Europakonzert 2001 from Istanbul

Mariss Jansons conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker in the 2001 edition of the Europakonzert, filmed live at the Hagia Eirene in Istanbul on 1 May 2001. The program features Haydn’s Symphony No. 24 in G Major “Surprise” Mozart’s Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Flute and Orchestra, Emmanuel Pahud soloist Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14.

The Makropulos Affair

The Christoph Marthaler production of Leoš Janáček's "Věc Makropulos", recorded live at the Salzburger Festspiele on 8 & 30 August 2011. Angela Denoke stars as Emilia Marty, with Raymond Very as Albert Gregor, Peter Hoare as Vitek, Jurgita Adamonyté as Krista, and Johan Reuter as Jaroslav Prus. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker.

Bennewitzovo kvarteto pro Památník ticha

A leading Czech chamber ensemble performs compositions by H. Krása, E. Schulhoff, and A. Dvořák on the occasion of a memorial event commemorating the deportation of Jews from Prague's Holešovice railway station, Praha Bubny, during World War II... The Memorial of Silence is a project that has been in development for several years at the Praha Bubny railway station. This place of remembrance, which witnessed the deportation of nearly 50,000 Prague citizens of Jewish origin, is thus awakening to new significance. In addition to developing a project to convert the railway station into a place of remembrance, an educational and communication center, the Memorial of Silence team has been preparing dozens of seasonal events for several years. Their aim is to find a language for public communication for a modern memorial that seeks to commemorate war stories and events without false pathos.

Jakub Jan Ryba – Česká mše vánoční „Hej, mistře!“

An indispensable symbol of Christmas. J. J. Ryba's most popular composition performed by A. Poláčková, V. Hajnová, P. Nekoranec, J. Šťáva, the En arché chamber choir, the Česká píseň mixed choir, and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by J. Bělohlávek. The Czech Christmas Mass, also known as the "Hey, Master" Mass, in Latin Missa solemnis Festis Nativitatis D. J. Ch. acomodata in linguam bohemicam musicam – que redacta per Jac. Joa. Ryba, is a Czech-language church composition by this year's jubilee celebrant Jakub Jan Ryba (1765–1815). Although it is structured in the same way as a Latin musical mass with parts of the ordinary (Kyrie, Gloria, etc.), it is a pastoral play applied to traditional liturgy; the story tells of the annunciation of Christ's birth and the arrival of the shepherds at the manger. The Czech Christmas Mass has a purely pastoral character, set in a Czech environment.

Le Mozart Noir: Reviving a Legend

Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges overcame class and race prejudices in 18th century France to become a musical genius who would inspire Mozart.

Hudební jaro

A. Dvořák: Koncert pro housle a orchestr a moll, op. 53

Joseph Haydn Mass: In Tempore belli

Pianomania

Pianomania takes the audience on a humorous journey through the secret world of sound and accompanies Stefan Knüpfer in his extraordinary work with the greatest pianists in the world. To select the instrument that corresponds to the vision of the virtuoso, according it to his desire and accompany him until he goes on stage, Stefan Knüpfer has developed nerves of steel, a boundless passion and above ability to translate words into sounds.

Ghosts and Whispers

An unbroken sequence of fragments, last thoughts, elegies and absences by Schubert, Mozart, Wagner, Janáček, Stravinsky, Jacquet de la Guerre and Schumann, inter-leaved with movements from John Woolrich's Pianobooks. The programme is performed alongside images from the Quay Brothers.

Concentus Moraviae 2010

J. S. Bach: Světské a duchovní kantáty

The Cat Concerto

Tom enters from stage left in white tie and tails, sits at the piano, gets his focus as the orchestra in the pit beneath him warms up, and begins to play Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody". Unbeknownst to Tom and the audience, Jerry is asleep across several of the high-note keys inside the instrument, so Tom's playing eventually wakes him. Jerry is pummeled by hammers, bounced by wires, and squeezed by Tom as the cat tries to play the concerto while dispensing with Jerry. Jerry's defensive antics add to the brio of the program and answer Tom with Jerry's own skillful musical attack. By the concerto's end, the duet leaves only one animal standing for the audience's applause.

Karajan - Bruckner - Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9

Karajan - Bruckner - Symphonies No. 8 & 9

New Year's Concert 2024

New Year's Concert 2024

Currentzis conducts Beethoven Symphony No. 9

Ludwig van Beethoven headed for Symphony No. 9 literally his entire life. As early as the 1790s, he had an eye on Ode to Joy, perhaps the most well-known poem by Friedrich Schiller, written on the threshold of the French Revolution (1786). In his mature and, in particular, later years, the deaf composer with an acute ‘hearing vision’ increasingly distanced himself from conventional forms and genres and wrote parts beyond the possibilities of instruments of his day. He nurtured the idea of a symphony with a choir for at least several years. The history of the Ninth’s interpretations includes 200 years of staggering revelations and lingering stagnation. Performed by the musicAeterna orchestra, choir, and guest soloists under the baton of Teodor Currentzis, Beethoven’s opus magnum acquires the original poignancy and energy of a recent discovery.

Leonard Bernstein: The Gift of Music

Leonard Bernstein narrated by legendary screen star Lauren Bacall. The movie also relies extensively on Bernstein's own words to provide the counterpoint to the abundant visual material. Highlights include excerpts of Bernstein conducting masterworks by Beethoven and Mahler, as well as of the maestro with the New York Philharmonic in Moscow in 1959 before an audience which included composer Dmitri Shostakovich and the dissident poet Boris Pasternak. It also contains never-before-seen footage, such as outtakes from televised concerts and interviews. Among these special treats: the dashing 28-year-old maestro representing the U.S. at the 1947 Prague Spring Festival – possibly the earliest extant film of Leonard Bernstein.

The Passions of Vaughan Williams

Fifty years after his death, this musical and psychological portrait of Ralph Vaughan Williams explores the passions that drove a giant of 20th-century English music.

Paganini

Legendary "devil violinist" Niccolo Paganini sets all of 19th century Europe into frenzy.

The Art of Conducting - Legendary Conductors of a Golden Era

Following the success of the Art of Conducting-Great Conductors of the Past, this second edition focuses on a further six of the twentieth century's greatest conductors, complemented by commentary from music personalities who knew the artists firsthand. Rare film clips are also included of Herbert von Karajan, Hermann Scherchen, Andre Cluytens and Vaclav Talich.