Serse is one of Handel’s latest and most frequently performed operas, famous for its marvellous opening aria “Ombra mai fu”. At the centre of the confusing tragicomedy, very loosely based upon the life of Xerxes I of Persia, is a powerful and lovesick royal eccentric, King Serse. Rising opera star Gaëlle Arquez in the title role of Serse “scintillates with her nimble, luminous mezzo-soprano”, singing “irresistibly beautiful, impassioned, furious – but never mean” (Frankfurter Rundschau). Conducted by Constantinos Carydis, the performance is also musically excellent. “Over and over again, the orchestra, in an intelligent, often witty way, comments with improvised gestures on the stage proceedings, the fine dynamic differentiation, and the many eloquent timbres” (Stuttgarter Nachrichten). Frankfurt’s excellent Opern- and Museumsorchester contributes “all sorts of refinements” to this “musical smash hit” (Deutschlandfunk) and „In Frankfurt Tilman Köhler ensures a three-hour short abundant and furious banquett… a great evening of opera.“ (Deutschlandfunk).
BPO: Rattle conducts John Adams: The Gospel According to the Other Mary
Sir Simon Rattle, the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Rundfunkchor Berlin give an impeccable performance of the powerful biblical oratorio “The Gospel According to the Other Mary” by John Adams, one of the most renowned contemporary composers. The sophisticated score with a libretto by acclaimed theatre director Peter Sellars comes to life thanks to the Berliner Philharmoniker, whose intimate knowledge of Adams’s music stems from the composer himself: He attended the orchestra’s rehearsals. In the role of the Evangelist, the “flawless” (Bachtrack) Bubeck, Cummings and Medley lead through the narrative. A stunning highlight is Lazarus’s aria, sung by tenor Peter Hoare – “grand!” (Berliner Zeitung). But at the heart of the piece are Mary Magdalene and her sister Martha during the last days before Jesus’s death, impressively performed by mezzo-sopranos Kelley O’Connor and Tamara Mumford.
Semele
A fulminant opening of the International Handel festival Karlsruhe, Floris Visser’s staging of George Frideric Handel’s musical drama Semele brings distinguished Handel specialists such as the Deutsche Händel-Solisten and the Händel Festspielchor together. Labelled a piece “after the manner of an oratorio”, the dazzling Semele fuses elements of opera, oratorio and classical drama.
Arminio
Max Emanuel Cencics celebrated and award winning production of Handel’s masterwork from the Internationale Händel Festspiele Karlsruhe. Described by one contemporary commentator as “a miracle”, and another as “in every respect excellent & vastly pleasing”, Arminio strangely received only six performances between 12 January and 12 February 1737 at London’s Covent Garden, and was never staged again for almost two hundred years. The heroic story, based on historical events occurring on the Germanic fringes of the Roman Empire, saw ist fulminant revival with a new and ravishing production only in 2016 in Karlsruhe. Max Emanuel Cencic is surrounded by a fine ensemble of singers, with the Greek ensemble Armonia Atenean in the pit, conducted by George Petrou. The press praised the multiply-award-winning production as “rehabilitation of the piece” (FAZ). “Cencic is not only as countertenor but also as stage director at the peak of his success” (Süddeutsche Zeitung).
John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet
55 years after its premiere, the Stuttgart Ballet revisits John Cranko’s legendary Romeo and Juliet – the very choreography which laid the foundations for the “Stuttgart Ballet Miracle”, the company’s meteoric rise to fame. In this anniversary performance of the stunning, timeless production, experienced Cranko-performers and highly talented young dancers share the stage to tell the most famous love story of all time. John Cranko, who led the Stuttgart Ballet from 1961 until his death in 1973, created the choreography of Romeo and Juliet especially for his ensemble. Set to the superb score by Sergei Prokofiev, William Shakespeare’s story about two star-crossed lovers, caught in their families’ feuds, offers dramatic roles for the top-notch soloists: Elisa Badenes shines as “youthful, fresh, entirely natural and spontaneous Juliet”, while her partner David Moore dances a Romeo who is “expressing his love with the greatest sensitivity” (Der Neue Merker).
