It is now a well-established tradition: every year, on July 14, the Orchestre National de France welcomes the summer with a large musical gathering at the foot of the Eiffel Tower with stunning fireworks! Conducted by Cristian Macelaru, and accompanied by the Chorus of Radio France, the orchestra invites the audience around the world and thousands of people on the spot, to experience great arias and famous concert pieces in the company of prestigious soloists like Alice Sara Ott, Nadine Sierra, Lea Desandre, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Gautier Capuçon Erwin Schrott and Leonidas Kavakos.
Anne-Sophie Mutter and NY Philharmonic at Kraftwerk Peenemünde
It is a special place: it was here that the Nazi regime had the rockets developed that were used to bombard London during World War II. Today, the former turbine hall is a place of remembrance and reconciliation. Anne-Sophie Mutter, the four-time Grammy Award winner and formative soloist, mentor and visionary, connects Germany and the USA like no other violinist. Her husband, the American-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor André Previn, who died in 2019, dedicated the violin concerto ‘Anne-Sophie‘ to her. It is one of his most successful works and a profound love letter full of virtuosity for a master of her instrument. Joan Tower is also dedicated to strong women. With “1920/2019” from the New York Philharmonic‘s Project 19, the young composer pays tribute to the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote and which celebrated its centenary in 2020. The New York Philharmonic also finds diversity in equality in Béla Bartók’s most successful work. His concerto for orchestra, premiered in Boston in 1944, demands brilliant solo and virtuoso performances from the orchestra. PROGRAM Previn: Violin Concerto ‘Anne Sophie‘; Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Tower: 1920/2019 (European premiere)
Bayreuth Festival 2022: Das Rheingold
This new production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival was the opera event of the 2022 Festival summer. Young director Valentin Schwarz reimagines the mythical story in the present day and tells a gripping family saga in the world of the rich and powerful. The musical direction is in the hands of Cornelius Meister. In Das Rheingold, the antagonists Wotan and Alberich are hostile twin brothers and it is not the gold from the Rhine that is stolen at the outset, but a child, emphasizing the fact that dynasties are always overshadowed by the question of who will one day inherit power.
Amid Times and Worlds – Music in Romania
Romania is a country of contrasts and astonishing diversity but its rich musical culture is still completely unknown to most. Amid Times And Worlds takes viewers on a fascinating journey to extraordinary musicians. It travels through the country and visits artists in Bucharest and Timisoara, the 2023 European Capital of Culture. We discover folk music traditions in Maramures and the Carpathians and experience singing in the famous wooden churches in the north of the country. Through conversations and interactions with musicians in Romania, the film paints a picture of the diversity of a country caught between tradition and modernity.
David Garrett – The private life of a star
Star violinist David Garrett is now 40 years old – the so-called Wunderkind of classical music is now one of the most successful violinists of his generation. However, he has worked very hard to achieve this success. He is in the middle of his life and draws a first résumé. How did David Garrett become David Garrett? What makes him special? To answer the core question of the documentary, “Who is David Garrett?”, a look at his professional career is not enough. Rather, we get closer to the answer with very private glimpses into his life – by looking into an otherwise hidden world. Interviews of companions, friends and family underpin the picture of the violin genius. An alternation of present and past runs narratively through the film. We make the past visible and tangible through a journey to the most important stations of his life. In addition, there are leaps back into the past through the use of archive and private material (hours of previously unreleased material from his childhood).
David Garrett – Alive
For the first time, David Garrett performs with his band in the ancient baths of Caracalla in July 2022, presenting his outstanding new program Alive. David Garrett plays the greatest soundtracks from the world of movies and games, with numerous world hits such as Happy, Stayin’ Alive, Let it Go, Shallow, Bella Ciao, or Thriller, among others. David Garrett – Alive at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome is an event that promises excellent entertainment and world-class musicianship in a historic venue full of atmosphere.
Freedom for Ukraine Concert – From Riga, Latvia
Citizens of Riga come together for a concert downtown in Riga, to support the people of Ukraine. The Freedom for Ukraine features stars of the Latvian music scene among others Ralfs Eilands & Dagamba, Ieva Akuratere, Aminata, Elza Rozentale, as well as traditional communal singing with many Latvian and Ukrainian songs sung with the audience. The emotional rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem became a particularly moving moment. The concert is an emotional sign of solidarity of people in Latvia with the affected people in Ukraine.
Hélène Grimaud plays Mozart and Schumann at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
Mozart did not write many works in minor tonalities, but those that he did were particularly impactful. They are also the ones that French pianist Hélène Grimaud most enjoys spending time with because they “provide a glimpse behind the mask of jollity that surrounds many of his famous works.” Selecting pieces that are all in minor keys yet composed during intensely creative periods in both Mozart’s and Schumann’s careers, Grimaud takes an insightful look at the composers and their popularity at the time. Grimaud’s performance in the beautiful hall of Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie is a symbolic representation of an encounter with fate, where drama and tragedy meet, and an apt reminder that not all is as it seems. PROGRAM Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20, K. 466; Symphony No. 40, K. 550; Schumann: Piano Concerto, Op. 54; Silvestrov: The Messenger (For Piano solo)
MozartOpera – Great Unknown and Knowns at Drottningholm court theatre
Enter the magic World of Mozart on the orginal stage of Drottningholm, anno 1766, famous from Ingmar Bergmans production of ”Die Zauberflöte” and announced a World Heritage by UNESCO. Long lost musical treasures are unvailed and performed here again in this unique recording. So enjoy Mozart’s unknowns for the very first time and experience the remarkable parallells to his most loved creations. Welcome to explore the magic in Mozart’s Music and time!
RCO: Made in America
Don’t miss the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in an all-American extravaganza from their illustrious home venue in Amsterdam! Susanna Mälkki leads a program entitled “Made in America,” exploring American identity across three rare, well-chosen works. Opening the evening is A Short Piece for Orchestra by 20th-century African-American composer Julia Perry, a neoclassical work of complex and frenetic rhythms tempered by profound lyricism. Next up is the formidable Violin Concerto by John Adams, a revolutionary piece for the instrument whose exceptional melodic richness complements a marvelously original rhythmic frame. Ferociously difficult and rarely played, it is interpreted with brio and assurance by virtuoso violinist Leila Josefowicz. Finally, the concert closes with Charles Ives’s Symphony No. 2, an evocative blend of European influences and New England folklore. PROGRAM Perry: A Short Piece for Orchestra; Adams: Violin Concerto; Ives: Symphony No. 2