Interpol’s debut album ‘Turn on the Bright Lights’ (2002) was critically acclaimed, making it to tenth position on the NME’s list of top albums in 2002 as well as No. 1 on Pitchfork Media’s Top 50 Albums of 2002. Subsequent records ‘Antics’ (2004) and ‘Our Love to Admire’ (2007) have confirmed the band’s initial success and turned them into a commercial and critical success. Having first performed at Luna Lounge along with other notable bands like The Strokes, Longwave, The National and Stellastarr, they are one of the bands associated with the New York City indie music scene, and were one of several groups that emerged from the post-punk revival of the 2000s.
LA Opening Gala: John Williams Celebration
For the 2014/15 Opening Night Concert and Gala, the Los Angeles Philharmonic paid loving tribute to composer John Williams, long a champion and close friend of the LA Phil. Gustavo Dudamel, an awestruck fan of the musical icon, led the orchestra in a crosssection of Maestro Williams’ matchless canon, including Star Wars, Jaws, Schindler´s List, Catch Me If You Can, Amistad and Fiddler On The Roof. Also featuring very special musical performances by Itzhak Perlman.
Through The Eyes Of Yuja
With more than 120 performances a year, Yuja Wang lives a nomadic lifestyle. Travelling the world professionally, two extra small trolley suitcases carry the essentials for a two week trip: dresses, shoes, iPad, iPod and Smartphone. Yuja is 27 and leads a new generation of pianists who can play anything with comfort thanks to their phenomenal technique and strong self-confidence. “Through the Eyes of Yuja” reveals us this artist in a very personal way, equipped with a portable camera and her smartphone the film wants to be a kind of digital diary, a reflection of the image Yuja casts to the world as well as a phantasmagorical world the directors, Anaïs and Oliver Spiro, tend to loom about this image.
Mission Incognito
The opera house, the concert hall, the museum … these venues are passé – “Mission Incognito” is the new tomorrow. Celebrity artists go outside their comfort zone and share their high art directly with the people on the streets. An entertaining half hour format featuring well known musicians and artists, such as Rolando Villazón or Vladimir Malakhov, that will step into the world and meet their amateur counterparts.
Jonas Kaufmann – You Mean The World To Me – Documentary
Jonas Kaufmann traces the paths of the great singers and composers during the last years of the Weimar Republic (between Germany’s defeat at the end of World War I in 1918, and Hitler’s rise to power in 1933). The film is focussing on three pillars: Franz Léhar, Richard Tauber and the heydays of the “Silver Operetta” era; Robert Stolz, Joseph Schmidt and the invention of sound movies; and the diversification of musical styles through international commercialization. It includes excerpts of Jonas Kaufmann’s correpetitions with Stellario Fagone in Munich and the recording session for his album in the Funkhaus Berlin. Also available: Concert “You Mean The World To Me” (70′), Cat.No. 9151
Beijing Opera “You and Me”
“Raise the Red Lantern“ Film Director Zhang Yimou directs his first Beijing. With his films, such as “Hero”, which won a Golden Globe, or “Raise the Red Lantern”, Zhang Yimou has – despite years of repression by Chinese authorities – decisively shaped modern Chinese cinema and helped it surface throughout the world. His first Beijing-Opera production in the Chinese capital at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA): “You and Me” is based on a 2700-year-old Chinese imperial story from the chapter “Lord Zheng defeats Duan in Yan” from the legend of Zuo – a tale of betrayal, the power of infantile love and the fact that blood is thicker than water.
From Mao to Bach: Zhu Xiao-Mei performs the Goldberg Variations at the Bachfest Leipzig
Zhu Xiao-Mei occupies a unique place in the world of music: The program of her rare appearances is limited to a few works which are for her like “mountains of the soul”. Her famous recording of the Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach, whom she described as the “reincarnation of a great Chinese sage,” has led the artist to her international breakthrough.
C.P.E. Bach – 300 Years: The 1786 Charity Concert
A concert in celebration of the 300th birthday of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach from the Konzerthaus Berlin. The famous RIAS Kammerchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik are performing works by C.P.E. Bach, his father J. S. Bach and G. F. Haendel. ——- PROGRAM: C.P.E. Bach · Introduction / J.S. Bach · Credo (Symbolum Nicenum) / G.F. Händel · Arie: Ich weiß, daß mein Erlöser lebt / G.F. Händel · Hallelujah / C.P.E. Bach · Sinfonie / Magnificat (Lobgesang Mariens) / Heilig with double chorus. Length: approx. 105′ / 58′ (2nd half) / 43′ (Magnificat)
Satiesfictions – Saunters with Eric Satie
Always armed with a melon, umbrella and wisecracks, he is not only on the outside the strangest fellow in French music history: Erik Satie was a composer, designer, church founder, PR pioneer and master of aperçus. In playful episodes the documentary “Satiesfictions” by Youlian Tabakov and Anne-Kathrin Peitz illuminates the phenomenon that is Satie: His countless ads evolve into real commercials and his drawings into cartoons. Interwoven with accounts by Satie associates and music experts, the film offers a unique insight into Satie’s cosmos of word and sound, featuring divas, dogs, and children, pianists playing on pianos stacked atop each other or performers turning into “musical furniture”.
Memorial Concert for Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado, who passed away on 20 January 2014 in Bologna, gave Lucerne Festival innumerable outstanding musical experiences. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra honors him with a special memorial concert at the Easter Festival. Opening the program is the first movement from SCHUBERT’s Unfinished Symphony, which Claudio Abbado conducted during his last performance in Lucerne in August 2013 — the final concert of his career. The program continues with Alban BERG’s Violin Concerto, which is dedicated “to the memory of an angel.” The soloist is Isabelle Faust, who recorded this very work with Claudio Abbado in 2011. To conclude the concert, the LFO performs the finale from Gustav MAHLER’s Third Symphony, which the composer originally planned to title “What love tells me.” Conductor is Andris Nelsons. (Cat. No. UNITEL: A955500020000)