doccatalogue 2015
download 
Report Transcription
catalogue 2015
Avant Première CATALOGUE 2015 THANK YOU TO ALL OUR PARTNERS AND CO-PRODUCERS : Avant Première CATALOGUE 2015 COPRODUCTION & PRESALES: Unitel GmbH & Co. KG Gruenwalder Weg 28d, 82041 Oberhaching, Germany Tel: +49.89.673469-630 ∙ Fax: +49.89.673469-610 [email protected] Ernst Buchrucker (Managing Director) [email protected] ∙ Tel: +49.89.673469-19 Dr. Thomas Hieber (Head of Business and Legal Affairs) [email protected] ∙ Tel: +49.89.673469-611 Dr. Magdalena Herbst (Head of Production) [email protected] ∙ Tel: 49.89.673469-862 WORLD SALES – EXCLUSIVE INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTOR FOR ALL UNITEL PROGRAMMES: C Major Entertainment GmbH Kaiserdamm 31/86, 14057 Berlin, Germany Tel.: +49.30.303064-64 [email protected] Elmar Kruse ∙ [email protected] (Managing Director) Nadja Joost ∙ [email protected] (Sales Manager, Director Live Events & Popular Music) Nishrin Schacherbauer ∙ [email protected] (Sales Manager) Ira Rost ∙ [email protected] (Sales Manager, Assistant to Managing Director) Avant Première CATALOGUE 2015 OPERA Gaetano Donizetti: La Favorite HK Gruber: Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald (Tales from the Vienna Woods) Leoš Janáček: Jenufa Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Da Ponte-Cycle Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni Aribert Reimann: Lear Gioachino Rossini: Aureliano in Palmira Franz Schubert: Fierrabras Richard Strauss: Arabella Richard Strauss: Elektra Richard Strauss: Feuersnot Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Giuseppe Verdi: Il trovatore Giuseppe Verdi: La forza del destino Giuseppe Verdi: Un ballo in maschera BALLET “Cubania” by Carlos Acosta Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake CONCERTS Boston Symphony Orchestra – The Inaugural Concert (A. Nelsons) Pretty Yende in Prague 14th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition Hector Berlioz: Requiem – Grande Messe des morts (G. Dudamel) Wiener Philharmoniker – Strauss & Staar (A. Nelsons) The last three Mozart Symphonies (N. Harnoncourt) Grafenegg Festival – Midsummer Night’s Gala Red Ribbon Celebration Concert Hollywood in Vienna – A Tribute to Randy Newman Max Raabe & Palastorchester – A Night in Berlin Berliner Philharmoniker Schumann & Brahms (S. Rattle) Johann Sebastian Bach: Johannespassion (S. Rattle) Czech Philharmonic Antonín Dvořák: The complete Symphonies (J. Bělohlávek) Bedřich Smetana: Má vlast (J. Bělohlávek) Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 (A. Prohaska, M. Jansons) Rossini, Shostakovich & Prokofiev (Y. Wang, M. Jansons) Strauss & Brahms (A. Nelsons) Brahms & Shostakovich (L. Prunaru, G. Horsch, A. Nelsons) Flothuis, Strauss & Shostakovich (A. Ogrintchouk, A. Nelsons) 4 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 43 43 43 45 45 45 47 47 47 88 49 49 51 51 53 53 53 54 54 Staatskapelle Berlin Johannes Brahms Piano Concertos (G. Dudamel) Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (D. Barenboim) Staatskapelle Dresden Emmerich Kálmán: Die Csárdásfürstin, concert performance (A. Netrebko, J. D. Flórez, C. Thielemann) Festive Advent Concert (P. Heras-Casado) Richard Strauss: Elektra, concert performance (C. Thielemann) Richard Strauss: Letzte Lieder & Eine Alpensymphonie (A. Harteros, C. Thielemann) Richard Strauss Gala (C. Goerke, A. Harteros, C. Nylund, C. Thielemann) Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks The Odeonsplatz Concert: “Russian Night” Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa solemnis (B. Haitink) Haydn, Mendelssohn & Bruckner (J. E. Gardiner) Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 (M. Jansons) Purcell & Mahler (D. Harding) Bartók & Mahler (Y. Nézet-Séguin) The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra & Daniel Barenboim at the Teatro Colón Martha Argerich & Daniel Barenboim: Piano Duos at the Teatro Colón Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Ravel et al. (D. Barenboim) BBC Proms West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (D. Barenboim) Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich (D. Zinman) World Orchestra for Peace (V. Gergiev) Stars of Tomorrow CHAMBER MUSIC 57 57 59 59 59 60 60 63 63 63 64 64 64 67 67 69 69 69 70 Franz Schubert: Winterreise (M. Goerne, M. Hinterhäuser, W. Kentridge) Benjamin Britten: String Quartets (Belcea Quartet) Tormenti e dolce oblio – Umane passioni e affetti vocali (M. Mauillion, A. Mauillion, F. Heumann) The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas (Rudolf Buchbinder) 73 73 73 75 DOCUMENTARIES Anna the Great Don Giovanni – A Night at the Opera Backstage From War to Peace Nikolaus Harnoncourt – Between Obsession and Perfection A Trio for Schubert Nine Sketches of Dvořák Christian Thielemann – My Strauss Richard Strauss – At the End of the Rainbow The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in South America 77 77 77 79 79 79 81 81 81 UPCOMING PRODUCTIONS 83 INDEX 86 5 P R O U D LY R E P R E S E N T S T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L T V D I S T R I B U T I O N O F T H E R OYA L O P E R A H O U S E LONDON CUBANĺA | GISELLE L’ ELISIR D’ AMORE | THE WINTER’S TALE DON GIOVANNI | I DUE FOSCARI LES VÊPRES SICILIENNES | PARSIFAL Photo: Bill Cooper/Royal Opera House 2014 LA FAVORITE OPERA G A ET ANO D ONIZETTI G A ETANO D ONIZETTI LA FAVORITE ( T H E FAVO U R E D O N E ) Kate Aldrich Shi Yijie Ludovic Tézier Giovanni Furlanetto Orchestre National du Capitole Conducted by Antonello Allemandi Staged by Vincent Boussard Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse Conductor Orchestra Chorus Chorus Master Stage Director Costume Designer Antonello Allemandi Orchestre National du Capitole Chœur du Capitole Alfonso Caiani Vincent Boussard Christian Lacroix Léonor de Guzman Fernand Alphonse XI Balthazar Don Gaspar Inès Kate Aldrich Shi Yijie Ludovic Tézier Giovanni Furlanetto Alain Gabriel Marie-Bénédicte Souquet Produced by CLC productions Video Director Olivier Simonnet A production of CLC productions in co-production with Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and UNITEL with the participation of France Télévisions and Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée Length: 152' Cat. no. A 010 50031 “Each note a masterpiece”, said Arturo Toscanini of Donizetti’s La Favorite. Something of a seldom-performed rarity today, it was rarely out of the Paris opera repertoire in the decades that followed its premiere. It is considered one of the composer’s most cogent works of music drama and shows Donizetti at the height of his powers as an orchestrator. The opera is the first original French opera by the Italian bel canto composer - a happy congruence of the Italian and French operatic traditions. “The Favourite” is set in 14th-century Spain, where the young novice Fernand falls in love with young noblewoman Léonore, leaves the monastic order and enlists in the army, unaware that the love of his life is the King’s favourite mistress … The young Chinese tenor Yijie Shi in the leading role of Fernand emerges as the discovery of the evening. “His singing leaves nothing to be desired and he plays the part with a full and complete richness of voice from the very first scene” (Forum Opera). His aria “Ange si pur” in the fourth act, a big number for the great tenors since the days of Caruso, earned him tumultuous applause. At his side, Kate Aldrich impressed with her “rich mezzo timbre, effortless high notes, a supple voice” (La Depeche). Ludovic Tézier as the King “is quite simply indispensable in the role of Alphonse XI to which he brings a vocal colour and presence that are magnificent” (Concert Classic). Vincent Boussard’s staging catches the eye with a simple clarity that shows off the elegant and colourful robes by Christian Lacroix, one of the most successful and influential Paris fashion designers of our age – “a spectacle of extreme aesthetic coherence” (Concert Classic). The Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse was regarded in Donizetti’s time as one of the most important centres of bel canto and remains one of France’s most important opera houses to this day. Photos: atrice Nin 9 HK Gruber GESCHICHTEN AUS DEM WIENER WALD Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald based o (TALES FROM THE VIENNA WOODS) Orchestra Conductor Chorus Chorus Master Stage Director n vá “t froales m tH vien e Wo o n a ds ” r e tH Marianne Alfred Oskar Valerie Zauberkönig Mutter Großmutter Erich r Hor Ilse Eerens Daniel Schmutzhard Jörg Schneider Angelika Kirchschlager Anja Silja OPERA HK GRUBER ’s b e s t s e l l Wiener Symphoniker Wiener Symphoniker HK Gruber Vokalensemble Nova Colin Mason Michael Sturminger Ilse Eerens Daniel Schmutzhard Jörg Schneider Angelika Kirchschlager Albert Pesendorfer Anke Vondung Anja Silja Michael Laurenz et al. Produced by Felix Breisach Medienwerkstatt Video Director Felix Breisach conducted by HK Gruber A co-production of ORF and UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with Bregenz Festival Bregenz Festival Length: approx. 160' Cat. no. A 040 50037 Ödön von Horváth’s 1931 play “Tales from the Vienna Woods” takes a twisted view of Johann Strauss Jr’s 1868 waltz of the same title. During his lifetime, he considered teaming up with Kurt Weil to make an opera of the work. Three-quarters of a century later, the Bregenz Festival has finally accomplished this job, by asking Viennese composer Heinz Karl Gruber to write the opera – and “Gruber is a worthy substitute for Weil” states the Financial Times. Horváth’s tale is a timeless satire of gossipy hypocrisy: On the day of her betrothal, fun-loving Marianne leaves her fiancé, the honest butcher Oskar, and elopes with a rogue from Vienna, has his child, is abandoned by the child’s father, finds work as a nude dancer in a bar, steals from one of the guests and ends up in prison. The staunchly Catholic community is highly critical of the young woman. Finally, the butcher deigns to make an “honest woman” of her and provide her with a middle-class home. The libretto and staging,both by Michael Sturminger, adhere closely to Horváth’s original. The protagonist emerges from the fog on an empty stage and disappears into the mist again at the end. The action in between is a clever programme of cross-fade images: the Vienna Woods gives way to the River Danube, which in turn becomes a block of council flats; the cathedral of St. Stephen mutates into a night club. In connection with the direction of the very human characters, this produces an incredibly dense, timeless work. The music is as captivating as the staging: “With his breathtaking instrumentation HK Gruber creates multi-faceted moods and virtuoso tone colours. The large-scale Vienna Symphony sounds incredibly soft and all-enveloping one minute, then rears up like a wild animal the next.” (Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung) “This work really plucks at your heart strings” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). HK Gruber’s opera “Tales from the Vienna Woods” deserves equal status with Horváth’s masterpiece, “and is perhaps even more oppressive and powerful. Result: a triumph!” (Kurier). Or as the Financial Times summarized: “Tales from the Vienna Woods is a well-crafted, weighty, and wordy.” Photos: Karl Forster 11 OPERA Leoš Janáček Jenůfa Conductor Donald Runnicles Orchestra Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin Chorus Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin Chorus Master William Spaulding Stage Director Christof Loy Grandmother Buryjovka Laca Klemeň Števa Buryja Kostelnička Buryjovka Jenůfa Foremen Mayor Mayor’s Wife Karolka Herdswoman Barena Jano Hanna Schwarz Will Hartmann Ladislav Elgr Jennifer Larmore Michaela Kaune Simon Pauly Stephen Bronk Nadine Secunde Martina Welschenbach Fionnuala McCarthy Jana Kurucová Alexandra Hutton Produced by Bernhard Fleischer Moving Images Video Director Brian Large Jenůfa A production of UNITEL in cooperation with Deutsche Oper Berlin and CLASSICA Leoš Janáček Length: 130' Cat. no. A 050 50153 “Sometimes all that is needed is to match the right director with the right piece: Christof Loy and Janáček’s Jenufa are evidently just such a happy case, giving the Deutsche Oper Berlin the rare example of an opera production as intelligent as it is modern” (Opernglas). Jenufa, still Janáček’s most successful and most often performed opera, is a musical study of the social milieu. The psychologically precise role management of Christof Loy (“exemplary”, said the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) results in “a staging with an authentically tragic aura” (NY Times). Loy moves the action of Janáček’s drama, revolving around the strict sacristan (the Kostelnicka) who – from fear of gossip and concern for the future of her stepdaughter Jenufa – drowns Jenufa’s illegitimate child, to a bare white room in which the passage of the seasons is only hinted at – “a wonderful concentration on the essence of the story” (Der Neue Merker). At the very beginning, we see a white prison cell – the sacristan goes over past events and the observer is thrust into the story seen in retrospective – “ a riveting new production” (NY Times). Before the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin stands Donald Runnicles “who neatly balances churning intensity and textural refinement” (NY Times). Jennifer Larmore as the Kostelnicka “endows the role with singing of uncommon beauty and vulnerability while never slighting its more dramatic moments” (NY Times). Michaela Kaune sings the title role of Jenufa with warm soprano, her despair at her situation palpable at every moment, culminating finally in the discovery of her dead son. A “convincing and moving performance” (Der Neue Merker). The remaining cast too is top-drawer, with Will Hartmann as the jealous Laca, Ladislav Elgr as good-for-nothing Steva and stage veteran Hanna Schwarz in the part of the old mill-owner Buryja. Michaela Kaune Will Hartmann Ladislav Elgr Jennifer Larmore Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin conducted by Donald Runnicles staged by Christof Loy Deutsche Oper Berlin Photos: Monika Rittershaus, Bettina Stöß 13 HARNONCOURT THE MOZART DA PONTE CYCLE OPERA Harnoncourt The Mozart Da Ponte CyCle Conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt Orchestra Concentus Musicus Wien Chorus Arnold Schoenberg Chor Chorus Master Erwin Ortner Stage Director Felix Breisach LE NOZZE DI FIGARO Conte di Almaviva Bo Skovhus Contessa di Almaviva Christine Schäfer Susanna Mari Eriksmoen Figaro Andrè Schuen Cherubino Elisabeth Kulman Marcellina Ildikó Raimondi et al. Length: 206' Cat. no. A 040 50028 DON GIOVANNI Don Giovanni Andrè Schuen Leporello Ruben Drole Donna Anna Christine Schäfer Don Ottavio Mauro Peter Donna Elvira Maite Beaumont Zerlina Mari Eriksmoen et al. Length: 196' Cat. no. A 040 50029 COSÌ FAN TUTTE Bo Skovhus andrè Schuen christine Schäfer elisabeth Kulman Markus Werba Concentus Musicus Wien Conducted by Nikolaus harnoncourt Staged by Felix Breisach Theater an der Wien Fiordiligi Mari