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1966–2016

Unitel was founded in 50 years ago in 1966 and went on to become the world's leading producer of programmes for film, television and video. Based on exclusive relationships with outstanding artists and institutions like , , the Festival and many others, the Unitel catalogue of more than 1500 titles presents some of the greatest achievements in the last half a century of classical music. Front cover: & Annalisa Stroppa in P. Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” / Photo: Andreas J. Hirsch

AVANT PREMIÈRE CATALOGUE 2016 This catalogue features the new productions/additions from 2015 to the Unitel catalogue. For the full catalogue please visit www.unitel.com

Editorial Team: Konrad von Soden, Burkhard Grote Layout: Manuel Messner/luebbeke.com

All information is not contractual and subject to change without prior notice. All trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. Date of Print: 1st of February 2016 © Unitel 2016 ∙ All Rights reserved

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OPERA Beethoven: Fidelio ( / Wiener Philharmoniker / Welser-Möst / Guth) 10 Bizet: (Festival Chorégies d’Orange / Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio / Franck / Désiré) 12 Boito: Mefistofele (Staatsoper München / Wellber / Schwab) 14 Gounod: Faust (Teatro Regio Torino / Noseda / Poda) 16 Handel: Theodora (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, / Les Arts Florissants / Christie / Langridge) 18 Humperdinck: Hänsel & Gretel (Wiener Staatsoper / Thielemann / Noble) 20 Jommelli: Il Vologeso (Oper Stuttgart / Ferro / Wieler & Morabito) 22 Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana (Salzburg Easter Festival / / Thielemann / Stölzl) 24 Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (Salzburg Festival / Wiener Philharmoniker / Ettinger / Bechtolf) 26 Leoncavallo: (Salzburg Easter Festival / Staatskapelle Dresden / Thielemann / Stölzl) 24 Offenbach: La Belle Hélène (Staatsoper / Prießnitz / Doucet) 28 Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann ( Festival / Wiener Symphoniker / Debus / Herheim) 30 : (Bregenz Festival / Wiener Symphoniker / Carignani / Marelli) 32 Rossini: (Rossini Festival / Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna / Mazzola / Carniti) 34 Verdi: (Teatro alla Scala, Milano / Mehta / Stein) 36 Verdi: Aida (Teatro Regio Torino / Noseda / Friedkin) 38 Verdi: La Traviata (Festspielhaus Baden-Baden / Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble / Heras-Casado / Villazón) 40 Wagner: Tannhäuser (Staatsoper im Schillertheater / Barenboim / Waltz) 42 Weber: Der Freischütz ( Dresden / Thielemann / Köhler) 44 CONCERT Czech Philharmonic – Dvořák, Martinů & Beethoven (J. Fischer, D. Zinman) 46 Grafenegg Festival – Midsummer Night's Gala 46 The Odeonsplatz Concert – Spanish Night 46 Hollywood in – A Tribute to James Newton Howard 48 András Schiff & Cappella Andrea Barca (Mozartwoche Salzburg) 49 Les Musiciens du & (Mozartwoche Salzburg) 49 Red Ribbon Celebration Concert – Building Bridges for Peace 50 Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg – The Inaugural Concert (G. Gimeno) 50 The Gala 50 The Prokofiev Marathon (V. Gergiev) 52 BBC Proms Stage and Screen – A Tribute to Leonard Bernstein 54 András Schiff – The Goldberg Variations 54 West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (D. Barenboim) 54 Berliner Philharmoniker The Sibelius Cycle (S. Rattle) 56 Mozart & Haydn (S. Rattle) 56 HK Gruber & Mahler (H. Hardenberger, A. Nelsons) 58 Bartók, Shostakovich & Ravel (F. P. Zimmermann, M. Jansons) 58

