We know Winston Churchill’s saying about a “riddle wrapped inside an enigma”. Nothing could better describe Robert Wilson’s symbolic productions. What do minimalist fuel pumps have to do with Shakespeare’s sonnets? Why does Parsifal wear a triangular helmet? How did Alice from Wonderland end up on the Reeperbahn? Why and how does all this move many audience member to tears? This film sets out on a journey to uncover the mystery in the heart of Robert Wilson’s mysterious art – with the help of Tom Waits, Willem Dafoe, Marina Abramovic, Coco Rosie, and Rufus Wainwright.
Stuttgart Ballet Talks
A conversation about the origins and history of the ballet “The Taming of the Shrew”
with Tamas Detrich, Wolfgang Heinz and Reid Anderson
Pierre-Laurent Aimard plays Messiaen “Le Catalogue d’oiseaux”
The “Catalogue d’oiseaux” (“Catalogue of Birds”) is one of the most important works by Olivier Messiaen. The composer wrote the 13 piano pieces between 1956 and 1958. What may sound at first like an ornithological reference work is one of the most unusual and brilliant piano works of its time. The French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard is the leading interpreter of Olivier Messiaen’s piano works. His interpretation of the “Catalogue d’oiseaux” is performed in the St. Canisius Church in Berlin. As a pupil of Messiaen’s second wife Yvonne Loriod at the Conservatoire de Paris, Pierre-Laurent Aimard already had musical and personal contact with Olivier Messiaen at an early age. As a 16-year-old, the
exceptional pianist won the Messiaen Competition. Pierre-Laurent Aimard was awarded the Echo Klassik for his recording “Hommage à Messiaen”. Programme: from “Le Catalogue d’oiseaux”: Le traquet stapazin (The Western black-eared wheatear); Le courlis cendré (The Eurasian curlew); L’alouette calandrelle (The Greater short-toed lark); L’alouette lulu (The Woodlark); Le merle bleu (The Blue rock thrush)
John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew
John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew is one of the greatest ballet comedies of the 20th century. Inspired by William Shakespeare’s world-famous play, Cranko brings to vivid life the story of the shrewish Katherina whom no one wants to marry and the dashing and clever Petruchio who makes her his wife and “tames” her. Set to cheerful and boisterous music by Kurt-Heinz Stolze after Domenico Scarlatti and with colourful costumes and a charming set by Elisabeth Dalton, The Taming of the Shrew evokes the sunlit streets and gardens of Italy. The perfect ballet for the whole family, danced by the Stuttgart Ballet. “This company is world class.” (Tanznetz) / “Cranko’s adaption of Shakespeare’s comedy is an artistic gem.” (FAZ)
“Haydn, the Shakespeare of Music” – Paavo Jäarvi & Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Haydn was composer in residence in London twice: in the 1791/92 season and in the 1794/95 season. At that time, the city was in the throes of music fever, to which Haydn had contributed significantly. Today, one of his London symphonies often merely stands at the beginning of a concert in which a musical heavyweight by another – later – composer follows. The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, on the other hand, devotes itself entirely to the “Shakespeare of Music”, as Haydn was called by the press. The program includes an overture by his London composer friend William Shield and three of his London symphonies, for which Haydn reached into his great compositional bag of tricks.
“Haydn in particular has to be played as vividly as possible, and deliberately sometimes quite unconventionally, so that the hidden wit of his symphonies comes to the fore. And Paavo Järvi, Artistic Director of the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen for almost two decades, and his orchestra are true masters at this.” (Hamburger Abendblatt)
Muti conducts Debussy & Berlioz
“A fantastic ride between French refinement and waltz fireworks, ecstatic and Gregorian, bombast and apocalypse” (Der Standard) For many years grand master Riccardo Muti has been a regular guest at the Musikverein conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker. Undoubtedly, the orchestra and the Italian conductor have created a musical bond that exists for more than 50 years and guarantees stellar performances. In this concert, they offer “a fantastic ride between French refinement and waltz fireworks, ecstatic and Gregorian chant, bombast and apocalypse” with Claude Debussy’s Trois Nocturnes and Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. “Frenzied applause for the orchestra and Maestro Muti, whom the audience honored with a standing ovation lasting several minutes!” (Der Standard). PROGRAM: Debussy: Trois Nocturnes; Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Dido & Aeneas
For the opening of the International Baroque Festival at Melk Abbey, the ancient world makes its way into the Abbey Church. With Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, the composer’s brilliant opera and at the same time one of the central works of music history, the festival takes on the love and suffering of a couple who are granted happiness together for only a brief moment. The lovers’ fate finally culminates in one of the most poignant moments ever composed. The Concentus Musicus Wien under its conductor Stefan Gottfried and a cast of outstanding singers make this semi-scenic performance an unforgettable experience. “A stellar hour!” (Niederösterreichische Nachrichten)
Salzburg Festival 2022: Christian Thielemann & Elina Garanca
“What a sound pleasure, what a playing culture! […] Bruckner’s ‘Ninth’ without burdens, without any heaviness. Symphony in Schubert’s sense, seductive, apollonian.” (Kronenzeitung) To mark the bicentenary of Anton Bruckner’s birth in 2024, Christian Thielemann, the Wiener Philharmoniker and Unitel record the first Bruckner cycle with a single conductor in the orchestra’s history. After a truly magnificent performance of the Seventh Symphony in 2021, the stellar conductor returns to the Salzburg Festival with the Ninth to finish the cycle. In the first part of the concert, Christian Thielemann joins forces with Latvian star mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor for Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody. PROGRAM: Brahms: Alto Rhapsody for voice, male chorus and orchestra, Op. 53; Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D minor
Madama Butterfly – Hope and longing at Bregenz Festival
Salzburg Festival 2022: Andris Nelsons & Yefim Bronfman
Praised as an “exuberant, intoxicating conductor” (Boston Globe), Grammy Awardwinning Andris Nelsons is one of the most renowned and innovative conductors on the international scene today and his connection with the Wiener Philharmoniker is something special: Nelsons has developed a physical language with the players whose musical partner he has been since 2010. At the 2022 Salzburg Festival edition, Andris Nelsons and the Wiener Philharmoniker continue their acclaimed Mahler cycle with the Fifth Symphony, pairing it with Bartók’s second piano concerto. “Bronfman shows everything: impeccable technique, expressive art, power, but also a relaxed attitude when he delicately weaves in Bartók’s folklore quotations. […] The “Viennese”, with Andris Nelsons of one heart and soul. […] Great jubilation.” (Der Standard) PROGRAM: Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2; Schumann: Arabesque op. 18; Mahler: Symphony No. 5.