Eriksmoen Dorabella Katija Dragojevic Guillelmo Andrè Schuen Ferrando Mauro Peter Despina Elisabeth Kulman Don Alfonso Markus Werba Length: 193' Cat. no. A 040 50030 A production of UNITEL and ORF III in cooperation with Theater an der Wien “He was out to create something ‘unheard-of’,” observed conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt beforehand. And true to form: What the conductor had to offer as he commenced his Mozart/Da Ponte cycle in the Theater an der Wien was something we “had never before heard like this” (Kurier). Nikolaus Harnoncourt, “master” of period performance practice, realized a project that had long been one of his dearest wishes: for the first time, he and his “original-sound orchestra” Concentus Musicus and his personal choice of singers were presenting the complete Mozart/Da Ponte cycle and harvesting the fruits of his Mozart research – an “enthusiastically acclaimed cycle!” (news.at). During an intensive phase of rehearsal and preparation, he was in search of a Mozart hermeneutic resting on historical sources and yet anchored in our own time, in order to stage the whole Da Ponte “trilogy” – Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte – in a matter of a mere six weeks. “This concentration – perceptible minute by minute – proved equally rewarding for the singers: the Concentus followed them like a silver shadow, and those singers must have felt singularly elated to have been carried along like that,” wrote Der Standard. Nikolaus Harnoncourt has once again lived up to his name as a “Mozart rebel”: “True to his reputation as a provocateur, Harnoncourt takes at a fast speed what we are accustomed to hear slow, while reining in what we expected to be lively” (Forum Opera). “BETWEEN OBSESSION AND PERFECTION” ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTARY SEE PAGE 79 Photos: Herwig Prammer 15 OPERA WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART D O N G I OVA N N I Orchestra Conductor Chorus Chorus Master Stage Director WoLfGAnG AmADEuS moz Art D o n G I ovA n n I Donna Anna Donna Elvira Zerlina Don Giovanni Leporello Il Commendatore Don Ottavio Masetto Lenneke Ruiten Anett Fritsch Valentina Naforniţa Ildebrando D‘ Arcangelo Luca Pisaroni Wiener Philharmoniker Christoph Eschenbach staged by Sven-Eric Bechtolf Wiener Philharmoniker Christoph Eschenbach Philharmonia Chor Wien Walter Zeh Sven-Eric Bechtolf Lenneke Ruiten Anett Fritsch Valentina Naforniţa Ildebrando D'Arcangelo Luca Pisaroni Tomasz Konieczny Andrew Staples Alessio Arduini Produced by BFMI Video Director Andreas Morell A production of ServusTV in coproduction with UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with Wiener Philharmoniker and Salzburg Festival Length: 184' Cat. no. A 040 50033 “A NIGHT AT THE OPERA BACKSTAGE” ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTARY SEE PAGE 77 The first D minor chords thunder ominously from the orchestra pit, while on the stage, the entrance hall of an elegant hotel appears, symbolic of a place of non-committal encounters. Luxury seeps from every pore of the stairs, galleries and mysterious doors. This is the present residence of Don Giovanni and his servant Leporello. The Don meets couples from high society (Donna Anna and Don Ottavio), he encounters lonely, unhappy women like Donna Elvira and he makes the acquaintance of the hotel staff such as chambermaid Zerlina. The Commendatore is an impenetrable hotel director, the Devil a barman. In a word, the perfect place for Don Giovanni’s exercises in seduction. Director Sven-Eric Bechtolf pulls off a brilliant coup with the high aesthetics of his intrigue, a masterful parody of the “everything is possible” of our time - flanked by an ensemble of exquisite vocal talents: Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, testosterone-charged Latin lover, amounts “with his splendid timbre and his stunningly virile magnetism to what must be an ideal realization of Don Giovanni” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). Seldom does one see such an insatiable seducer. With his finely balanced voice, Luca Pisaroni as an intellectually bespectacled Leporello is the perfect foil to his master. “The powerful bass of Commendatore Tomasz Konieczny is a true sensation” (Frankfurter Rundschau) and Alessio Gardini’s Masetto conveys his Mediterranean jealousy with a bewitching bel canto baritone. Meanwhile, the female roles are all realized with elegantly lean voices: Anett Fritsch highly dramatic as Elvira, the Donna Anna of Lenneke Ruitens supple in her vocal line and Valentina Naforniţa “a wonderful Zerlina who radiates strong vocal sensuality” (Opernnetz). Christoph Eschenbach at the rostrum of the Vienna Philharmonic injects the necessary sense of threat into the atmosphere: “Largesymphony blackness climbs out of the pit” (Deutschlandfunk). Photos: Michael Poehn 17 OPERA Aribert reimAnn Orchestra Philharmoniker Hamburg Conductor Simone Young Chorus Herrenchor der Staatsoper Hamburg Chorus Master Eberhard Friedrich Stage Director Karoline Gruber Bo Skovhus Katja Pieweck Hellen Kwon Siobhan Stagg König Lear Goneril Regan Cordelia Narr Graf von Gloster Edgar Edmund Philharmoniker Hamburg conducted by Simone Young staged by Karoline Gruber Staatsoper Hamburg Bo Skovhus Katja Pieweck Hellen Kwon Siobhan Stagg Erwin Leder Lauri Vasar Andrew Watts Martin Homrich Produced by Favo Filmproduktion Video Director Marcus Richardt A co-production of Unitel classica and Staatsoper Hamburg Length: 155' Cat. no. A 050 50164 Aribert Reimann’s “Lear” is a milestone in the tragic opera of the 20th century. Ever since its 1978 premiere at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, it has made its triumphal progress around the world in more than thirty productions as the most successful Shakespeare opera of our time. The remorseless logic of the action and plot and the primal force of irresistible sonic fantasies give this work the power to hold the attention of its listeners and viewers from the first moment to the last. The great theme of self-deception is imaginatively portrayed in this captivating stage production by Karoline Gruber with a retreat into the interior of a far from frail old man. It is not senility that drives Lear, brilliantly sung by Bo Skovhus, into isolation but his hyperactive ego. The action of Shakespeare’s highly politicised material is moved into the present day, in a power struggle within a major business conglomerate. Between black walls, on coffin-like platforms and metal gangways, a Lear still at the height of his powers hands over his kingdom to two greedy daughters - without recognising the love of the third. Aribert Reimann’s interpretation of the characters’ psychology, his lust for power, self-delusion and brutality in sound is impressive and gives musical expression to loneliness and despair. But the pitch-black clumps of sound and shrieking clusters are contrasted with tender melodic curves, gentle instrumental reassurances, dreamy monologues. The first Hamburg performance of “Lear” is a musical achievement of the highest order. “The orchestra of the State Opera under its GMD Simone Young is on absolutely top form.” No less fantastic is Bo Skovhus, “who in his starring role in shirt-sleeves and riding-boots mutates by his vocal and expressive power into a dangerous Everyman. A concentrated charge of monstrous megalomania, obstinacy and self-centredness: that is how this violent Hamburg Lear - with his shaven-headed companions as surreally sinister mirror images - steers a course towards shipwreck.” (Handelsblatt) Also available, an interview with Simone Young and Aribert Reimann introducing and explaining the opera (Length 19'). Photos: Bernd Uhlig 19 OPERA GiOaChinO ROSSini auRelianO in PalMiRa Gioachino Rossini auReliano in PalmiRa Orchestra Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini Conductor Will Crutchfield Chorus Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna Chorus Master Andrea Faidutti Stage Director Mario Martone Aureliano Zenobia Arsace Publia Oraspe Licinio Gran sacerdote Un Pastore Michael Spyres Jessica Pratt Lena Belkina Raffaella Lupinacci Dempsey Rivera Sergio Vitale Dimitri Pkhaladze Raffaele Constantini Produced by Metisfilm Classica Video Director Tiziano Mancini A production of UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with Rossini Opera Festival Length: approx. 170' Cat. no. A 000 50019 Since 1980 Pesaro, the Italian town at the Adriatic Sea, is celebrating its most famous son: Gioachino Rossini. Beside the well known and famous Works of the master, in the intimate setting of the Teatro Rossini also the creations which fell into oblivion were performed. In 2014 “Aureliano in Palmira” was for the very first time part of the repertoire. “Aureliano in Palmira” celebrated its first premiere on the 26th of December 1813 at the Scala In Milan. Soon afterwards the work was played in different theatres all over Europe. Nevertheless Rossinis piece felt into oblivion more and more compared to the great competitors like Tancredi or the Barber of Seville for which Rossini recycled musical parts of Aureliano. But since a few years there are ambitions to play this work about love, war, jealousy, loyalty and magnanimity more frequently. The direction in Pesaro was in the proven hands of the famous film director Mario Martone. He approached the piece of the realistic side, with marvellous, picturesque pictures and tableaux. The conductor of the rediscovery was Will Crutchfield. He decisively espoused the performance of this new edited work and directed masterfully the Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini. Also the choir of the Teatro Comunale Bologna was in perfect shape. From the soloist’s ensemble particularly Michael Spyres protruded in the title role. “The American showed immediately that his tenor with marvelous top notes has not only flexibility and agility, but also enough body, to provide the Roman emperor great vocal authority” (opera glass). “Jessica Pratt, making her role debut, is more than a match as the Syrian Queen, and went straight to the heart with an astonishing lengthy and penetrating top E that would stop any Roman Emperor in his tracks” (Express). Lena Belkina as Arsace was also convincing in her role and gave the performance that brillant shine, that is neccesary for Festivals like Pesaro. Michael Spyres Jessica Pratt lena Belkina Raffaella lupinacci Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini conducted by Will Crutchfield staged by Mario Martone Photos: studio amati bacciardi 21 OPERA Franz Schubert Michael Schade Julia Kleiter Benjamin Bernheim Dorothea Röschmann Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Ingo Metzmacher staged by Peter Stein Franz Schubert FIERRABRAS Orchestra Wiener Philharmoniker Conductor Ingo Metzmacher Chorus Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger Stage Director Peter Stein Fierrabras Emma Eginhard Florinda Roland König Karl Boland Maragond Brutamonte Ogier Michael Schade Julia Kleiter Benjamin Bernheim Dorothea Röschmann Markus Werba Georg Zeppenfeld Peter Kálmán Marie-Claude Chappuis Manuel Walser Franz Gruber et al. Produced by BFMI Video Director Peter Schönhofer A production of UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with ZDF/3sat in cooperation with Salzburg Festival and Wiener Philharmoniker Length: 163' Cat. no. A 040 50032 The heroic-romantic opera “Fierrabras” of 1823 is the last of Franz Schubert’s fifteen stage works. Still seldom performed to this day, this masterwork has been staged for the first time ever at the Salzburg Festival by master director Peter Stein in a brilliant performance. Based on an old French twelfth-century heroic epic, the plot depicts the military conflict between Christians and Moors at the time of Charlemagne. Emma, the Christian emperor’s daughter, becomes engaged against her father’s wishes with the knight Eginhard, who is not equal to her in social status. She has an admirer, Fierrabras, the eponymous hero and son of the prince of the Moors. After a monumental battle, the taking of prisoners and scenes from a military court, grandiose marches and victory celebrations, the noble Moor Fierrabras renounces his suit, which brings peace to the warring factions and happiness for the lovers. Presented also in the highest vocal quality, including the “marvellously expressive miracle Dorothea Röschmann” (Die Zeit). Not to mention “Michael Schade who exudes his exceptional tenor in Fierrabras’s heroic arias” (Der neue Merker). Under the baton of lngo Metzmacher, the velvety tones of the Vienna Philharmonic unfold in romantic flair. Set builder Ferdinand Wögerbauer fits into this concept in producing the black-and-white aesthetic scenery in the style of old engravings and sumptuous nineteenth-century book illustrations in order to provide this slight work with rooms of stylish beauty and austere elegance for the Western world and sumptuous luxury for the Orient. Dressed in decoratively lavish costumes, the Franks in delicately patterned lily-white garments, the Moors in similar black attire, the singers dovetail completely into this extraordinary staging. The result is a homogeneous melodrama like something from a lost world in which “the melos, the poetry, the sweetness and the dramatic force of Schubert’s highly refined and atmospheric sound worlds” (Kleine Zeitung) unfold in a unique manner. Photos: Bernheim Kleiter, Monika Rittershaus 23 OPERA RichaRd StR auSS ArAbellA RichaRd StRauSS ArAbellA Orchestra Conductor Chorus Chorus Master Stage Director Renée Fleming thomas hampson hanna-Elisabeth Müller daniel Behle Staatskapelle dresden conducted by Arabella Mandryka Zdenka Count Waldner Countess Adelaide Matteo Staatskapelle Dresden Christian Thielemann Staatsopernchor Dresden Wolfram Tetzner Florentine Klepper Renée Fleming Thomas Hampson Hanna-Elisabeth Müller Albert Dohmen Gabriela Beňačková Daniel Behle et al. Produced by BFMI Video Director Brian Large A co-production of UNITEL CLASSICA, ORF/3sat and NHK in cooperation with Salzburg Easter Festival christian thielemann Length: 168' Cat. no. A 040 50027 Salzburg Easter Festival “Arabella”, the final collaboration between Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss, gives Christian Thielemann another opportunity to show his class as a Strauss specialist, captivating his audience at the rostrum of the Dresden Staatskapelle in his second season as Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival. “The music is dreamily opulent”, concluded the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper (FAZ). Inspired by the resounding success of “Der Rosenkavalier” a few years earlier, Strauss and Hofmannsthal once again placed the action of the opera, premiered at the Dresden Semperoper in 1933, in late-19th-century Vienna. Director Florentine Kleppers’ sensitive handling of the characters, in a fin-de-siècle stage set by Martina Segna, and the elegant costumes by Anna Sofie Tuma provide well-nigh ideal conditions for the brilliant vocal ensemble, in which Renée Fleming as Arabella excels