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Orchestre de Paris Bach & Mendelssohn (T. Hengelbrock) 61 Escaich, Widmann & Saint-Saëns (P. Järvi) 61 Bartók (E.-P. Salonen) 61 Royal Orchestra Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky & Stravinsky (Yo-Yo Ma, D. Gatti) 62 Shostakovich & Sibelius (A.-S. Mutter, A. Nelsons) 62 – The Farewell Concert 62 Bartók & Shostakovich (J. Jansen, A. Nelsons) 64 Breaking News – John Adams conducts John Adams 64 : Christmas Oratorio (J. W. de Vriend) 64 Staatskapelle Dresden Bruckner & Beethoven (Y. Bronfman, C. Thielemann) 67 : Symphony No. 4 (C. Thielemann) 67 Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (C. Thielemann) 67 Festive Advent Concert from the Frauenkirche Dresden (L. Pisaroni, S. Yoncheva, D. Runnicles) 68 Mozart Concertos Nos. 20, 21 & 27 (R. Buchbinder) 68 Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks Hillborg, Grieg & Sibelius (A. S. Ott, E.-P. Salonen) 71 Webern & Shostakovich (B. Haitink) 71 Beethoven & Nielsen (H. Blomstedt) 71 West-Eastern Divan Orchestra & – Piano Duos at the Teatro Colón 73 Beethoven & Tchaikovsky (D. Barenboim) 73 Concert for Understanding of Civilizations and Human Rights (D. Barenboim) 73 Wiener Philharmoniker Tchaikovsky & Brahms (A.-S. Mutter, R. Muti) 75 : Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (R. Buchbinder, Z. Mehta) 75 CHAMBER MUSIC Juan Diego Flórez & Vincenzo Scalera - The Salzburg Recital 77 Johannes Brahms: The Complete String Quartets (Belcea Quartet) 77 Güher und Süher Pekinel – The Istanbul Concert 77 Anne-Sophie Mutter – The Club Concert 81 DOCUMENTARY Leonard Bernstein – Larger Than Life 79 The Swan of Pesaro – Rossini reloaded 79 Living with Beethoven 79

7 OUR GREATEST PRODUCTIONS ARE GETTING EVEN GREATER!

The Unitel catalogue features some of the world’s greatest and finest moments of classical music from the last 50 years – fundamental works of art shot on 35 mm film that have inspired generations of music lovers all over the world, landmark productions and bestsellers, to this day. With the help of the latest advances in technology, we will now make these unique productions available in true 4K Ultra High Definition, offering a visual experience never before seen on the home screen.

Unitel GmbH & Co. KG ∙ Tel: +49.89.673469-613 · [email protected] ULTRA HD

THE FUTURE IS NOW: TODAY’S MASTERPIECES IN 4K UHD

2160 Following the principles set up by Dr Leo Kirch and 4K ULTRA HD Herbert von Karajan to produce in the best technical quality available, Unitel has started to produce in 4K Ultra High Definition - four times the quality of today’s 1080 standard Full HD. With more than ten productions from 720 FULL HD Salzburg Festival, Teatro alla Scala, Bayersiche Staatsoper, 490 HD Semperoper Dresden, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Regio SD Torino available or in postproduction, Unitel, once again, 640 1280 1920 3840 is taking classical music to the next stage.

Unitel GmbH & Co. KG ∙ Tel: +49.89.673469-613 · [email protected] ∙ Jonas Kaufmann Tomasz Konieczny ∙ Hans-Peter König Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Franz Welser-Möst

