It is the concertante performance of Elektra in which the Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of its principal conductor Christian Thielemann does justice once again to its reputation as Richard Strauss’s favourite orchestra and leaves us in no doubt: this is where the Strauss sound is at home! Evelyn Herlitzius leads a brilliant cast including Waltraud Meier, René Pape and Anne Schwanewilms.
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons Recomposed By Max Richter – The Berlin Concert
Affection is an integral part of Max Richter’s Vivaldi Recomposed. His “post-classical idiom” draws inspiration from influences like electronic music, punk, club music, psychedelic rock. Max Richter’s co-conspirators are Daniel Hope, the British violinist; and the orchestra “l’arte del mondo” (artistic director is the violinist Werner Ehrhardt). A former member of the Beaux Arts Trio, Hope is both a notable champion of contemporary music and an exponent of the standard classical repertoire. That makes him the ideal soloist for Richter’s piece. (Cat.No. UNITEL: A055501640000)
Elektra
The NorrlandsOperan’s Symphony Orchestra is lead by conductor and grammy award nominee Rumon Gamba, gives the music its powerful and expressive note. Strauss’ courage inspired Carlus Padrissa of La Fura Dels Baus in his staging of Elektra’s wrath and vindictiveness and for giving the atmosphere for that, West Bothnian twilight is the perfect background for the burning forest and the river of blood. Elektra is sung by Ingela Brimberg who’s “powerful voice filled soul, earth and sky” (Kulturkorren).
Dudamel conducts Berlioz’s Requiem
“If I was threatened with the destruction of all my works but one, I would save the Requiem,” wrote Berlioz shortly before his death. Berlioz composed it in 1837, a few years after what has surely remained his most popular work ever since its successful premiere, the Symphonie fantastique. Under Gustavo Dudamel’s direction, it was revealed as “a Requiem of the highest calibre” (El Pais). Both orchestras – “his” Simon Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France that supplemented it – and the two choirs “set the vault and columns of Notre-Dame de Paris vibrating” (Toute la Culture).
Fidelio
Since its complete recording of all Beethoven’s symphonies and their performance as a cycle in New York, Paris and at the Salzburg Festival, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and its principal conductor Paavo Järvi are established as truly ideal interpreters of the music of Beethoven. According to The New York Sun they are “the authoritative Beethoven orchestra of our day”.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk – The Case of the Three Sided Dream
The Case of the Three Sided Dream is the documentary film on the life, music and legacy of multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Kirk was a one of a kind musician, personality, satirist and windmillslayer who despite being blind, becoming paralyzed, and facing America’s racial injustices – did not relent. His life’s work was exploring sound and making music. Beyond that, he was an outspoken activist who started a political movement to get more exposure for Jazz in America – particularly on TV. Dreams were important to Rahsaan. They planted the seed in his mind to play three horns simultaneously. His name came from dreams. When asked about his religious beliefs, he would say, “I’m from the Religion of Dreams”. At the age of 40, at the apex of his career, Rahsaan suffered a stroke, which left him half paralyzed. Despite this, he continued to tour and play music, with the use of only one hand, literally until the day he died. Special Features (20 mins): Joel Dorn talks about Rahsaan “Bright Moments”, performed live in 1977.
Dvorák – Symphony No 1 in c minor “Bells of Zlonice”
From the stunning Rudolfinum in Prague: the Czech Philharmonic conducted by ist chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek performing Dvorák´s symphonies: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, OP. 3 “The Bells of Zlonice” (48´- A985500040001). Complete cycle of all 9 symphonies also available, see A985500040001-9.
Dvorak – The Complete Symphonies
Antonín Dvorák (1841–1904) stands alongside Smetana as a founder of the new Czech music. His nine symphonies, presented here for the first time as a filmed cycle, show Dvorák to be a thoroughly individual and original composer whose symphonic concepts and wealth of musical expression are often surprising, representing a distinctly different engagement with the formal legacy of the nineteenth century from one symphony to the next. The Czech Philharmonic regards Dvorák’s symphonic output as an essential part of its repertoire. All the symphonies in this cycle were performed in the Dvorák Hall of the Rudolfinum in Prague, one of Europe’s oldest and loveliest concert halls and also where
Dvorák conducted the first concert by today’s Czech Philharmonic in 1896. Jirí Belohlávek, Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, is considered an established authority on the Slavic music of his homeland.
Dvorak – Symphony No 2 in B flat op. 4
From the stunning Rudolfinum in Prague: the Czech Philharmonic conducted by it´s chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek performing Dvorák´symphonies: Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, Op.4 (55´ – A985500040002). Complete cycle of all 9 symphonies also available, see A985500040001-9.
Dvorak – Symphony No 3 in E flat
From the stunning Rudolfinum in Prague: the Czech Philharmonic conducted by its chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek performing Dvorák´s symphonies: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 10 (38´- A985500040003) . Complete cycle of all 9 symphonies also available, see A985500040001-9.