with her unique powers of character portrayal. “She is a pure-bred Straussian, as was evident on Saturday from start to finish of the performance in a master class of vocal style adapted to the music of Strauss that was simply amazing”, we read in leading Spanish daily El Pais, and the FAZ went into raptures: “But scarcely has Renée Fleming taken the stage (…) scarcely has she begun to sing than she radiates her own personal aura (…) The brightest, most comforting soprano heaven opens up before us when Müller joins Fleming in the famous sisters’ duet”. Hanna-Elisabeth Müller as an “intensive Zdenka proved to be, alongside the orchestra’s excellent Strauss sound, the highlight of the evening”, reported Vienna newspaper Kurier. Thomas Hampson is convincing as a “reserved, delicate Mandryka” (Opernglas) and together with Renée Fleming he does more than justice to the designation of “vocal dream team” (orf.at). And Christian Thielemann? Once again, his conducting is an inspiration. He provides affectionate support at the rostrum of the Dresden Staatskapelle, which premiered nine of Strauss’s 15 operas and is deservedly famous world wide. “The Strauss of the Dresden Staatskapelle conducted by Christian Thielemann has no equal today for full-bodied sound, elegance and suppleness” (Ogni Giorno). An Arabella simply Photos: Roman Zach-Kiesling 25 OPERA ElEktra RichaRd StRauSS ElEktra RichaRd StRauSS Orchestra NorrlandsOperan’s Symphony Orchestra Conductor Rumon Gamba Staged by Carlus Padrissa, La Fura dels Baus Elektra Chrysothemis Klytaemnestra Orestes Aegisthus Ingela Brimberg Susanna Levonen Ingrid Tobiasson Thomas Lander Magnus Kyhle et al. Video Director Ola Gerhardsson A production of SVT in cooperation with Norrlands Operan and UNITEL CLASSICA Ingela Brimberg Susanna Levonen Ingrid Tobiasson Thomas Lander Magnus Kyhle Length: 110' Cat. no. A 060 50002 The city of Umeå not only host the worlds most northern opera house, but is also the European Culture Capital of 2014, for which occasion the NorrlandsOperan and the dramatic art collective La Fura Dels Baus have create a unique monumental outdoor performance of Richard Strauss’ oneact opera Elektra. Cranes, mechanical giants with singers standing inside their chests, skips filled with Blood – Elektra is NorrlandsOperan’s biggest and most complex production ever, including many ‘special-effects’: “Suddenly, the front of the large containers opened up. Bloody water came gushing out in copious amounts. The water level on the graveyard rose and turned red. It was macabre, shocking and powerful in its great simplicity.” (Kulturkorren). The opera itself is based on the ancient myth about a woman who does everything in her power to revenge the murder of her father Agamemnon, while waiting in vain for the return of her presumed dead brother Orest. The unique outdoor stage, where the opera takes place, is two hundred metres long and erected on the old military command centre near the heart of Umeå city. It represents the palace in which Elektra’s dysfunctional family lives with their servants. 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). “There may of course be other Elektra interpretations of great interest, from La Scala or the Semperoper Dresden, but the unique performance in Umeå is simply unmatched”, summarizes the leading Spanish newspaper El Pais. NorrlandsOperan conducted by Rumon Gamba staged by Carlus Padrissa La Fura dels Baus Photos: Mats Bäcker 27 OPERA d r a h ric ss u a r t s Feuersnot is Richard Strauss’s second opera and made up for the failure of his first when its 1902 Dresden premiere was a resounding success. It is a lively one-act drama about the ancient Bavarian tradition of celebrating midsummer night with bonfires, songs and dances at the summer solstice – a work full of allusions, whether to the person and the music of Richard Wagner or to Strauss’s own life and times. t o n s r e u e F RichaRd StRauSS FeueRSnot (Fire Famine) one b r a C r Belle a l o c i N chel s n e H Dietrich oretti Am Rubén Knorren e Christin simo s a M o r Teat l e d a r t Orches Gabriele Ferro ted by Conduc ante D a m by Em rmo e l a Staged P o ssim a M o r t Tea Conductor Orchestra Chorus Chorus Master Stage Director Ortolf Sentlinger Diemut Elsbeth Wigelis Margret Kunrad Jörg Pöschel Hämmerlein Kofel Kunz Gilgenstock Ortlieb Tulbeck Ursula Ruger Asbeck Walpurg Ein großes Mädchen Gabriele Ferro Orchestra del Teatro Massimo Coro del Teatro Massimo Piero Monti Emma Dante Rubén Amoretti Nicola Beller Carbone Christine Knorren Chiara Fracasso Maria Sarra Dietrich Henschel Michail Ryssov Nicolò Ceriani Paolo Battaglia Paolo Orecchia Cristiano Olivieri Irina Pererva Francesco Parrino Valentina Vitti Francesca Martorana The rather strange magician Kunrad falls in love with the wellbrought-up burgomaster’s daughter Diemut and kisses her in front of all the passers-by. In revenge, she invites him to travel to her room in a big basket that she will pull up to her window. He is left half way, hanging in the air, to the amusement of all. Now Kunrad takes his own revenge, thanks to the magical tricks he has learned from his Master Reichart, and all the bonfires go out … The score has quotations from Wagner and echoes of contemporary composers such as Mahler and Bruckner. Nonetheless, it is genuine Strauss – from racy waltzes to enchanting love duets. The male lead, young magician Kunrad, is a coded reference to Strauss himself, while Kunrad’s mentor Meister Reichart represents Wagner, venerated by Strauss and, like sorcerer Reichart, once expelled through intrigue from the city of Munich. The Teatro Massimo, one of Italy’s finest and most respected opera houses and with its 3200 seats the country’s biggest, is opening this Strauss anniversary year with the revival of his early opera. In Italy, it was last staged in 1938 in Genoa with Strauss himself in the pit. Conductor Gabriele Ferro acquits himself well in handling the complex score and keeping the balance between the pit and the crowded stage – “the orchestra sounds marvellous” (Forum Opéra), “the choruses are splendid” (Milano Finanza). “Nicola Beller Carbone triumphs magnificently in the role of Diemut” (Forum Opéra) and “tackles the difficult passages with aplomb” (Operaclick). Dietrich Henschel, in the role of her suitor Kunrad, sings a “full-voiced baritone” (Tagesspiegel), “a baritone of refined voice” (Corriere della sera). Produced by Metisfilm Classica Video Director Tiziano Mancini A production of UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with Fondazione Teatro Massimo Length: 113' Cat. no. A 000 50016 Photos: Studio Camera 29 OPERA Der KRASSIMIRA STOYANOVA ∙ GÜNTHER GROISSBÖCK SOPHIE KOCH ∙ MOJCA ERDMANN WIENER PHILHARMONIKER ∙ FRANZ WELSER-MÖST STAGED BY HARRY KUPFER TH E F TH FOR RICHARD STRAUSS RICHARD STRAUSS T TIME I N IR S (The Knight of the Rose) E Rosenkavalier Der Rosenkavalier GED D BRID UNA ENSORE C N &U V E R SI O N Orchestra Wiener Philharmoniker Conductor Franz Welser-Möst Chorus Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor Chorus Masters Ernst Raffelsberger Wolfgang Götz Stage Director Harry Kupfer Feldm. Fürstin Werdenberg Octavian Sophie Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin Annina Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau Herr von Faninal Valzacchi Krassimira Stoyanova Sophie Koch Mojca Erdmann Silvana Dussmann Wiebke Lehmkuhl Günther Groissböck Adrian Eröd Rudolf Schasching et al. Video Director Brian Large A co-production of UNITEL CLASSICA, ORF, BR and NHK in cooperation with Salzburg Festival and Wiener Philharmoniker Length: 214' Cat. no. A 040 50031 “‘It is a dream, cannot be really true …’ – These heartfelt final words by the talented poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal, set in even more moving strains by his imaginative musical partner Richard Strauss, perfectly describe the high quality of the new production of their masterpiece Der Rosenkavalier at the Salzburg Festival. It is certainly the best and most universally satisfying staged opera of this summer, and that applies to direction, presentation, singers, conductor and orchestra alike.” (Opernnetz) Familiar as the work may be, the 150th anniversary of Richard Strauss’s birthday is marked with an innovation. For the first time at the festival, the opera is presented without the cuts made since the 1911 premiere, as demanded by the censor, on account of excessive frivolity. The figures stand out in sharper profile, with the most significant change being to the first-act monologue of Baron Ochs, which now clearly defines his high position. The roles are brilliantly cast: Günther Groissböck’s singing is “of the finest, with a juicy lightness that lends him an irresistible roguish charm.” (Morgenpost) Krassimira Stoyanova as Marschallin “was simply breathtaking with her vocal and dramatic presence, her consummate voice control and exemplary clarity of enunciation.” (Drehpunkt Kultur) The Octavian of the experienced Sophie Koch is a delightful young nobleman and Mojca Erdmann portrays a self-confident young bourgeoise seeking to improve herself; together, they are “the perfect Strauss dream”. (Neue Musikzeitung) Franz Welser-Möst is the audience’s darling at the rostrum of the Vienna Philharmonic. “The audience purred. They took delight in a fascinating transparency, a refinement worthy of chamber music.” (SZ) On the stage, the peerless master director Harry Kupfer and his set designer Hans Schavernoch recreate the 18th-century narrative in the era of the opera’s 1911 premiere. Vienna’s imperial edifices, parks, palaces and grand salons are imposingly projected aslant on the backdrop, opening up grand vistas on the widened stage. In this luxuriously elegant setting in black, white and grey, Harry Kupfer applies all his directorial artfullness to bring out the hopelessness of his precisely delineated characters and the tensions in their relationships. We sense “the aura of the eternally valid, timeless Gesamtkunstwerk, (…) dedicated to opulently sensual beauty. (…) Simply masterful!” (Nachrichten.at) Photos: ORF/Roman Zach-Kiesling, Monika Rittershaus 31 OPERA GIuseppe verdI Il trovatore Francesco MelI anna netrebko plácIdo doMInGo WIener phIlharMonIker conducted by danIele GattI staGed by alvIs herManIs GIuseppe verdI Il trovatore Orchestra Wiener Philharmoniker Conductor Daniele Gatti Chorus Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger Stage Director Alvis Hermanis Manrico Leonora Il Conte di Luna Azucena Ferrando Ines Ruiz/ Un messo Un vecchio zingaro Francesco Meli Anna Netrebko Plácido Domingo Marie-Nicole Lemieux Riccardo Zanellato Diana Haller Gérard Schneider Raimundas Juzuitis Video Director Agnes Méth A co-production of ORF, UNITEL CLASSICA and ZDF/Arte in cooperation with Salzburg Festival and Wiener Philharmoniker Length: 149' Cat. no. A 040 50025 “Anna Netrebko – better than Maria Callas” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) – Since her sensational success in “La Traviata” the soprano Anna Netrebko, now even more popular than ever before, returns regularly to the great festival hall at the Salzburg Festival. This time she shines as Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic opera “Il Trovatore” at the side of Placido Domingo and the critics go wild: “A triumph” writes the New York Times, while the Neue Zürcher Zeitung speaks of “truly divine sounds”. Francesco Meli as the troubadour Manrico whom Leonora loves is brilliant at her side: “He sings clearly and elegantly and has such vocal presence” (Der Standard). The Tagesspiegel is wowed by the enduring stage presence of Plácido Domingo as his rival, Count Luna: it “never fails to amaze people when they experience Plácido Domingo live, with his stage presence, the way he takes it all in his stride, how he now sings baritone parts without sounding different.” The strong cast is complemented by Marie-Nicole Lemieux, who as the gypsy Azucena provides spine-chilling and dramatic moments. The “most hotly anticipated spectacle of the Salzburg Festival” (Corriere della Sera) exceeds all expectations by a mile. Alvis Hermanis staged the plot that revolves round two rival brothers who love the same woman and only learn they are related at the moment of her death, using sets that “in their opulent adherence to detail and fantastically illuminated atmosphere (…) offer much more than just a decorative sight for sore eyes“ (Salzburger Nachrichten). On the rostrum of the Vienna Philharmonic is none other than Daniele Gatti, who elicits undreamt-of cascades of sound from the orchestra: “employing the most fabulous colours, which the Vienna Phil savour in virtually impressionist manner, diligently and tenderly heeding every characteristic and every chord with skill” (Salzburger Nachrichten). Photos: ORF/Roman Zach-Kiesling, Karl Forster 33 OPERA JONAS KAUFMANN ANJA HARTEROS LUDOVIC TÉZIER NADIA KRASTEVA Orchestra Conductor Chorus Chorus Master Stage Director Donna Leonora Don Alvaro Don Carlo di Vargas Il Marchese di Calatrava/ Padre Guardiano Preziosilla Fra Melitone Curra Un alcade Mastro Trabuco Un chirurgo Bayerisches Staatsorchester Asher Fisch Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper Sören Eckhoff Martin Kušej Anja Harteros Jonas Kaufmann Ludovic Tézier Vitalij Kowaljow Nadia Krasteva Renato Girolami Heike Grötzinger Christian Rieger Francesco Petrozzi Rafał Pawnuk Produced by Gemini Quint Video Director Thomas Grimm A production of UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with BR/Arte in cooperation with Bayerische Staatsoper Length: 179' Cat. no. A 050 50169 Ever since their magnificent and hugely successful performance in Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Bavarian State Opera, Anja Harteros and Jonas Kaufmann have come to be regarded as the world of opera’s perfect couple. In Giuseppe Verdi’s “La forza del destino”, the two returned and once again played two lovers desperately trying to be together but kept apart by the forces of destiny. Their performance at the Munich Opera Festival met with “explosive outbursts of applause for the new heights reached in singing” (dpa). Verdi’s opera brings together three themes which have always been central to the history of mankind and which still retain their topicality today: class arrogance, racial prejudice and hysterical warmongering. The noble Leonora, daughter of a marquess, is forbidden to be with Alvaro, the man she loves, because he is a Mestizo of Incan descent and therefore regarded not equal to her in social status. The third element, aggressive military frenzy and the horrors of war, quickly reveal themselves not to be the least bit as entertaining and merry as the gypsy Preziosilla would have everyone believe. In a world as cruel as this, the two despairing and desolate lovers finally conclude, not even the church can offer a way out. With “La forza del destino” Verdi created a pioneering masterpiece with regards to both form and content. Anja Harteros formed, as it were, the radiant centrepiece of the production, “the effect of her angel-like ‘piano’ is overwhelming” (Münchner