Bartabas in Salzburg 2017 – Mozart: Requiem
An absolute highlight of Salzburg’s Mozart Week with “highest art of sound and riding“ (Kronenzeitung): the French equine artist and theatrical genius Bartabas presents Mozart’s Requiem. Horses and riders from the formidable Académie Équestre de Versailles join forces with the Musiciens du Louvre, conducted by Marc Minkowski, the Salzburger Bachchor and “an excellent quartet of soloists“ (Kurier), namely Genia Kühmeier, Elisabeth Kulman, Julien Behr and Charles Dekeyser, to place the Requiem into a new theatrical context. Restoring the Felsenreitschule’s original purpose – a riding school – and at the same time including ist impressive architecture of arcades into the musical dramaturgy, the production is a breath-taking synthesis of the arts. By meticulously refining the skillfully regulated interactions between humans, animals and music, Bartabas and his horsemen have created a production which is much more than a great show riding choreography: it’s a moving exploration of the interconnectedness of existence. A piece of art with an “exceptional power of attraction” (Schwäbische Zeitung), “a requiem for all senses“ (Kronenzeitung).
Grafenegg: Midsummer Night’s Gala 2017
It is the season’s sparkling highlight: the Midsummer Night’s Gala at the Wolkenturm with international stars in the open air! 2017 sees Russian vocalists Aida Garifullina and Dmitri Hvorostovsky adding Grafenegg to the roll-call of leading operatic venues around the world where their great voices have been heard. The young soprano Garifullina is in the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera and baritone Hvorostovsky sang at the Red Square concert in Moscow in 2013.
Karajan – The Maestro and his Festival
Herbert von Karajan is the world’s most famous and commercially most successful conductor ever. Inspired by his wife’s book My Life at His Side, Hannes M. Schalle’s film covers new aspects of Karajan’s career, focusing on the maestro’s work in London, Berlin, New York, Vienna, Salzburg and St Tropez. Shot on these locations, it starts in Nice, France, in 1957, when Eliette and Herbert von Karajan met for the first time. The film follows their life until July 1989 and documents Karajan’s legacy, such as the Salzburg Easter Festival. A very personal story, told by Madame Eliette von Karajan.
Salzburg Festival 2017: Lorenzo Viotti conducts Beethoven and Schumann
Hailed as one of the most talented conductors of his generation, Lorenzo Viotti returns to the Salzburg Festival, which proved to be a stepping stone for the young Swiss: After he won the festival’s “Young Conductors Award”, leading the renowned Camerata Salzburg, he took the classical world by storm. Reunited with the Camerata, Viotti is joined by Sergey Khachatryan in the picturesque Großer Saal of the Stiftung Mozarteum. In their “debut of the young and wild” (ARD), they rise to the challenge that is Beethoven’s Violin Concerto: After all, Beethoven’s work was deemed too difficult whilst not being virtuosic enough when it premiered in 1806. Khachatryan demonstrates his extensive skills, producing “celestially delicate sounds” (drehpunktkultur.at). Viotti’s treatment of the “Renish”, Robert Schumann’s Third Symphony, is “youthful and brisk” (Kronenzeitung). PROGRAM Beethoven: Violin Concerto; Schumann: Symphony No. 3
Hollywood in Vienna – A Tribute to Danny Elfman
Hollywood in Vienna enters the realm of mythical creatures and fairy tales and honours Hollywood composer, Grammy Award Winner and four-time-Oscar-nominee Danny Elfman. The ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of James Shearman discover with Beauty that there’s an enchanted prince hiding within the fearsome Beast, explore the mysterious world to which the wardrobe in “The Chronicles of Narnia” leads to and accompany the brave “Mulan” on her adventurous journey through medieval China. Star singers Nathan Trent and Louise Dearman shine in “La La Land”, while Insingizi & Friends sweep the audience in the Vienna Concert hall away with their “Lion King” medley. In the second part, conductor John Mauceri and the orchestra perform the highlights from Danny Elfman’s impressive back catalogue such as “The Nightmare before Christmas”, “The Simpsons” and “Batman”.