staged by Claus Guth OPERA

Ludwig van Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, features as the highlight of the Salzburg Festival: the stirring work centred around Leonore, who frees her incarcerated spouse Florestan from prison, is timelessly relevant with powerful emotional situations and jarringly human pleas of anguish from Leonore: Orchestra Wiener Philharmoniker “Whoever you are, I want to rescue you. By God! You shall not Conductor Franz Welser-Möst be a victim!” Chorus Konzertvereinigung Director Claus Guth, renowned for his profound interpretations Wiener Staatsopernchor of opera, replaces the spoken dialogue with menacing sounds, Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger doubling Leonore with a deaf, signing actress. The result is Stage Director Claus Guth a splendidly staged, new and deeply touching picture of the masterpiece, ending in the breakdown of the hugely traumatised Leonore Adrianne Pieczonka character, Florestan, to the accompaniment of exaltant music. Florestan Jonas Kaufmann Don Pizarro Tomasz Konieczny The Orchestra delivers an intensely Rocco Hans-Peter König enthralling orchestral sound, supported by the concert Marzelline Olga Bezsmertna association of the Chorus under Franz Jaquino Norbert Ernst Welser-Möst to accompany a star-studded cast including the Don Fernando Sebastian Holecek two principal characters played by Adrianne Pieczonka and Jonas Kaufmann. reported: “the conductor Video Director Michael Beyer Franz Welser-Möst won a huge ovation, along with the excellent singers, especially the two leads. They are the astonishing A production of Jonas Kaufmann, who makes a wrenching, haunted Florestan, ORF and UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with and the compelling, bright-voiced Adrianne Pieczonka , Salzburg Festival and Wiener Philharmoniker as Leonore”. The hitherto unachieved utopian vision of justice, fraternity and Length: 137' liberty shines eternal. Cat. no. A 040 50049

Photos: Monika Rittershaus

11 CarmenGEORGES BIZET Kate Aldrich Jonas Kaufmann Inva Mula Kyle Ketelsen Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Mikko Franck Les Chorégies d’Orange – Théâtre Antique d’Orange OPERA

CarmenGEORGES BIZET Orchestra Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France Conductor Mikko Franck Chorus Chœurs des Opéras d'Angers-Nantes, Each year, the ancient Roman Théâtre antique d’Orange serves du Grand Avignon et de Nice as a picturesque setting for and concert performances Maîtrise des Bouches-du-Rhône as part of the Chorégies d’Orange festival, founded in 1869 Chorus Master Emmanuel Trenque in Provence. Equipped with almost 7000 seats and a unique Stage Director Louis Désiré acoustic, this Roman theatre has since 1981 been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Carmen Kate Aldrich Don José Jonas Kaufmann The theatre is now offering its breath-taking ambience to Micaëla Inva Mula George Bizet’s world-renowned love drama, Carmen. The Escamillo Kyle Ketelsen principle roles are portrayed by the spectacular Kate Aldrich in Zuniga Jean Teitgen her signature role as the seductive temptress Carmen, and star Moralès Armando Noguera tenor Jonas Kaufmann as the troubled and jealous army officer, Frasquita Hélène Guilmette Don José. “Aldrich makes Carmen a magic presence by sheer Mercédès Marie Karall vivacity of personality”, writes Opera Today on her exceptional festival debut. The rest of the cast, too, are nothing less than Produced by Bel Air Media outstanding – most notably Inva Mula as Micaëla and Kyle Video Director Andy Sommer Ketelsen as Escamillo, whose wit and playfulness delight his audience. In the pit are the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio A co-production of Bel Air Media, Radio France, Les Chorégies d’Orange, France, and their new principal conductor, Mikko Franck. ZDF/3sat and UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with The directing of Louis Désiré, who also designed the set and France Télévisions and the support of CNC costumes, fits ideally into this picturesque setting and paints a naturalistic image of society in keeping with Bizet’s intentions. Length: approx. 170' The staging “preserves the essence of the work, while eschewing Cat. no. A 010 50036 the folkloric ballast that is often applied to Bizet’s operas,” writes Le Point.