Merkur). By virtue both of her wonderful voice and the sheer power of her magnificent performance, she was able to celebrate nothing short of a triumph: “No one else today can die so beautifully, can act with such intensity. And no contemporary singer can hold a candle to her” (SZ). Jonas Kaufmann is the ideal choice for Alvaro: “At the present time, he is deservedly called unique because there is no other tenor who sings, acts, and creates so consummately” (Die Welt). French baritone Ludovic Tezier’s portrayal of Don Carlo was “a dramatic and dark, fundamental event” (Der Standard). Under the insightful, circumspective, and psychological direction of Martin Kušej, the choir of the Bavarian State Opera sang with “elegance and precision”. The Bayerisches Staatsorchester, conducted by Asher Fisch, played beautifully and with accomplished sonority, “drawing forth superb details” (FAZ). Vitalij Kowaljow as the noble Padre Guardiano/Marquess of Calatrava, Nadia Krasteva as the fiery Preziosilla, und Renato Girolami as the tragi-comical Fra Melitone complete this first-class ensemble, leaving absolutely nothing to be desired for opera lovers. MARTIN KUŠEJ BAYERISCHE STAATSOPER STAGED BY Photos: Wilfried Hösl 35 OPERA FRANCESCO MELI LUCA SALSI HUI HE ELISABETTA FIORILLO Orchestra Arena di Verona Orchestra and Chorus Conductor Andrea Battistoni Stage Director Pier Luigi Pizzi CONDUCTED BY Riccardo Renato Amelia Ulrica Oscar Silvano Samuel Tom A judge Amelia's servant ANDREA BATTISTONI STAGED BY PIER LUIGI PIZZI Francesco Meli Luca Salsi Hui He Elisabetta Fiorillo Serena Gamberoni William Corrò Seung Pil Choi Deyan Vatchkov Antonio Feltracco Saverio Fiore Produced by Metisfilm Classica Video Director Tiziano Mancini “First night provides a firework display”, raved the press over the new staging of “Un ballo in maschera” (A Masked Ball). And indeed, the performance at the Arena di Verona was a spectacle for the eyes and ears! Doyen of theatre directors Luigi Pizzi deployed “visually stunning characters” in “colourful, splendid costumes” (Kurier), all framed by gigantic colonnades and illuminated by pyrotechnic effects in order to captivate his audience. The music too, performed “with vitality and at the same time a great intimacy” under the baton of “shooting star” Andrea Battistoni (Kurier), delighted all: Francesco Meli as Riccardo and Hui He as Amelia were “two singers to die for” (Kurier). Meli sings “with wonderful, wellrounded timbre, highly nuanced and with effortless top notes” (Kurier), and is complemented by Hui He, who wins over her audience “with her warmly timbred and forceful soprano” (Merker). Un ballo in maschera, originally written based on the life of the Swedish King Gustav III (1746-1792) as a life-and-death drama, is given here in the revised “Boston version”. As a result of papal censorship, Verdi changed the names of various characters and moved the location of the plot one hundred years back and from Stockholm to Boston. A production of Unitel Classica and Classica Italia in co-production with Fondazione Arena di Verona Length: 144' Cat. no. A 000 50018 Photos: Fondazione Arena di Verona 37 BALLET CARLOS ACOSTA FROM THE R O YA L O P E R A H O U S E LONDON CUBANIA DERRUMBE Choreography Miguel Altunaga Music by Eduardo Martin LA ECUACIÓN Choreography George Céspedes Music by X Alfonso FLUX Choreography Russell Maliphant Music by Frank Bretschneider and Taylor Deupree SIGHT UNSEEN Choreography Edwaard Liang Music by Michael Convertino TOCORORO SUITE Choreography Carlos Acosta Music by Miguel Nuñes Soloists Carlos Acosta Pieter Symonds Zenaida Yanowsky Alexander Varona Verónica Corveas Dance Company Danza Contemporánea de Cuba Video Director Ross MacGibbon A production of Royal Opera House/Como No! production in association with BBC and Unitel Classica Length: approx. 120' Cat. no. A 025 50135 0000 His energy is infectious, his passion scorching, his grace a gift to the eye: when Cuba’s Carlos Acosta bounds onto the stage, the audience becomes putty in his hands. “One of the greatest ballet dancers of his generation” (The Sunday Times), Acosta has been organizing his own Cuban-inspired shows for many years now, and “Cubanía”, the program recorded here, proudly celebrates “Cuban-ness.” The first part opens with “Derrumbe”, a new work by Cuban dancer Miguel Altunaga; Flux, an “electrifying” (The Guardian) solo by Royal-Ballet alumnus Russell Maliphant for Alexander Verona; and Edwaard Liang’s “Sight Unseen” danced by Acosta and Royal Ballet principal Zenaida Yanowsky. The second half of the program “is a sheer celebration” (The Telegraph), the “Tocororo Suite”, Acosta’s revised version of his take on his “rags-to-riches” rise to stardom, which he performs with the Danza Contemporanea de Cuba. Photos: Royal Opera House Enterprises 2014 39 y O t r i l y i c h t c h a i k O V s k y P y o t r c h O r E O g r a p h y b y r u d O l f n u r E y E V I l y I c h t c h a I k o v s k y Choreographers Marius Petipa Lev Ivanov Rudolf Nureyev Ballet Director Manuel Legris Ballet Company Wiener Staatsballett Conductor Alexander Ingram Orchestra Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper Prince Siegfried Odette/Odile Sorcerer Rothbart Companions of the Prince Vladimir Shishov Olga Esina Eno Peci Alice Firenze Kiyoka Hashimoto Masayu Kimoto Greig Matthews et al. Produced by ORF Video Director Michael Beyer A co-production of ORF and UNITEL in cooperation with Wiener Staatsoper and CLASSICA Length: 132' Cat. no. A 040 50026 Olga Esin a BALLET p It is the one ballet that everyone knows, has heard of or seen, and it is one of the loveliest and most frequently performed works in the ballet literature. No other ballet is capable of conjuring up such intensive images, dreams and yearnings simply at the mention of its name as Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Rudolf Nureyev created a new version of it in 1964 for the Vienna State Opera; it helped the dancer and choreographer, then 26 years old, to achieve international fame and also projected the Vienna State Ballet onto the world stage, where it was to become one of the company’s greatest successes. To mark the 50th anniversary of this ballet, the Vienna State Opera is now reviving it with new sets and costumes designed by Luisa Spinatelli, whose concept is inspired by the fairytale phantasy world of King Ludwig II incorporating simple, painted backdrops and few accessories, to present a new Swan Lake. The role of the Princess, one of the most difficult (double) roles in the entire ballet repertoire, and always viewed as the climax of any prima ballerina’s career, is danced by Olga Esina, who gives the “impression of never having danced another role” (APA). Her performance is captivating for its “flawless technique, poised lightness and elegance” (Kronen Zeitung). In an aura of dignified grace “her dancing is breathtaking” (Kleine Zeitung) – “a masterly performance in every respect” (Die Presse). Together with Vladimir Shishov as Prince Siegfried, she forms “a dance pair optically made for Hollywood” (Wiener Zeitung). “The Vienna State Ballet were the stars of the evening once again, dancing with great skill and energy” (Der Standard) – “a fantastic evening, a treat for the eyes and the ears” (APA). cOnductEd by alEx andEr ingram Vl adimir shishOV dirEctEd by m a nuEl lEgris W i E n E r s ta at s O p E r W i E n E r s ta at s b a l l E t t Photos: ORF/Milenko Badzic, Michael Pöhn 41 CONCERT CONCERTS BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ∙ ANDRIS NELSONS THE INAUGURAL CONCERT KRISTINE OPOLAIS, Soprano JONAS KAUFMANN, Tenor This wide ranging one-night only event celebrates the start of Andris Nelsons’ tenure as the 15th music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and features two of the conductor’s close colleagues, the acclaimed Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais, and the outstanding German tenor Jonas Kaufmann. Singing’s selections from the Length: approx. 120' Wagnerian and the Italian verismo repertoires, they join forces for a powerful duet from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. The concert opens with Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture – the work that first inspired a five year old Nelsons to a life in Music – and closes with Respighi’s spectacular orchestral showcases, “Pines of Rome”. A production of WNET/PBS, BSO and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 035 50004 0000 PRETTY YENDE IN PRAGUE PRETTY YENDE, Soprano VILÉM VEVERKA, Oboe PKF – PRAGUE PHILHARMONIA conducted by CHRISTOPHER FRANKLIN Pretty Yende, the young South African soprano, who has reached star status since she won Domingo’s Operalia competition at the latest, ecstasizes the audience with great romantic arias by Bellini (“O rendetemi la spe” from “I Puritani”), Donizetti (“Ah! Tardai troppo” from “Linda di Chamounix”), Bernstein (“I Feel Pretty” from “West Length: 76' Side Story”) and Gounod (“Ah! Je veux vivre” from “Roméo et Juliette”) Inbetween the arias Czech oboist Vilém Veverka demonstrates in this cleverly selected program with works like Morricone’s “Gabriel’s Oboe” from “Mission” how incredibly close the oboe timbre is to the human voice. A production of Czech Television and UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with Nachtigall Artists Cat. no. A 985 50005 0000 14TH ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN INTERNATIONAL PIANO MASTER COMPETITION THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY GALA with D. TRIFONOV, R. RABANOVICH, D. FUNG et al. featuring works by BARTÓK, STRAVINSKY, MOZART et al. THE FINALS with A. BARYSHEVKYI, S. LIN, S. J. CHO et al. featuring piano concertos by PROKOFIEV, RACHMANINOFF, TCHAIKOVSKY et al. The Rubinstein Competition enjoys a reputation as one of the world's most prestigious piano competitions. Founded in 1974 with the aim of linking Arthur Rubinstein’s artistic heritage with the cultural life of Israel, it is an international forum for discovering talented, ambitious young pianists. In the final of the 14th competition, six young pianists competed against each other in various piano concertos. BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA – THE INAUGURAL CONCERT Length: 89' (Gala) Length: approx. 110' (Finals) Cat. no. A 125 50001 0000 Cat. no. A 125 50002 0000 It was Antonii Baryshevskyi who won over the jury with his outstanding style of playing, which gained him first prize. The gala concert to mark the 40th anniversary of the event featuring prizewinners of previous competitions provide a fascinating glimpse of the dynamics of the competition and showcase outstanding, hopeful young pianists of the new generation. A co-production of The Arthur Rubinstein International Music Society, BZ/DV, IBA and UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: Chris Lee 43 CONCERT HECTOR BERLIOZ: REQUIEM – GRANDE MESSE DES MORTS CONDUCTED BY GUSTAVO DUDAMEL ANDREW STAPLES, Tenor ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE & SIMÓN BOLÍVAR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHOEUR DE RADIO FRANCE & MAÎTRISE NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS “If I was threatened with the destruction of all my works but one, I would save the Requiem” wrote Berlioz shortly before his death. The Requiem requires an orchestra of immense size: 108 strings, woodwind and brass, 16 kettledrums and a battery of percussion instruments augmented by four remote bands of trumpets, trombones and tubas and 200 singers. This sacred Length: 98' Cat. no. A 010 50030 choral work is one of the boldest and most complex creations of music history, a vision of judgement. NotreDame Cathedral in Paris provides the ideal spatial and acoustic conditions for its performance. Under Gustavo Dudamel’s direction, it was revealed as “a Requiem of the highest calibre” (El Pais), which set the vault and columns of Notre-Dame de Paris vibrating. A co-production of Camera Lucida productions, Radio France and ARTE France in association with UNITEL CLASSICA, in collaboration with Musique Sacrée à Notre-Dame de Paris et Notre-Dame de Paris with the participation of the CNC WIENER PHILHARMONIKER CONDUCTED BY GUSTAVO DUDAMEL RICHARD STRAUSS Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24 RENÉ STAAR Time Recycling, Op. 22n RICHARD STRAUSS Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 Strauss - the co-founder of the Salzburg Festival - is being celebrated with two of his so called tone poems, “Death and Transfiguration” and “Thus spoke Zarathustra”. The concert is complemented by the contemporary work Length: 93' Cat. no. A 045 50037 0000 “Time Recycling” by composer and Vienna Philharmonic violinist René Staar. Under Dudamel’s baton the Vienna Philharmonic unfold its vast aural splendor: “Gustavo Dudamel understands how to light a fire” (Die Krone). A production of UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with ZDF/Arte in cooperation with Salzburg Festival and Wiener Philharmoniker THE LAST THREE MOZART SYMPHONIES CONDUCTED BY NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Symphonies No. 39 in E flat / No. 40 in G minor / No. 41 in C major CONCENTUS MUSICUS Mozart’s three last symphonies are not separate works, but are to be perceived as a single “instrumental oratorio”! That is the view of “Mozart expert and originalsound past master” (Der Spiegel) Nikolaus Harnoncourt. At the rostrum of his period-sound orchestra Concentus Length: 113' Cat. no. A 045 50035 0000 HECTOR BERLIOZ: REQUIEM Musicus “which played thrillingly well” (The Guardian), Harnoncourt excites the audience with his innovative reading of the three symphonies at the Stefaniensaal in Graz during the “Styriarte” festival. Standing ovations for an ultimate Mozart interpretation. A production of ORF Landesstudio Steiermark in cooperation with ORF 3, Styriarte and UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: Jean-François Leclercq 45 CONCERT GRAFENEGG FESTIVAL – MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S GALA ANGELA DENOKE, Soprano • RAMÓN VARGAS, Tenor • JEAN-YVES THIBAUDET, Piano TONKÜNSTLER-ORCHESTER conducted by JUANJO MENA Each year, artistic director and pianist Rudolf Buchbinder manages to lure the biggest stars of classical music to Grafenegg Festival in Austria. This year’s edition of the “Midsummer-Night’s-Gala” presents a musical world tour gliding through space and time – classics from opera, musical, operetta and film-music, as Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole, Puccini’s “E lucevan le stelle” from Tosca, Ravel’s Concert for Piano and Orchestra in G major, 3rd movt., Gershwin’s “I got rhythm” et al. When night finally falls over the castle of Grafenegg, the orchestra traditionally performs Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstances”, accompanied by a spectacular firework. Length: approx. 