anne Schwanewilms, Stephen Gould, Wolfgang Koch, Michaela Schuster and Evelyn Herlitzius. Christof Loy’s production is set in the mid 1950s in the Sofiensäle, a celebrated Viennese recording studio at the time. The singers portray singers from the Wiener Staatsoper recording “Die Frau ohne Schatten”.
Vec Makropulos
With the “breathtakingly grandiose” (Salzburger Nachrichten) Angela Denoke in the lead role, this emotionally powerful opera is given a superior treatment at the hands of the Wiener Philharmoniker under Esa- Pekka Salonen and in an ingenious staging by Christoph Marthaler. Denoke gives a winning account of the sensual, tormented leading role. While Salonen lets the Wiener Philharmoniker alternate between powerful accents, filigree textures and mighty outbursts of raw emotion, Marthaler charms the viewer with his typical witty, naturalistic details.
Barenboim On Beethoven
As a musical highlight during the Summer Olympics 2012 in London, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under the baton of Daniel Barenboim performed all nine symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven during the famous BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall. In 2011, Barenboim worked on and performed the symphonies with his truly one-of-a-kind orchestra made up of young musicians from across the Middle East, and scored great successes on his tours with them through Europe and Asia.With his film the well-known English filmmaker Michael Waldman documents the rehearsals and the Asia tour. As a supplement to the concerts, he offers a fascinating look at Daniel Barenboim’s work with the young musicians. We see Barenboim showing them how Beethoven forged a new symphonic language, while also investigating how this music continues to communicate with such undiminished power.
Armonie dello spirito in Florence
Armonie dello spirito in Rome
A concert in honor of the 85th birthday of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. The Cappella Musicale Pontificia “Sistina” is one of the oldest and most prestigious musical institutions the “Choir of the Pope”. Under the direction of Massimo Palombella they perform some concerts of the most beautiful and most popular composers of sacred music; from Gregorian chant to the Kyrie and Gloria Papae Marcelli di Palestrina. A highlight of the evening is also the premiere of “here est Operatus” by Lorenzo Perosi. This is a new piece of the great composer, found recently in historical archives.
Tutto Verdi – La forza del destino
Adelaide di Borgogna
From the Rossini Festival in Pesaro comes the first staged performance since 1825 of “Adelaide di Borgogna”. Set in medieval times, the libretto relates the tale of a king’s widow who is used as a pawn in diplomatic and amorous intrigues. “Adelaide” stars sought-after mezzo Daniela Barcellona as Ottone, and, in the role of Adelaide, young Australian soprano Jessica Pratt, who possesses a natural-born bel-canto voice. Director Pier’ Alli ha devised a modern, stylish look for his production, which interweaves medieval aspects with ironically used elements from the time of the opera’s genesis.
Mosè in Egitto
From the prestigious Rossini Festival in Pesaro comes a thought-provoking interpretation of Rossini’s azione tragico-sacra “Mosè in Egitto”. Topping the cast of high-caliber vocalists are Sonia Ganassi and Dmitry Korchak as two lovers drawn into the political turmoil of their time. Director Graham Vick’s interpretation centers on a condemnation of all religious fundamentalism. Designed by Stuart Nunn, the set evokes a bombed-out edifice and provides a chilling setting for Rossini’s haunting melodies. With the gifted Roberto Abbado on the podium, “the music is free to carry its timeless message” (La Stampa).