Photos: Philippe Gromelle

13

René PaP e · JoseP h CalleJ a · KR istine oPolais · KaR ine BaB aJanyan BayeRisChes s taatsoRChesteR ConduCted B y omeR meiR WellB eR staged B y Roland sCh WaB · BayeR isChe s taatsoPeR OPERA

ARRIGO BOITO Best-known today as the librettist of Verdi’s final Shakespearean masterpieces, and , the multi-talented Arrigo Boito was also a journalist, a poet and a fine composer in his own right. Hugely ambitious in scope, and some 20 Orchestra Bayerisches Staatsorchester years in the making, his first (and only completed) opera, Mefistofele, sets out to encompass nothing less than the whole of Goethe’s vast poetic drama Faust Chorus Chorus and Children's Chorus of (part I and II). the Bayerische Staatsoper Conductor Omer Meir Wellber Unlike Gounod’s more familiar version, Boito’s opera focuses not just on the Stage Director Roland Schwab human tragedy of Faust’s callous seduction of the innocent Margherita (Goethe’s Gretchen) but also on the original poem’s more metaphysical conflict between Mefistofele René Pape Good and Evil. Thus, at the start, we see Mefistofele betting God that he can tempt the old philosopher Faust into the ways of sin, while, at the end, we witness Faust the devil’s defeat as the disillusioned and dying Faust finally has a fleeting vision Margherita Kristine Opolais of happiness and is redeemed. Marta Heike Grötzinger Wagner Andrea Borghini Making his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper with Munich’s first ever staging Elena of Boito’s masterpiece, director Roland Schwab (a protégé of the legendary Ruth Pantalis Rachael Wilson Berghaus) plays devil’s advocate by setting the opera in what looks like a garbage- strewn nightclub that then transforms into a geriatric hospital ward, by way of a Nerèo Joshua Owen Mills drunken detour to Munich’s own Oktoberfest. Is Hell, then, simply the hell-on- earth that passes for the modern world? Produced by Metis Film Video Director Tiziano Mancini Singing “with clear, strong lines” (Deutschlandradio Kultur), René Pape plays Mefistofele as the sardonic leader of a satanic cult. As Faust, his slave, Maltese shot in tenor Joseph Calleja “hits his high notes with formidable vigour” (Financial Times). Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais’s Margherita “shines with understated ULTRA HD Grace Kelly elegance” (Opera Today), while as Elena – the fabled Helen of (3840 × 2160) Troy – Armenian soprano Karine Babajanyan “shines with heroic high notes” A production of UNITEL CLASSICA (Süddeutsche Zeitung). Finally, in the pit, Israeli conductor Omer Meir Wellber in cooperation with Bayerische Staatsoper “holds all the musical textures together with admirable control” (BR Klassik).

Length: approx. 140' Cat. no. A 050 50272

Photos: Wilfried Hösl

15

Charles Castronovo Ildar Abdrazakov Irina Lungu Vasilij Ladjuk

conducted by Gianandrea Noseda

staged by Stefano Poda Teatro Regio Torino CHARLES GOUNOD OPERA

CHARLES GOUNOD

By placing a giant black ring centre-stage that casts an ominous shadow over the singers and dominates the action, director, set and costume designer Stefano Poda has moved the storyline of the restless searcher Faust, to an abstract, seemingly futuristic Orchestra Orchestra and Chorus hall, thereby ensuring that the most fascinating stage moments of the Teatro Regio Torino are not due only to sophisticated lighting. Conductor Gianandrea Noseda Stage Director Stefano Poda Thanks to the excellent and enthusiastic cast, Poda deftly guides the opera to triumph. in the Doctor Faust Charles Castronovo title role is especially convincing, with his brilliant acting and Méphistophélès Ildar Abdrazakov mellifluous singing. Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov – a regular in Marguerite Irina Lungu all major opera houses around the world – stars as the demonic Valentin Vasilij Ladjuk Méphistophélès. As the innocent young girl Marguerite we see Siébel Ketevan Kemoklidze Moldovan soprano Irina Lungu, who demonstrates her ability Wagner Paolo Maria Orecchia with crystal-clear timbre. Charles Castronovo Marthe Samantha Korbey In the orchestra pit, incumbent since 2007, is General of the Teatro Regio in Turin, Gianandrea Noseda, who Ildar Abdrazakov Produced by Metis Film has ventured to take on this operatic jewel for the first time. He Video Director Irina Lungu Tiziano Mancini directs the orchestra of Teatro Regio Torino with finely nuanced Vasilij Ladjuk and musical suspense. shot in Premiered in Paris in 1859, the opera enjoyed instant success. Today, Charles Gounod’s Faust is one of the most popular works conducted by ULTRA HD in the French opera repertoire. Goethe’s tragedy in two parts (3840 × 2160) serves as the foundation, while Michael Carré’s French version Gianandrea Noseda Faust et Marguerite, provided Gounod with the impetus for his A production of UNITEL CLASSICA musical rendition of the text. staged by in co-production with Fondazione Teatro Regio Torino Stefano Poda Length: 179' Cat. no. A 000 50025 Teatro Regio Torino