90' A co-production of ORF and UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with Grafenegg Festival Cat. no. A 045 50039 0000 RED RIBBON CELEBRATION CONCERT "GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS" JENNIFER O’LOUGHLIN, Soprano • VESSELINA KASAROVA, Mezzo-soprano PIOTR BECZALA, Tenor • YUSIF EYVAZOV, Tenor • THOMAS HAMPSON, Baritone LUCA PISARONI, Baritone • ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV, Bass ORF VIENNA RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA conducted by CORNELIUS MEISTER According to its slogan “United in Difference” and as a key element of Vienna’s famous Life Ball, the Red Ribbon Celebration Concert in the reputed Viennese Burgtheater assembles a unique line-up of artists. Performing and presenting a gala concert with musical pieces such as Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” from Turandot Length: 66' Cat. no. A 045 50034 0000 and Mozart’s “Madamina” from Don Giovanni, the prodigious solo artists such as Thomas Hampson and Luca Pisaroni make their voices heard at one of the world’s biggest fund-raising events to further the cause of those living with HIV or AIDS. A production of Life Ball in cooperation with Interspot Film for ORF III and UNITEL CLASSICA HOLLYWOOD IN VIENNA – A TRIBUTE TO RANDY NEWMAN RANDY NEWMAN, Composer/Vocals/Piano • ADRIAN ERÖD, Baritone CASSANDRA STEEN, Vocals • DAVID B. WHITLEY, Vocals • FRANTIŠEK JÁNOŠKA, Piano ORF VIENNA RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA conducted by DAVID NEWMAN In this edition “Hollywood in Vienna” invites you to an unforgettable gala concert with music from the biggest and most popular film comedies of all time. David Newman and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra set off to discover a fascinating musical world from the “Muppets”, “Simpsons”, “Monty Python” and “Pink Panther” to “The Artist”. The second part of the Length: 88' Cat. no. A 045 50042 0000 GRAFENEGG FESTIVAL – MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S GALA concert is dedicated to star composer Randy Newman, one of the most successful film scorers (two-fold Oscar winner among other signifying awards) of our time. “Hollywood in Vienna” is an annual symphonic gala concert celebrating classic and contemporary masterpieces of film music. A co-production of Interspot Film and BOFM for ORF III and UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: Exceptional Pictures/Alexander Haiden 47 CONCERT SCHUMANN & BRAHMS CONDUCTED BY SIMON RATTLE ROBERT SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120 (original version) JOHANNES BRAHMS Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 In a rousing concert under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle the Berlin Philharmonic present the fourth symphonies of both Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. The comparison of the two symphonies is based on the personal and artistic affiliation between the two composers. It was Brahms who advocated publication of the original version of Schumann's fourth symphony Length: 75' Cat. no. A 055 50429 0000 which Schumann himself had radically revised 10 years after its premiere. Simon Rattle too, who with the Berlin Philharmonic has been nominated for a 2015 Grammy for his CD recording of the Schumann symphony cycle, has chosen the rarely heard first version, describing the original symphony as “full of lightness, grace and beauty”. A production of Berlin Phil Media and UNITEL CLASSICA JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: JOHANNESPASSION (ST. JOHN PASSION), BWV 245 CAMILLA TILLING, Soprano MAGDALENA KOZENÁ, Mezzo-soprano TOPI LEHTIPUU, Tenor MARK PADMORE, Tenor RODERICK WILLIAMS, Baritone CHRISTIAN GERHAHER, Baritone RUNDFUNKCHOR BERLIN conducted by SIMON RATTLE directed by PETER SELLARS “A simmering performance that lives up to the high expectations”, wrote the NY Times of Bach’s St. John Passion presented by the great American director Peter Sellars and the star conductor Simon Rattle at the Berlin Philharmonie. The semicircular stage of the Berlin Philharmonie is transformed into a magically charged space: musicians from the right, choir from the left keep pressing into the centre, where the heart of the action is Length: 135' Cat. no. A 050 50158 J. S. BACH: JOHANNESPASSION located: in the feeble light of a single lamp, the Evangelist and the other soloists play out a piece of chamber theatre. “The paradox of a staging for the concert hall is thus realized” (Berliner Zeitung). Also available: An introduction interview with Simon Rattle and Peter Sellars (Length 33') A production of Berlin Phil Media, BR and UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: Monika Rittershaus 49 CONCERT ANTONĺN DVOŘÁK: THE COMPLETE SYMPHONIES CONDUCTED BY JIŘÍ BĚLOHLÁVEK Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 3 (Length: Concert version 47', Introduction version 64’) Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 4 (Length: Concert version 54', Introduction version 67') Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 10 (Length: Concert version 37', Introduction version 49') Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 13 (Length: Concert version 43', Introduction version 54') Symphony No. 5 in F major, Op. 76 (Length: Concert version 46', Introduction version 54') Symphony No. 6 in D major, Op. 60 (Length: Concert version 45', Introduction version 52') Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70 (Length: Concert version 41', Introduction version 54') Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 (Length: Concert version 40', Introduction version 55') Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 (Length: Concert version 47', Introduction version 61') Antonín Dvořák 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 Dvořák as a thoroughly individual and original composer whose symphonic concepts and wealth of musical expression are often surprising. All the symphonies in this cycle were performed in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum Length: approx. 400' Cat. no. A 985 5000 40000 in Prague, where Dvořák conducted the first concert by today’s Czech Philharmonic in 1896. Jiří Bělohlávek, chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, is considered an established authority on the Slavic music of his homeland. Each symphony is available as a pure concert version and as a version with introductions and explanations of every movement by Jiří Bělohlávek. A production of CZECH TELEVISION and the CZECH PHILHARMONIC in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA “NINE SKETCHES OF DVOŘÁK” ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTARY SEE PAGE 79 BEDŘICH SMETANA: MÁ VLAST CONDUCTED BY JIŘÍ BĚLOHLÁVEK Is there any more evocative piece of national music than “Ma Vlast” (My Country)? Smetana’s six orchestral poems – the most famous of which is “Vltava” (Moldau) with its instantly recognizable melody and evocation of this great river – tell of Bohemia’s lands and legends. Under Length: 82' Cat. no. A 980 50003 ANTONĹN DVOŘÁK: THE COMPLETE SYMPHONIES the baton of Jiří Bělohlávek the Czech Philharmonic manages to perform “something very subtle: a feeling of great power without aggression, exactitude without pedantically sharp edges, and a weight and clarity in the wind and brass” (The Daily Telegraph). A production of Czech Television, Czech Philharmonic, Prague Spring Festival and UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with ZDF/Arte Photo: Petra Hajská, Ester Havlová 51 CONCERT GUSTAV MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO. 4 IN G MAJOR CONDUCTED BY MARISS JANSONS ANNA PROHASKA, Soprano According to Jansons Mahler’s fourth symphony “is surely the best that Mahler has written”. It begins with sleigh bells and ends in heaven. “Das himmlische Leben”, a song about the naive (yet also rather morbid) heavenly visions of a child, is heard in the last movement and forms a sunny end point to an emotional journey. This concert marks the extremely impressive RCO debut of soprano Anna Prohaska, who has established a reputation as a soloist at such houses as the Berlin Staatsoper. Length: approx. 70' A production of RCO in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 865 50007 0000 ROSSINI, SHOSTAKOVICH & PROKOFIEV CONDUCTED BY MARISS JANSONS GIOACHINO ROSSINI Overture to “La gazza ladra” DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 35 SERGEI PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 100 YUJA WANG, Piano “Mariss Jansons, Yuja Wang and the RCO delight in the Russian repertoire“ the press proclaims and continues, that Mariss Jansons is not only in topform, but conducts “with exuberance and frolic”. And indeed, the programme consists of a lot of energy and exciting humour and is surprisingly connected by its playfulness: the exhilarating percussive energy in Rossini’s overture “La gazza ladra”, the contagious slapstick passages in Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 for Piano, Trumpet, and Strings, and Prokofiev’s youthful optimism in Symphony No. 5 in B minor. Length: 91' A production of RCO in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 865 50019 0000 STRAUSS & BRAHMS CONDUCTED BY ANDRIS NELSONS RICHARD STRAUSS Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28 / Macbeth, Op. 23 JOHANNES BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73 During the 1880s Strauss applied hisself to the genre of symphonic poems, which Strauss described as “a completely new path” for him compositionally. One of his first works in that genre was “Macbeth”, a musical portrayal of the two main characters of Shakespeare's play, the Scottish regicide Macbeth and his wicked wife Lady Macbeth. “Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche” (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks) chronicles the Length: 89' Cat. no. A 865 50016 0000 misadventures and pranks of the German peasant folk hero Till Eulenspiegel, fully revealing Strauss’s mastery in the sharp melodic characterisations and brilliant instrumentation. The work complements Brahms’s Symphony No. 2, which is imbued with a sunny, lush atmosphere. The brilliance of the grand finale is a quality rarely heard in Brahms’s. A production of RCO in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: Peter Meisel 53 BRAHMS & SHOSTAKOVICH CONDUCTED BY ANDRIS NELSONS JOHANNES BRAHMS Concerto for Violin and Violoncello, Op. 102 DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43 LIVIU PRUNARU, Violin • GREGOR HORSCH, Violoncello The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra opened the Brahms Double Concerto with great fury, after which the two soloists Liviu Prunaru and Gregor Horsch took over in their solo parts. “Their interplay seemed to evolve into one, as if they were both playing one instrument” romanced the press. The Double Concerto was complemented by Shostakovich’s fifth symphony, which he had written when he had been relegated from the status of a national hero to that of a potential enemy of Stalin’s state. The audicence was deeply moved: After the last note was played, the silence of the audience and the lack of immediate applause revealed the success of this performance. Length: approx. 90' A production of RCO in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 865 50018 0000 FLOTHUIS, STRAUSS & SHOSTAKOVICH CONDUCTED BY ANDRIS NELSONS MARIUS FLOTHUIS Cantus amoris, Op. 78 RICHARD STRAUSS Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra in D major DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 ALEXEI OGRINTCHOUK, Oboe After the Royal Concertbebouw Orchestra’s performance the press reports impressed: “Nelsons masterfully“ (De Telegraf). Under the baton of Andris Nelsons the orchestra presents works by Flothius, Strauss and Shostakovich. Shostakovich’s symphony was presented as a public penance in 1937, when the composer had been rebuked by the Communist regime Length: 95' Cat. no. A 865 50017 0000 for producing music that failed to reflect Soviet ideals. Strauss’s melodic work is dominated by nostalgia for a world that was lost forever, written shortly after the Second World War towards the end of his life. With the “Cantus amoris” by Marius Flothuis (1914–2001), the orchestra commemorates one of its artistic directors. A production of RCO in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: Anne Dokter 54 CONCERT DANIEL BARENBOIM & GUSTAVO DUDAMEL JOHANNES BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor & No. 2 in B flat major Daniel Barenboim teams up with Gustavo Dudamel and the Staatskapelle Berlin for an evening dedicated to the two piano concertos by Johannes Brahms at the Philharmonie Berlin. In the D minor concerto Barenboim focuses entirely on the intimate moments, eschewing a display of strength which this piece sometimes seems to encourage. The cello solo in the Andante movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2 is one of the most moving moments of the evening: “When Sennu Laine (cello) Length: approx. 130' Cat. no. A 055 50393 0000 begins to play her hauntingly lovely solo in the Andante movement and Barenboim (on piano) sinks with her from that moment into an almost transcendent ‘dialogue�, we feel the tears welling up; what an exhilarating and timeless moment!” (Tagesspiegel). “Sustained and grateful applause” at the end of the concert, especially for Daniel Barenboim, who gave a Nocturne by Chopin as an encore: “tender, gossamer fine, not of this world” (Tagesspiegel). A production of UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with Staatsoper im Schillertheater and Musikfest Berlin RICHARD STRAUSS: EIN HELDENLEBEN, OP. 40 CONDUCTED BY DANIEL BARENBOIM Richard Strauss composed the tone poem “Ein Heldenleben” (A Hero's Life) in 1898. Generally agreed to be autobiographical in tone, despite contradictory statements on the matter by the composer, the work contains more than thirty quotations from Strauss's earlier works. Yet “even setting aside the autobiographical Length: approx. 50' Cat. no. A 055 50392 0000 DANIEL BARENBOIM & GUSTAVO DUDAMEL dimension of this rich and opulent composition, any listener is bound to go into raptures” according to the Tagesspiegel. “A mellow, rich ‘Hero�s Life’ that yet again establishes itself as a benchmark performance for the orchestra and its Principal Conductor for Life, Daniel Barenboim”, according to Die Welt. A production of UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with Staatsoper im Schillertheater Photo: Matthias Creutziger 57 CONCERT EMMERICH KÁLMÁN: DIE CSÁRDÁSFÜRSTIN GALA CONCERT PERFORMANCE ANNA NETREBKO, Soprano • CHRISTINA LANDSHAMER, Soprano JUAN DIEGO FLÓREZ, Tenor • PAVOL BRESLIK, Tenor SEBASTIAN WARTIG, Baritone ∙ BERND ZETTISCH, Baritone conducted by CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN “A great conductor and great singers in a jewel of the great operetta tradition” was the verdict of the press, converging on the Semperoper in Dresden to celebrate this operetta in grand style. Anna Netrebko sings Sylva Varescu in a concert performance of Emmerich Kálmán's popular operetta “Die Csárdásfürstin” (The Riviera Girl resp. The Gypsy Princess). Accompanied by the Length: approx. 