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 at the Royal Albert Hall. Also available: DOCUMENTARY “Barenboim on Beethoven: Nine Symphonies that changed the World”. A film by Michael Waldman; Cat. No. A02007374 // SYMPHONIES Lengths: No. 1 = 29′ / No. 2 = 35′ / No. 3 = 53′ / No. 4 = 39′ / No. 5 = 35′ / No. 6 = 44′ / No. 7 = 39′ / No. 8 = 30′ / No. 9 = 78′
Maestro or Mephisto – the Real Sir Georg Solti
This film tells the story of one of the greatest and most controversial conductors of the 20th century. The Hungarian born Georg Solti had huge drive, energy and ambition. A combination of willpower and extraordinary talent took him to the peak of musical power and prestige. It shows how Solti took music making in opera houses and orchestras to new levels, how he harnessed recording, and later television, to reach out to new audiences and how he nurtured remarkable new talent through a winning, if not always endearing, combination of ambition, technique, charm, sheer-bloody mindedness and genius.The film includes remarkably candid interviews which Solti gave just before his death, in which he talked with great honesty about his life, his challenges and achievements. It also includes new interviews with artists and musicians who worked closely with him. It also looks at his remarkable legacy which is still shaping classical music today – the World Orchestra for Peace, born of his personal experience of a Europe fractured by war, the Solti Academy for Singers and the Solti conducting prize.
Britten: War Requiem
Fifty years to the day after its premiere, Andris Nelsons celebrated with his orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (which also gave that first performance), Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem through a special anniversary performance given at Coventry Cathedral, the site of its first performance, starring Erin Wall, Mark Padmore and Hanno Müller-Brachmann.
Paavo Järvi and Rudolf Buchbinder: Dvorák, Beethoven
Before the New World Symphony and the Requiem there were the Symphonic Variations and Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8. The Symphonic Variations are as original as they are rarely performed, and blend seamlessly into this symphony. Composed a full decade before the symphony, Dvorák’s variations last no more than two minutes each. The symphony itself is full of surprises and gives a rarely seen glimpse into the mind and work of this agile and energetic composer. Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3 rounds out the evening at the Orchestre de Paris with a performance by Rudolf Buchbinder, one of Paavo Järvi’s close collaborators and one of piano’s rare talents. —– Program: Antonín DVORÁK, Symphonic Variations, Op. 78; Ludwig van BEETHOVEN, Piano Concerto No. 3, in C minor, Op. 37; Antonín DVORÁK, Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88
Pelléas et Mélisande
Paris’ Opéra de la Bastille celebrated the 150th birthday of Claude Debussy with avant-garde director Robert Wilson’s “wondrous” (Le Figaro) production of “Pelléas et Mélisande” featuring a stellar cast headed by Stéphane Degout, Elena Tsallagova and Vincent Le Texier in the lead roles, and supported by high-caliber performers such as Anne-Sofie von Otter and Franz Joseph Selig in smaller roles. “The singers have integrated Wilson’s language of gestures and lighting to a degree never attained by previous casts” (Le Figaro). Philippe Jordan gives a transparent reading of Debussy’ haunting score.
Verdi’s Backyard
The documentary introduces us to the beautiful “homeland” of Verdi, the region of Parma. From the little village called Le Roncole in the vicinity of Parma, where Verdi was born, to the estate close to Parma, to which Verdi – despite the great triumphs he celebrated in Milan, Venice, Naples and other major cities – always came back to and chose to spend the most time of his life. We get to know how Verdi “lives on” in the region and has even formed the area – from the everyday life of a simple
peasant to the life of one of the biggest opera stars in the world – Leo Nucci, whom is a regular guest at the Verdi Festival in Parma.
Ciro in Babilonia
Gioachino Rossini was only 20 years old when he wrote his fifth opera, Ciro in Babilonia, for the Teatro Comunale Ferrara in 1812. In this production from the Rossini Opera Festival of Pesaro (Italy), stage director Davide Livermore sets the action in the 1920s, with period black-and-white film inserts, lavish costumes in the Art Nouveau style, and decors highlighted by “Babylonian” elements. The production was a wildly cheered hit with the audience.
Matilde Di Shabran
“There truly is a Rossini miracle!” (Deutschlandradio). Acclaiming the mastery of tenorissimo Juan Diego Flórez and the breathtaking young soprano Olga Peretyatko in the lead roles, the press hailed the premiere of Rossini’s Matilde di Shabran at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro as the “high point of the festival” (the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel).
Il Signor Bruschino
Rossini’s one-act opera Il Signor Bruschino was premiered at the Teatro di San Moisè in Venice in 1813. The chilly reception it was given – it was performed only once – is difficult to understand today, considering its bubbly, exhilarating music. As performed at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, the work is a gem, and the New York Times cheered the “clever production” conceived by the young Florentine theater collective Teatro Sotteraneo, one of the most innovative experimental groups in Italy.
Bizet, Les pêcheurs de perles
Set in ancient times on the island of Ceylon, Bizet’s oper about two men’s vow of eternal friendship threatened by their love for the same woman, is a magificent example of Bizet’s gifts for melody and evocative instrumentation. This prodution from the stunning Teatro San Carlo was celebrated enthusiastically by audience and critics: “I have rarely seen a production as beautiful and faithful to the music.” (Paolo Isotta, Corriere della Sera)