The Book of Madrigals

In their new Book of Madrigals, the a capella ensemble amarcord presents outstanding compositions from the European Renaissance by Dowland, Banchieri, Monteverdi, Palestrina, Josquin and Willaert. Along with Michael Metzler (percussion), Hille Perl (viol) and the American lutenist Lee Santana, the ensemble met in the fall of 2013 in the Venetia region of northern Italy. In the unique setting of the Villa Caldogno, built by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, the madrigals were recorded under studio conditions with several cameras. The program is available in three different formats: 78 or 44 minutes with interviews about the Renaissance period, the repertoire and the location. 58 minutes without interviews (music only).

Happy Birthday, Lucerne! Anniversary Season Opening Concert conducted by Claudio Abbado

2013 marked the 75th birthday of Lucerne Festival. Additionally, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra celebrates its 10th anniversary, and its founder, Claudio Abbado, celebrates his 80th birthday! For the anniversary season opening concert in 2013 Abbado gathers world-famous soloists, who are willing to ‘do the craziest things I ask of them in the interest of the compositions: to fly or to go through the fire.’ The maestro spans a wide and quite contrasting range, from the romantic sounds of BRAHMS’ Tragic Overture to the orchestral interlude and the Song of the Wood-Dove from SCHOENBERG’s Gurrelieder, back to BEETHOVEN’s Eroica. —– PROGRAM: Johannes Brahms: Tragic Overture, Op. 81 / Arnold Schoenberg: Orchestral Interlude and Song of the Wood-Dove from ‘Gurrelieder’ (with Mihoko Fujimura, Mezzo-soprano) / Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 ‘EROICA’

Lucerne Festival 2013: Simon Rattle conducts Mozart – The Last Three Symphonies

Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic take on a myth with their complete performance of the last three symphonies by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. For the Romantics, these three scores represented Mozart’ legacy to posterity – but for Rattle they signify an interpretive challenge of the first order: “Here human emotions are pushed to the absolute extreme,” he explains. Mozart’s music is in any case incomparable: “It is deeply emotional and passionate and dark and dangerous and cheerful like no other music that has ever been written.” —– PROGRAM: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony in E-flat major, K. 543 / Symphony in G minor, K. 550 / Symphony in C major, K. 551 (Jupiter)

200 Years of Verdi – A Gala Concert

Gala Concert from the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on occation of the 200th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi in 2013. On the program highlights from Verdi’s most famous works. —- PROGRAM: Messa da Requiem – Dies Irae / Macbeth – Ambizioso spirto; Patria oppressa; O figi miei / Rigoletto – Caro nome Cortigliani, vil razza / I vespri siciliani – O tu Palermo / Il trovatore – Tacea la notte placida; Il balen del suo sorriso; Di quella pira / La forza del destino – Pace, pace, mio dio; Il santo nome di Dio Signore; La vergine degli angeli / La traviata – Preludio I Atto; E strano; Di provenza il mare e il suol / Don Carlo – Ella giammai m‘amò; Tu che le vanità; O don fatale, o don crudel / Aida – O patria mia; Celeste Aida; Marcia trionfale / Falstaff – È sogno o realtà; Tutto nel mondo è burla

75 Years Lucerne Festival

A collage of historic images, recent concert recordings and interviews with protagonists of then and now, this one-hour documentary spans a wide arc from the founding days, through history’s trials and tribulations to the overwhelming success of recent years and offers an inside glimpse into the 75 years of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL.

Bach, Mass in B minor

Under the direction of Bach’s successor as “Thomaskantor”, Georg Christoph Biller, the St. Thomas Boys Choir and an outstanding soloist quintet perform with the prestigious Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, playing on authentic period instruments.