90' Cat. no. A 055 50396 0000 Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under the direction of its conductor Christian Thielemann, Anna Netrebko is teamed with the Peruvian star tenor and darling of the public Juan-Diego Flórez, also making his role debut as Sylva�s lover Edwin. Yet again the Semperoper has produced “deluxe operetta for television” (Die Welt). A production of ZDF and UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with Semperoper Dresden FESTIVE ADVENT CONCERT CHRISTIANE KARG, ELĪNA GARANČA, YOSEP KANG conducted by PABLO HERAS-CASADO Elina Garanca, the star of this festal Advent concert, proves once more “that she has one of the loveliest and finest voices in the whole world”. In Georges Bizet's “Agnus Dei”, in the “Regina Coeli” from Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, she lets her voice “shine and beam, bringing tears to many eyes”, the critics enthuse. Length: approx. 60' Cat. no. A 055 50397 0000 Meanwhile Christiane Karg captivates us with her crystalclear soprano, winging its way straight to our hearts. The concert is conducted by maestro Pablo Heras-Casado, whose sensitive touch and style-conscious precision brings out to the full the particularly refined sound of the Staatskapelle. (Der neue Merker) A production of ZDF in co-production with UNITEL in cooperation with Staatskapelle Dresden and CLASSICA with the support of Stiftung Frauenkirche Dresden RICHARD STRAUSS: ELEKTRA CONCERT PERFORMANCE EVELYN HERLITZIUS, Soprano ∙ ANNE SCHWANEWILMS, Soprano WALTRAUD MEIER, Mezzo-soprano ∙ FRANK VAN AKEN, Tenor ∙ RENÉ PAPE, Bass conducted by CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN In this – GRAMMY nominated - concert performance of Elektra the Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of its principal conductor Christian Thielemann does once again justice to its reputation as Richard Strauss’s favourite orchestra. The soloists too leave nothing to Length: 118' Cat. no. A 05050154 EMMERICH KÁLMÁN: DIE CSÁRDÁSFÜRSTIN be desired, above all Evelyn Herlitzius, “today’s leading interpreter of the role. Her vocal power and dramatic intensity place her ahead of her colleagues as far as Elektra goes”. “After a few seconds of truly moving silence the biggest ovations and cheers” writes the press. A production of UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with Semperoper Dresden and Staatskapelle Dresden Photo: Matthias Creutziger 59 LETZTE LIEDER & EINE ALPENSYMPHONIE CONDUCTED BY CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN WOLFGANG RIHM Ernster Gesang RICHARD STRAUSS Letzte Lieder / Eine Alpensymphonie, Op. 64 ANJA HARTEROS, Soprano The friendship between Richard Strauss and the Staatskapelle Dresden lasted over 60 years. His 150th birthday was therefore duly celebrated in Dresden. One highlight of the celebrations was the performance of his “Alpine Symphony”, which the master dedicated to the Staatskapelle. The first half of the concert was devoted to Strauss’s “Four Last Songs” cycle, to which his very Length: 102' last song “Malven” was added. This piece, originally set for piano, was orchestrated by one of today’s most respected German composers, Wolfgang Rihm, on behalf of the Staatskapelle Dresden. Soprano Anja Harteros yet again demonstrated her consummate skill as a leading singer of Strauss lieder. A production of Unitel Classica in co-production with Semperoper Dresden Cat. no. A 055 50380 0000 RICHARD STRAUSS GALA CONDUCTED BY CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN RICHARD STRAUSS Excerpts from all nine operas premiered in Dresden CHRISTINE GOERKE, Soprano ANJA HARTEROS, Soprano CAMILLA NYLUND, Soprano The relationship between Richard Strauss and the Staatskapelle Dresden was very special: nine of his 15 operas were premiered at the Semperoper. In celebration of his 150th anniversary year Christian Thielemann, the leading Strauss expert, conducts excerpts from all nine of Strauss's operas premiered in Dresden – including “Der Length: 100' Cat. no. A 055 50364 0000 Rosenkavalier”, “Salome”, “Elektra” and “Feuersnot”. Three leading Strauss sopranos were engaged for this big event: Christine Goerke, Anja Harteros and Camilla Nylund, a fact that underlines the special significance of this concert. A production of UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with MDR/Arte in cooperation with Semperoper Dresden “MY STRAUSS” ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTARY SEE PAGE 81 Photo: Matthias Creutziger 60 CONCERT SYMPHONIEORCHESTER DES BAYERISCHEN RUNDFUNKS THE ODEONSPLATZ CONCERT “RUSSIAN NIGHT” TEREM QUARTET ∙ MARISS JANSONS For Munich residents, it's the biggest open-air highlight of the year: “Klassik am Odeonsplatz”. In keeping with the motto “Russian Night”, the four soloists from the famous Terem-Quartet join forces once again on this mild summer evening. The evening features a number of works by the greatest Russian composers: among others the “Italian Capriccio” by Peter I. Tchaikovsky, the “Polovetsian Dances” by Alexander Borodin, Dmitri Shostakovich's “Festive Overture” and the popular “Sabre Dance” by Aram Khachaturian. On top of this, audiences can witness the world premiere of the “Garden Symphony” by living composer Alexander Tchaikovsky, a work dedicated to Mariss Jansons. Length: approx. 120' A production of BR in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 055 50374 0000 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: MISSA SOLEMNIS IN D MAJOR CONDUCTED BY BERNARD HAITINK GENIA KÜHMEIER, Soprano ∙ ELISABETH KULMAN, Mezzo-soprano MARK PADMORE, Tenor ∙ HANNO MÜLLER-BRACHMANN, Baritone CHOR DES BAYERISCHEN RUNDFUNKS Teaming up with the Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Bernard Haitink devoted himself to Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis”. He managed to find “great nuances and nice timbres of the orchestra effectively and impressively underlining the bombastic passages of the piece” (Münchner Merkur). The Bavarian Radio Choir displayed its exceptional class especially in the complex fugues and energetic passages of the piece. The ensemble was completed by wonderful soloists: in particular “Genia Kühmeier´s voice floated in the space with celestial ease, Elisabeth Kulman was beguiling with her incredibly powerful alto” (Abendzeitung). Length: 87' A co-production of BR and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 050 50185 HAYDN, MENDELSSOHN & BRUCKNER CONDUCTED BY JOHN ELIOT GARDINER JOSEPH HAYDN “Insanae et vanae curae”, Motet for Chorus and Orchestra, Hob XXI:1 No. 13c FELIX MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY Symphony No. 5 in D major, Op. 107 ANTON BRUCKNER Mass No. 1 in D minor LUCY CROWE, Soprano ∙ JENNIFER JOHNSTON, Mezzo-soprano TOBY SPENCE, Tenor ∙ GÜNTHER GROISSBÖCK, Bass CHOR DES BAYERISCHEN RUNDFUNKS “Sir John Eliot Gardiner is as much a great leader of orchestras as he is a designer for fine details” (SZ). Together with the Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks , the proven expert for historically informed performances manages to bring out Length: 85' Cat. no. A 055 50378 0000 THE ODEONSPLATZ CONCERT "RUSSIAN NIGHT" every nuance and subtlety in the music – always with just the right amount of pathos. Thus, he succeeds in creating an impressive and profound interpretation of the works. The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks plays in perfect harmony – “full of energy and life” (TZ). A co-production of BR and UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: Goran Nitschke 63 DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN D MINOR, OP. 47 CONDUCTED BY MARISS JANSONS In the first concert of their tour through the musical metropolises of the America starting at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the baton of their musical director Mariss Jansons were celebrated by the audience for their interpretation of the 5th symphony by Shostakovich. For many critics Mariss Jansons is THE Length: approx. 60' Cat. no. A 835 50002 0000 expert when it comes to the Russian composer. With his outstanding interpretation of Shostakovich’s oeuvre he raised the world’s awareness and even helped to give the composer his well-deserved success. “This Shostakovich Symphony was energetic, hard-driven and exciting” (NY Times). “SOBR IN SOUTH AMERICA” A co-production of BR and UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with Teatro Colón ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTARY SEE PAGE 81 PURCELL & MAHLER CONDUCTED BY DANIEL HARDING HENRY PURCELL Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 6 in A minor, “Tragic” CHOR DES BAYERISCHEN RUNDFUNKS Daniel Harding and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks present Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 along with the Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary by Henry Purcell – an unusual combination considering the very different time frames of their conception but not so uncommon when considering the subject matter they both address: death. “Harding’s greatest achievement is Length: 105' Cat. no. A 055 50367 0000 the way he fashions the tragic nature of the pieces without severity, neither prolonged, nor solemn, but with his head held high” (Abendzeitung). The “fantastic soloists, Harding’s overview, his control, as well as his fine feel for tempo, setting, and for the relentless shifts of phases” (Muenchner Merkur) deserve special appreciation. A co-production of BR and UNITEL CLASSICA BARTÓK & MAHLER CONDUCTED BY YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN BÉLA BARTÓK Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 1 in D major, “Titan” GIL SHAHAM, Violin Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin is easily one of the most promising conductors of his generation. Employing subtle sophistication as well as supreme intelligence, he leads the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks to an out-of-the-ordinary performance of Mahler’s first symphony and of Béla Length: 106' Cat. no. A 055 50384 000 Bartók’s second violin concerto starring violonist Gil Shaham. Nézet-Séguin and the orchestra manage to present Bartók with “thrilling dynamic effects by quietly backing the soloist, only to flare up the next moment with all its richness” (Muenchner Merkur). A co-production of BR and UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: Peter Meisel 64 CONCERT AND DANIEL BARENBOIM R E S I D E N CY AT T H E MARTHA ARGERICH & DANIEL BARENBOIM PIANO DUOS AT THE TEATRO COLÓN WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Sonata for Two Pianos in D major FRANZ SCHUBERT Variations on an Original Theme in A flat major IGOR STRAVINSKY Le sacre du printemps (Version for Piano Duet) ROBERT SCHUMANN Andante and Variations for Two Pianos, Op. 46 SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Suite No. 2, Op. 17 – Waltz “Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim wow their hometown of Buenos Aires” proclaimed the FAZ. For the first time the two musicians performed together in the city of their birth. For this reason the Colón seemed to burst at the seams. Works by Mozart, Schubert and Stravinsky were followed by frenetic demands Length: 120' Cat. no. A 835 50005 0000 from the audience for encores and so, Argerich and Barenboim gave Schumann�s Variations for two pianos, accompanied by three musicians from the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Rachmaninoff's Suite No. 2 and pieces by Guastavino and Milhaud. A co-production of Artear and UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with the Teatro Colón and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra MOZART, BEETHOVEN, SCHUMANN, RAVEL et al. CONDUCTED BY DANIEL BARENBOIM WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART The Marriage of Figaro – Overture from “Le nozze di Figaro” LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 ROBERT SCHUMANN Fantasiestücke, Op. 12, Traumes Wirren MAURICE RAVEL Rapsodie espagnole, Boléro et al. GEORGES BIZET Carmen Suite No. 1 MARTHA ARGERICH, Piano “A city in a state of emergency” was the euphoric title of a FAZ article describing the residency of the WestEastern Divan Orchestra in Buenos Aires. At the opening concert the musicians enthralled their audience with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 – with which Martha Argerich debuted at the Teatro Colón at the age Length: 116' Cat. no. A 835 50003 0000 MARTHA ARGERICH & DANIEL BARENBOIM" of eight– followed by Ravel�s evergreens like Boléro and Rapsodie espagnole and Bizet’s popular Carmen Suite No. 1. In the Ravel in particular, the Divan musicians were able to prove “their filigree tone, their mastery of pianissimo through to the barely audible and many other merits” (FAZ). A co-production of Artear and UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with the Teatro Colón and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra Photo: Arnaldo Colombaroli 67 ROYA L A L B E RT CONCERT AT T H E HALL WEST-EASTERN DIVAN ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY DANIEL BARENBOIM AT T H E ROYA L A L B E RT HAL L WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART The Marriage of Figaro – Overture KAREEM ROUSTOM Ramal AYAL ADLER Resonating Sounds MAURICE RAVEL Rapsodie espagnole, Alborada del gracioso, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Boléro The West–Eastern Divan Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim return to the BBC Proms for a colourful Spanish-flavoured evening. The concert begins just outside Seville in Mozart’s vivacious Figaro overture, before drifting into the dreamy Spanish nights of Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole. Dreams give way to convulsing, urgent dance as we reach the Rapsodie’s latter movements – a preview of the rhythmic intensity of the composer’s Boléro. Also featured here are two works newly composed for the orchestra – both exploring the musical junctions of east and west. Length: 96' A BBC production in association with West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 025 50134 0000 TONHALLE ORCHESTRA ZURICH JULIA FISCHER ∙ DAVID ZINMAN RICHARD STRAUSS Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28 ANTONIN DVOŘÁK Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral”, Op. 68 From the pastoral landscapes of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 to the vibrant folk scenes of Strauss’s soundpoem and Dvořak’s violin concerto, this Prom takes a vivid journey across Central Europe. Celebrated Straussian David Zinman appears in his final concert as chief conductor of Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, stepping down after almost 20 years. Strauss appears at his playful, joyous best in the exploits of folk-hero/prankster Till Eulenspiegel, while Julia Fischer makes a welcome return to the Proms in the last of the great romantic violin concertos – an inventive and idiosyncratic work by Dvořak, previously too often neglected in favour of Mendelssohn or Bruch. “This beautiful Prom marked the end of an era. David Zinman’s final concert as chief conductor of the Zurich Tonhalle was a superb example of his intelligent musicianship” (The Guardian). Length: approx. 90' A BBC/Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich co-production in association with UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 025 50133 0000 WORLD ORCHESTRA FOR PEACE CONDUCTED BY VALERY GERGIEV ROXANNA PANUFNIK Three Paths to Peace RICHARD STRAUSS Die Frau ohne Schatten – symphonic fantasia GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 6 in A minor The World Orchestra for Peace returns with its conductor Valery Gergiev for its fourth Proms appearance. This classical supergroup consisting of leading players from the world’s finest orchestras celebrates Strauss with the colourful, fairy-tale soundscapes of his operatic masterpiece “Die Frau ohne Schatten”. Fantasy gives way to reality in the prescient tragedy of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, the glorious agony Length: approx. 100' Cat. no. A 025 50132 0000 of its final movement foreshadowing the composer’s own personal heartbreaks. Roxanna Panufnik’s “Three Paths to Peace”, commissioned by the orchestra, is a reference to the words of the orchestra’s founding father Sir Georg Solti and a statement for peace, for unity in diversity by “finding and building musical bridges” between the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith. A production of BBC/World Orchestra for Peace Ltd. in co-production with WDR and UNITEL CLASSICA “FROM WAR TO PEACE” ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTARY SEE PAGE 77 69 ROLANDO VILLAZÓN PRESENTS Four new episodes of the successful German TV series in which Rolando Villazón presents the new classical music Stars of Tomorrow from singers and pianists to drummers and combos. Photo: Thomas Ernst EPISODE 13 EPISODE 14 Adam Plachetka Pumeza Matshikiza Trio Karénine Nemanja Radulovi conducted by Domingo Hindoyan Giacomo Puccini “Mi chiamano Mimì” from La Bohème Soloist: Pumeza Matshikiza (South Africa) EPISODE 15 Sonya Yoncheva Kit Armstrong Antonio Poli Die Chorjungen conducted by Domingo Hindoyan Gioachino Rossini Overture to Il Signor Bruschino Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70/1 “Ghost” – Allegro vivace e con brio – Trio Karénine (France) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart “Bald prangt, den Morgen zu verkünden” from Die Zauberflöte Soloists: Die Chorjungen (Germany), Sonya Yoncheva (Bulgaria) Maurice Ravel Piano Trio in A minor – Pantoum. Assez vif Trio Karénine (France) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart “Ave verum corpus” Soloists: Die Chorjungen (Germany) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart “Rivolgete a lui lo squardo” from Così fan tutte – Soloist: Adam Plachetka (Czech Republic) Francesco Paolo Tosti “Marechiare” Soloist: Antonio Poli (Italy) Dmitri Shostakovich Romance from The Gadfly Soloist: Nemanja Radulovic (Serbia/France) Jules Massenet “Celui dont la parole” Aria of Salomé from Hérodiade – Soloist: Sonya Yoncheva (Bulgaria) Niccolò Paganini Caprices Nos. 24 & 5 Soloist: Nemanja Radulovic (Serbia/France) Joseph Haydn Piano Concerto in D major, Hob. XVIII:11 Rondo all’Ungarese – Soloist: Kit Armstrong (USA) Richard Strauss “Morgen” Soloists: Nemanja Radulovic (Serbia/France), Rolando Villazón Francesco Cilea “È la solita storia del pastore” (Lamento di Federico) from L’ Arlesiana Soloist: Antonio Poli (Italy) Antonín Dvořák Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op. 72 No. 2 Franz Schubert “Erstarrung” from Die Winterreise Soloist: Adam Plachetka (Czech Republic) Qongqothwane (Traditional) Soloist: Pumeza Matshikiza (South Africa) Length: 53' Cat. no. A 055 13437 0013 A production of Salve TV for ZDF/Arte in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA György Ligeti Fanfares – Soloist: Kit Armstrong (USA) Manuel Penella “Vaya una tarde bonita…Sí! Torero” Duet of Rafael and Soleá from Il gato montés Soloists: Sonya Yoncheva (Bulgaria), Rolando Villazón Length: 46' Cat. no. A 055 13437 0014 A production of Salve TV for ZDF/Arte in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA EPISODE 16 Andreas Ottensamer Kristina Mkhitaryan German Hornsound Hwayoon Lee conducted by Patrick Lange Michael Barenboim Inga Fiolia Zhengzhong Zhou Ni Fan conducted by Patrick Lange George Frideric Handel Vivo from Suite No. 1, “Water Music” Soloists: German Hornsound (Germany) Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Presto from the Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor – Soloist: Inga Fiolia (Georgia) Vincenzo Bellini “Care compagne” from “La sonnambula” Soloist: Kristina Mkhitaryan (Russia) Giuseppe Verdi “Per me giunto è il dì supremo” from “Don Carlo” Soloist: ZhengZhong Zhou (China) Claude Debussy Prélude “La fille aux cheveux de lin” Soloist: Andreas Ottensamer (Austria) Georg Philipp Telemann Largo and Presto from Viola Concerto in G major Soloist: Hwayoon Lee (Korea) Niccolò Paganini Presto from Caprice No. 16 in G major Soloist: Hwayoon Lee (Korea) Edward Grieg “Morning Mood” from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 Soloist: Andreas Ottensamer (Austria) Sergei Rachmaninoff Romance No. 10: “Before my Window” Soloist: Kristina Mkhitaryan (Russia) Giuseppe Verdi “Sempre libera” from “La traviata” Soloist: German Hornsound (Germany Gioachino Rossini La danza from “Les soirées musicales” Soloist: Andreas Ottensamer (Austria) Length: 44' Cat. no. A 055 13437 0015 A production of Salve TV for ZDF/Arte in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Rondo in C major Soloist: Michael Barenboim (Germany) Ney Rosauro Despedida (Farewell) from Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra – Soloist: Ni Fan (China) Alexander Scriabin Préludes No. 9, 14, 17 & 20 from 24 Préludes, Op. 11 Soloist: Inga Fiolia (Georgia) Francis Poulenc Chanson No. 7 “La Belle Jeunesse” from “Chansons gaillardes” – Soloist: ZhengZhong Zhou (China) Béla Bartók Fuga from Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz. 117 Soloist: Michael Barenboim (Germany) Tobias Boström Arena – Percussion Concerto No. 1 Soloist: Ni Fan (China) Carlos Gardel “El día que me quieras” (The day that you love me) Soloist: Rolando Villazón, Inga Fiolia (Georgia), Michael Barenboim (Germ.) Gioachino Rossini Overture from “Guillaume Tell” Orchestra: Junge Sinfonie Berlin Length: 65' Cat. no. A 055 13437 0016 70 A production of Salve TV for ZDF/Arte in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA 71 CHAMBER MUSIC CHAMBER MUSIC FRANZ SCHUBERT: WINTERREISE MATTHIAS GOERNE, Baritone MARKUS HINTERHÄUSER, Piano visualized by WILLIAM KENTRIDGE “Winterreise” by Franz Schubert engages with its audience in a new and unexpected form: in a creative encounter with Schubert’s masterpiece, the celebrated lieder specialist Matthias Goerne, pianist Markus Hinterhäuser and South African director, set designer and theatre artist William Kentridge joined forces on Length: approx. 85' Cat. no. A 010 50033 stage and traced newly imagined, deeply moving images. In short animated films, Kentridge visualises Goerne’s and Hinterhäuser’s sonic contribution. A memorable meeting “of melancholy and magic” (La Marseillaise), infused by the “virile beauty of Goerne�s powerful baritone” (New York Times). A production of Idéale Audience in co-production with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Mezzo and UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with Arte France and MUSEEC/medici.tv with the participation of CNC “A TRIO FOR SCHUBERT” ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTARY SEE PAGE 79 BENJAMIN BRITTEN: STRING QUARTETS BELCEA QUARTET BRITTEN String Quartets No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 / No. 2 in C major, Op. 36 / No. 3, Op. 94 The Belcea Quartet is one of the world�s leading chamber music ensembles, having won many international accolades. Now, with the string quartets, the musicians have rediscovered a gem of twentiethcentury chamber music. “Here is a composer moving gently and magically from the Romantic and Classical canon towards aural visions of lightness, of sublimated pain and brooding escapism. Shame on those who do not know these pieces.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). The Belcea Quartet succeeds in an outstanding manner in holding the balance between the youthful exuberance of the first two quartets and the lyrical solemnity and sweet morbidity of the third. Recorded before an audience in the legendary Davout studio in Paris, these musicians display huge sensitivity for Britten�s many nuances. Length: approx. 90' A production of Heliox Film in co-production with the Belcea Quartet and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 015 50038 0000 TORMENTI E DOLCE OBLIO – UMANE PASSIONI E AFFETTI VOCALI CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI Tempro la cetra, Voglio di vita uscir FRANCESCO CAVALLI Scene dall’Egisto CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI Aria di Ulisse, Dormo ancora TARQINIO MERULA Folle è ben MARC MAUILLION, Tenor • ANGÉLIQUE MAUILLON, Harp FRIEDERIKE HEUMANN, Viola da Gamba Venice – La Serenissima – was long considered the hub of the Baroque music world and the birthplace of opera. Composers like Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli took the musical life of the city to unprecedented heights in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Length: approx. 70' Cat. no. A 005 50036 0000 MATTHIAS GOERNE & MARKUS HINTERHÄUSER During the Festival Monteverdi-Vivaldi the young French tenor Marc Maullion breathes new life into some of the loveliest arias of that exciting era and whisking his audience away in the process to the illustrious surroundings of the Venetian Palazzo Da Mosto. A production of Heliox Film in co-production with Venetian Centre for Baroque Music and Making On in association with ClassicAll/M Media, Mezzo and UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: Lukas Beck 73 CHAMBER MUSIC THE COMPLETE BEETHOVEN PIANO SONATAS RUDOLF BUCHBINDER 1st concert Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2/1 Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 14/2 Sonata No. 13 in E flat major, Op. 27/1, “Sonata quasi una fantasia” Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31/2, “Der Sturm” Sonata No. 18 in E flat major, Op. 31/3, “Die Jagd” 2nd concert Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10/1 Sonata No. 12 in A flat major, Op. 26 Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54 Sonata No. 4 E flat major, Op. 7, “Grande Sonate” Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27/2, “Mondschein-Sonate” 3rd concert Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2/3 Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49/1 Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, Op. 81a, “Les Adieux” Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10/3 Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101 4th concert Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10/2 Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major, Op. 78 Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31/1 Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier-Sonate” 5th concert Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2/2 Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14/1 Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28, “Sonate pastorale” Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90 Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, “Sonata appassionata” 6th concert Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, Op. 22 Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49/2 Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, “Grande Sonate pathétique” Sonata No. 25 in G major, Op. 79 Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, “Waldstein-Sonate” 7th concert Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109 Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110 Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 Beethoven’s opus of 32 piano sonatas, known as “the New Testament of piano music”, is a landmark in piano literature. Now, for the first time in its history the complete cycle was performed at the Salzburg Festival. For this challenge the Festival asked no less than the world-renowned and influential Beethoven expert and pianist Rudolf Buchbinder. Buchbinder’s performance Length: approx. 600' Cat. no. A 045 50038 0000 RUDOLF BUCHBINDER is “that of a real master, effortless changing between lightning fast, technically challenging moments and tender lyrical passages. Where others can pride themselves in getting through without any accidents, Buchbinder is a poet, precise in every arpeggio touching in every keystroke” (Kurier). A co-production of ORF, Heliox Film and UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with Salzburg Festival Photo: Silvia Lelli 75 DOCUMENTARY DOCUMENTARIES “ANNA THE GREAT” A film by DMITRY SAPUN Russia, 2014 A documentary about the great soprano Anna Netrebko by the russian filmmaker Dmitry Sapun which follows her at home in Russia and New York and on the road as she prepares for her performances. It also features interviews Length: 40' Cat. no. A 945 50002 with Anna herself, her family, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Piotr Beczala and many of her supporters such as Valery Gergiev and Peter Gelb. A coproduction of UNITEL CLASSICA and Fourstudio “DON GIOVANNI – A NIGHT AT THE OPERA BACKSTAGE” A film by VOLKER HEISE Austria, 2014 Corresponding to A 040 50033 p. 16 This documentary presents a unique insight into the fascinating world of opera: during the live performance of Mozarts famous Don Giovanni at the Salzburg Festival. Renown helmer Volker Heise filmed backstage with four teams the fascinating clockwork of thousand Length: 180' Cat. no. A 040 50041 hands bringing together such a live performance. Feel the adrenalin and anxiety of the singers, musicians and all performers and discover that the real night of the opera is behind the curtain! A production of Servus TV in cooperation with the Salzburg Festival and UNITEL CLASSICA “FROM WAR TO PEACE” A film by CHARLES KAYE & CHRISTOPH ENGEL Germany, 2014 Corresponding to A 025 50132 0000 p. 69 This documentary, produced on the occasion of the World Orchestra for Peace’s 20th anniversary, features rare archive footage of Georg Solti – the orchestra’s founder – with Richard Strauss (1949), Solti’s 80th birthday concert at Buckingham Palace (1992) and Length: 56' Cat. no. A 055 50383 ANNA NETREBKO additional contributions from Irina Bokova (UNESCO Director – General) and many leading players of the World Orchestra for Peace. The film is complemented by excerpts from the Concert for Peace at the BBC Proms. A production of BBC/World Orchestra for Peace Ltd. in co-production with WDR and UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: Alex Molchanovsky 77 DOCUMENTARY “NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT – BETWEEN OBSESSION AND PERFECTION” A three part documentary by FELIX BREISACH Austria, 2014 Three documentaries accompanying the development of Nikolaus Harnoncourts’ “The Mozart Da-Ponte Cycle” at the “Theater an der Wien” (see page 14). Through focusing on the concentrated rehearsals in Harnoncourt’s house in St. Georgen, Austria on six Length: 3 x 52' Cat. no. A 045 50033 0000 consecutive days, the documentaries not only give an in-depth account of Harnoncourt’s vision of Mozart but also an intimate portrait of what it’s like to be working with him. A production of Felix Breisach Medienwerkstatt in co-production with Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, ORF III and UNITEL CLASSICA “A TRIO FOR SCHUBERT” A film by Christian Leblé France, 2014 Corresponding to A 010 50033 p. 73 Schubert’s masterpiece “Winterreise” through Matthias Goerne’ s eyes and voice, captured during the Vienna Premiere and Festival d’Aix en Provence production Length: 52' Cat. no. A 015 50040 of the song-cycle, where he worked together with the world-known South-African visual artist William Kentridge and pianist Markus Hinterhäuser. A co-production of Idéale Audience, Arte France and UNITEL CLASSICA in participation with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence “NINE SKETCHES OF DVOŘÁK” A film by BARBARA WILLIS SWEETE Czech Republic, 2014 Corresponding to A 985 50004 0000 p. 51 A documentary which follows the “homecoming” of Jiří Bělohlávek as chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. The film traces the whole recording of Antonín Dvořák's symphonies and concertos throughout one and a half years, from live performances to studio work. It captures Length: approx. 60' Cat. no. A 980 50002 NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT the atmosphere of change in the Czech Philharmonic as it is perceived by the players, the conductor and the management, all against the backdrop of Dvořák’s life and work. A production of Czech Television, Czech Philharmonic and UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: PhotoWerK 79 DOCUMENTARY “CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN – MY STRAUSS” A film by ANDREAS MORELL Germany, 2014 On the occasion of Richard Strauss‘s 150th birthday, conductor Christian Thielemann reflects in an intensive portrait about his personal relation to the composer. While focusing on the composer Strauss with numerous Length: approx. 45' Cat. no. A 055 50371 archive recordings also the human being, the opera director, the festival founder and careerist in times of National Socialism find their place in this gripping documentary. A production of 3B-Produktion in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with ZDF/3sat “RICHARD STRAUSS – AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW” A film by ERIC SCHULZ Austria, 2014 Richard Strauss – who regarded himself as the last great composer ‘at the end of the rainbow’ – for sure is one of the most interesting artists of his time. This documentary by Eric Schulz (also known for the film “Karajan – The Second Life”) gives insight into the personality and Length: approx. 100' Cat. no. A 040 50038 the works of Richard Strauss with never-released archive material and interview partners such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Klaus König, Raymond Holden, Christian Strauss, Walter Werbeck, Emma Moore and Stefan Mickisch. A production of Servus TV “THE SYMPHONIEORCHESTER DES BAYERISCHEN RUNDFUNKS IN SOUTH AMERICA” A film by ECKHART QUERNER Germany, 2014 The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra as a cultural ambassador: On tour through South America the musicians under the baton of Principal Conductor Mariss Jansons gave several concerts in major cities. Rapturous applause from their South American fans followed the program consisting of works by Brahms, Berlioz, Shostakovich and Adams everywhere the orchestra Length: approx. 90' Cat. no. A 050 50213 CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN went. Filmmaker and cinematographer Eckhart Querner and cameraman Peter Gillemot accompanied the tour. Their documentary shows the preparations for the concerts and the mood and atmosphere with an unfamiliar audience while giving insight into individual musicians’ personal experiences. A production of BR in cooperation with UNITEL CLASSICA Photo: Matthias Creutziger 81 UPCOMING UPCOMING PRODUCTIONS AND LIVE EVENTS We proudly present a fine selection of our upcoming productions and live events for the next six month. Please note that all information is not contractual and subject to change. SALZBURG FESTIVAL 18 JULY – 30 AUGUST 2015 UNITEL CLASSICA IS THE EXCLUSIVE AUDIOVISUAL PARTNER OF THE SALZBURG FESTIVAL Please contact us for further details and the full line-up. 10/ 11/ 12 FEBRUARY 2015 – FROM THE BARBICAN HALL, LONDON THE SIBELIUS SYMPHONY CYCLE BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER ∙ SIMON RATTLE 21 FEBRUARY 2015 – FROM THE TEATRO ALLA SCALA, MILAN GUISEPPE VERDI: AIDA CARLO COLOMBARA, ANITA RACHVELISHVILI, KRISTIN LEWIS FABIO SARTORI, MATTI SALMINEN, GEORGE GAGNIDZE, CHIARA ISOTTON CORO E ORCHESTRA DEL TEATRO ALLA SCALA conducted by ZUBIN MEHTA staged by PETER STEIN 4/ 5 MARCH 2015 – FROM THE CONCERTGEBOUW AMSTERDAM ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW ORCHESTRA ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER ∙ ANDRIS NELSONS JEAN SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10 8/ 10 MARCH 2015 – FROM THE GOLDENER SAAL, MUSIKVEREIN VIENNA WIENER PHILHARMONIKER, ZUBIN MEHTA, RUDOLF BUCHBINDER JOHANNES BRAHMS – PIANO CONCERTOS NOS. 1 & 2 20 MARCH 2015 – FROM THE CONCERTGEBOUW AMSTERDAM MARISS JANSONS – THE FAREWELL CONCERT THOMAS HAMPSON, ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW ORCHESTRA, MARISS JANSONS 83 UPCOMING PRODUCTIONS & LIVE EVENTS 6 APRIL 2015 – FROM THE SALZBURG EASTER FESTIVAL 24 JULY 2015 – FROM THE BREGENZ FESTIVAL JONAS KAUFMANN, LIUDMYLA MONASTYRSKA, ANNALISA STROPPA STEFANIA TOCZYSKA, AMBROGIO MAESTRI, MARIA AGRESTA KATRIN KAPPLUSCH, RICCARDO MASSI, YITIAN LUAN All information is not contractual and subject to change PIETRO MASCAGNI: CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO: PAGLIACCI STAATSKAPELLE DRESDEN conducted by CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN directed by PHILIPP STÖLZL All information is not contractual and subject to change UPCOMING UPCOMING PRODUCTIONS & LIVE EVENTS GIACOMO PUCCINI: TURANDOT WIENER SYMPHONIKER conducted by PAOLO CARIGNANI directed by MARCO ARTURO MARELLI AUGUST 2015 (tbd) – FROM THE SALZBURG FESTIVAL 23/ 24/ 25 APRIL 2015 – FROM THE PHILHARMONIE BERLIN BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER HÅKAN HARDENBERGER ∙ ANDRIS NELSONS HK GRUBER: Aerial GUSTAV MAHLER: Symphony No. 5 9 JUNE 2015 – FROM THE KONCERTHUSET, COPENHAGEN 150TH BIRTHDAY OF CARL NIELSEN LIVE GALA CONCERT FROM COPENHAGEN OLLI LEPPÄNIEMI, Clarinet DANISH NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA conducted by JUANJO MENA WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO LUCA PISARONI, GENIA KÜHMEIER, MARTINA JANKOVA, ADAM PLACHETKA MARGARITA GRITSKOVA, ANN MURRAY WIENER PHILHARMONIKER conducted by DAN ETTINGER directed by SVEN-ERIC BECHTOLF 13 AUGUST 2015 – FROM THE SALZBURG FESTIVAL LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: FIDELIO JONAS KAUFMANN, ADRIANNE PIECZONKA, TOMASZ KONIECZNY LUDOVIC TÉZIER, HANS-PETER KÖNIG 19 JUNE 2015 – FROM THE GRAFENEGG FESTIVAL WIENER PHILHARMONIKER conducted by FRANZ WELSER-MÖST directed by CLAUS GUTH TONKÜNSTLER-ORCHESTER conducted by YUTAKA SADO 16 AUGUST 2015 – FROM THE SALZBURG FESTIVAL "MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S GALA" ELISABETH KULMAN, PIOTR BECZALA, JULIA FISCHER 11 JULY 2015 – FROM THE ODEONSPLATZ, MUNICH THE ODEONSPLATZ CONCERT "SPANISH NIGHT" JULIA FISCHER ∙ PABLO HERAS-CASADO WIENER PHILHARMONIKER ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER ∙ RICCARDO MUTI PYOTR I. TCHAIKOVSKY: Concert for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op. 35 JOHANNES BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73 SYMPHONIEORCHESTER DES BAYERISCHEN RUNDFUNKS 84 85 INDEX All numbers refer to pages of this catalogue – “Upcoming” and “Documentaries” are excluded COMPOSERS: A Ayal Adler 69 B Johann Sebastian Bach 49 ∙ Béla Bartók 43, 64 ∙ Ludwig van Beethoven 63, 67, 69, 75 ∙ Hector Berlioz 45 ∙ Johannes Brahms 49, 54, 57 ∙ Benjamin Britten 73 ∙ Anton Bruckner 63 C Francesco Cavalli 73 D Gaetano Donizetti 8 ∙ Antonín Dvořák 51, 69 F Benedetto Ferrari 73 ∙ Marius Flothuis 54 G HK Gruber 10 H Joseph Haydn 63 J Leoš Janáček 12 K Emmerich Kálmán 59 M Gustav Mahler 53, 64, 69 ∙ Pietro Mascagni 43 ∙ Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy 63 ∙ Tarquinio Merula 73 ∙ Claudio Monteverdi 73 ∙ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 14, 20, 43, 45, 67, 69 P Roxanna Panufnik 69 ∙ Sergei Prokofiev 43, 53 ∙ Giacomo Puccini 43 ∙ Henry Purcell 64 R Sergei Rachmaninoff 43 ∙ Maurice Ravel 67, 69 ∙ Aribert Reimann 18 ∙ Ottorino Respighi 43 ∙ Wolfgang Rihm 60 ∙ Gioachino Rossini 20, 53 Kareem Roustom 69 S Franz Schubert 22, 67, 73 ∙ Robert Schumann 49, 67 ∙ Dmitri Shostakovich 53, 54, 64 ∙ Richard Strauss 24, 26, 28, 30, 45, 54, 57, 60, 69 ∙ Igor Stravinsky 67 T Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 40, 43 V Giuseppe Verdi 32, 34, 36 W Richard Wagner 43 STILL HAVEN’T FOUND WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR? CONDUCTORS: A Antonello Allemandi 8 B Daniel Barenboim 57, 67, 69 ∙ Andrea Battistoni 36 ∙ Jiří Bělohlávek 51 C Will Crutchfield 20 D Gustavo Dudamel 45, 57 E Christoph Eschenbach 20 F Gabriele Ferro 28 ∙ Asher Fisch 34 ∙ Christopher Franklin 43 G Rumon Gamba 26 John Eliot Gardiner 63 ∙ Daniele Gatti 32 ∙ Valery Gergiev 69 ∙ HK Gruber 10 H Bernard Haitink 63 ∙ Daniel Harding 63 ∙ Nikolaus Harnoncourt 14, 45 ∙ Pablo Heras-Casado 60 ∙ Domingo Hindoyan 70 I Alexander Ingram 40 J Mariss Jansons 53, 64 L Patrick Lange 105 M Cornelius Meister 43 Juanjo Mena ∙ 47 Ingo Metzmacher 22 N Andris Nelsons 43, 53, 54 ∙ David Newman 47 ∙ Yannick NézetSéguin 64 R Simon Rattle 49 ∙ Donald Runnicles 12 S Stanley Sperber 43 T Christian Thielemann 24, 59, 60 W Franz Welser-Möst 30 Y Simone Young 18 Z David Zinman 69 SINGERS: A Ildar Abdrazakov 47 ∙ Kate Aldrich 8 ∙ Rubén Amoretti 28 B Maite Beaumont 14 ∙ Piotr Beczala 47 ∙ Daniel Behle 24 ∙ Lena Belkina 20 Nicola Beller Carbone 28 ∙ Benjamin Bernheim 22 ∙ Pavol Breslik 60 ∙ Ingela Brimberg 26 C William Corrò 36 ∙ Lucy Crowe 63 D Ildebrando D'Arcangelo 20 ∙ Angela Denoke 47 ∙ Albert Dohmen 24 ∙ Plácido Domingo 32 ∙ Katija Dragojevic 14 ∙ Ruben Drole 14 E Ilse Eerens 10 Ladislav Elgr 12 ∙ Mojca Erdmann 30 ∙ Mari Eriksmoen 14 ∙ Adrian Eröd 30, 47 F Renée Fleming 24 ∙ Elisabetta Fiorillo 36 ∙ Juan Diego Flórez 60 Chiara Fracasso 28 ∙ Anett Fritsch 20 ∙ Giovanni Furlanetto 8 G Alain Gabriel 8 ∙ Serena Gamberoni 36 ∙ Elīna Garanča 59 ∙ Christian Gerhaher 49 ∙ Renato Girolami 34 ∙ Christine Goerke 60 ∙ Matthias Goerne 73 ∙ Günther Groissböck 30, 63 H Thomas Hampson 24, 47 Anja Harteros 34, 60 ∙ Will Hartmann 12 ∙ Hui He 36 ∙ Dietrich Henschel 28 ∙ Evelyn Herlitzius 59 J Jennifer Johnston 63 K Yosep Kang 59 ∙ Christiane Karg 59 Vesselina Kasarova 47 ∙ Jonas Kaufmann 34, 43 ∙ Michaela Kaune 12 ∙ Angelika Kirchschlager 10 ∙ Julia Kleiter 22 ∙ Christine Knorren 28 Sophie Koch 30 ∙ Vitalij Kowaljow 34 ∙ Magdalena Kožená 49 ∙ Nadia Krasteva 34 ∙ Genia Kühmeier 63 ∙ Elisabeth Kulman 14, 63 ∙ Hellen Kwon 18 ∙ Magnus Kyhle 26 L Thomas Lander 26 ∙ Jennifer Larmore ∙ 12 Erwin Leder 18 ∙ Topi Lehtipuu 49 ∙ Marie-Nicole Lemieux 32 Susanna Levonen 26 ∙ Christina Landshamer 59 ∙ Raffaella Lupinacci 20 M Pumeza Matshikiza 70 ∙ Marc Mauillon 73 ∙ Waltraud Meier 59 Francesco Meli 32, 36 ∙ Kristina Mkhitaryan 105 ∙ Hanna-Elisabeth Müller 24 ∙ Hanno Müller-Brachmann 63 N Valentina Naforniţa 20 Anna Netrebko 32, 59 ∙ Randy Newman 47 ∙ Camilla Nylund 60 O Jennifer O’Loughlin 47 ∙ Kristine Opolais 43 P Mark Padmore 49, 63 ∙ René Pape 59 ∙ Albert Pesendorfer 10 ∙ Mauro Peter 14 ∙ Katja Pieweck 18 ∙ Luca Pisaroni 20, 47 ∙ Adam Plachetka 70 ∙ Antonio Poli 70 ∙ Jessica Pratt 20 Anna Prohaska 53 R Max Raabe 88 ∙ Ildikó Raimondi 14 ∙ Dempsey Rivera 20 ∙ Dorothea Röschmann 22 ∙ Lenneke Ruiten 20 S Luca Salsi 36 Maria Sarra 28 ∙ Michael Schade 22 ∙ Christine Schäfer 14 ∙ Daniel Schmutzhard 10 ∙ Jörg Schneider 10 ∙ Andrè Schuen 14 ∙ Anne Schwanewilms 59 Hanna Schwarz 12 ∙ Bo Skovhus 14, 18 ∙ Marie-Bénédicte Souquet 8 ∙ Toby Spence 63 ∙ Michael Spyres 20 ∙ Siobhan Stagg 18 ∙ Andrew Staples 45 ∙ Cassandra Steen 47 ∙ Krassimira Stoyanova 30 T Ludovic Tézier 8, 34 ∙ Camilla Tilling 49 ∙ Ingrid Tobiasson 26 V Frank van Aken 59 ∙ Ramón Vargas 47 ∙ Lauri Vasar 18 ∙ Rolando Villazón 70, 105 ∙ Sergio Vitale 20 ∙ Anke Vondung 10 W Sebastian Wartig 59 Markus Werba 14 ∙ David B. Whitley 47 ∙ Roderick Williams 49 Y Pretty Yende 43 ∙ Shi Yijie 8 ∙ Sonya Yoncheva 70 Z Georg Zeppenfeld 22 ∙ Bernd Zettisch 59 ∙ ZhengZhong Zhou 105 INSTRUMENTALISTS: A Martha Argerich 67 ∙ Kit Armstrong 70 B Daniel Barenboim 57, 67 ∙ Michael Barenboim 105 ∙ Antonii Baryshevskyi 43 ∙ Rudolf Buchbinder 75 C Seong-Jin Cho 43 ∙ Die Chorjungen 70 F Ni Fan 105 ∙ Inga Fiolia 105 ∙ Julia Fischer 69 ∙ David Fung 43 G German Hornsound 105 H Friederike Heumann 73 ∙ Markus Hinterhäuser 73 ∙ Gregor Horsch 54 L Hwayoon Lee 105 ∙ Steven Lin 43 M Angélique Mauillon 73 O Alexei Orgintchouk 54 ∙ Andreas Ottensamer 105 P Liviu Prunaru 54 R Roman Rabinovich 43 ∙ Nemanja Radulovic 70 S Gil Shaham 64 T Terem Quartet 63 ∙ Jean-Yves Thibaudet 47 ∙ Omar Tomasoni 54 ∙ Trio Karénine 70 ∙ Daniil Trivonov 43 V Vilém Veverka 43 W Yuja Wang 53 UNITEL CLASSICA Avant Première Catalogue 2015 Editorial Team: Burkhard Grote, Konrad von Soden ∙ Layout: Manuel Messner/luebbeke.com All information is not contractual and subject to change without prior notice. Date of print: 23 January 2015 Unitel GmbH & Co. KG Gruenwalder Weg 28d, 82041 Oberhaching, Germany Geschäftsführer: Jan Mojto – AG München HRA 83109 All trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. Front cover: Anna Netrebko in G. Verdi’s "Il trovatore", Salzburg Festival – Photo: Karl Forster © Unitel 2015 ∙ All Rights reserved 86 Search the complete UNITEL CLASSICA catalogue which features more than 1500 productions including the legendary productions with Leonard Bernstein (who died 25 years ago on October 14). Visit: www.unitel.de or simply contact C-Major Entertainment Tel. +49.30.30306464 [email protected] & MAX RAABE PALAST ORCHESTER A NIGHT IN BERLIN Max Raabe, the “wry, unsmiling and nonchalantly charismatic vocalist” (New York Times) who heads the Palast Orchester of Berlin, is internationally renowned for entertainment at its best. A Night in Berlin blends his hit interpretations from the 1920’s classics with new songs that are immediately catchy, written by Annette Humpe and himself. And of course, Max Raabe made sure, that this concert recording is no run-of-the-mill recording, but pure indulgence. Length: 89' & 43' (German version) 47' (English version)' Cat. no. A 055 50373 0000 A production of UNITEL CLASSICA and Deutsche Grammophon in co-production with RBB and BR in cooperation with Arte Photo: Marcus Hoehn