Photos: Teatro Regio Torino/Ramella & Giannese

17 THEODORA Katherine Watson Stéphanie d’Oustrac Kresimir Spicer Les Arts Florissants conducted by William Christie staged by Stephen Langridge Théâtre des Champs-Élysées GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL THEODORA OPERA Katherine Watson GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Stéphanie d’Oustrac THEODORA Philippe Jaroussky Orchestra Les Arts Florissants Handel’s own favourite amongst his English oratorios, Theodora tells of Kresimir Spicer Conductor William Christie the tragic fate of two early Christian converts in Roman-ruled Antioch. Stage Director Stephen Langridge Boasting some of the composer’s finest musical inspirations – not least Les Arts Florissants the last-act duet in which the two doomed lovers embrace martyrdom with almost erotic fervour – Theodora proved a surprising failure at its Theodora Katherine Watson conducted by William Christie 1750 premiere, receiving only three performances and being Irene Stéphanie d'Oustrac revived just once before its composer’s death. As Handel himself wryly staged by Stephen Langridge Didymus Philippe Jaroussky observed: “The Jews will not come to it because it is a Christian story; Septimius Kresimir Spicer and the ladies will not come because it is a virtuous one.” Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Valens Callum Thorpe That Theodora is now recognized as one of the most sublime and Produced by CLC moving creations of Handel’s final years is largely due to the passionate Video Director Olivier Simonnet advocacy of William Christie, who here directs his peerless period- instrument ensemble Les Arts Florissants for this new production at A co-production of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, marking the work’s stage debut in France, Théâtre des Champs-Èlysées and CLC Productions Paris, the city where the US-born harpsichordist-conductor has lived with the participation of Radio France and UNITEL CLASSICA since 1971. and the support of CNC Directed with “luminous simplicity” (Artistik Rezo) by Stephen Length: approx. 180' Langridge, son of the tenor Philip Langridge, this powerful and uplifting Cat. no. A 010 50040 production transforms its historical story into a “timeless yet terribly current” (France TV Info) plea for freedom of conscience and religious tolerance in contemporary society.

The starry cast is led by young British soprano Katherine Watson, instilling the title-role with her “vocal bloom, emotional depth and beguiling phrasing” (New York Times), and leading French counter- tenor Philippe Jaroussky, bringing his “seraphic timbre” (Les Echos) to the role of Didymus, the Roman centurion who sacrifices himself in a vain attempt to save her. “The voices of Watson and Jaroussky were completely at one with the orchestra, growing out of it, melting with it in perfect harmonic expression” (Bachtrack). Croatian tenor Kresimir Spicer adds “a beautiful performance” (Le Figaro) as Didymus’s conflicted friend Septimius.

Photos: Vincent Pontet

19 AdriAn JAninA dAnielA ileAnA Eröd baEcHlE sindram tonca

EngElbErt HänselHumpErdinck undGretel

conducted by staged by adrian noblE AdriAn JAninA dAnielA ileAnA Eröd baEcHlE sindram tonca OPERA

EngElbErt HänselHumpErdinck ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK und Based on one of the best-loved stories by the Brothers Grimm, and UND with a libretto by his sister, Engelbert Humperdinck’s fairy-tale opera HÄNSEL GRETEL Hänsel und Gretel began life as a private entertainment for his own family before being presented to the wider world as a “Christmas gift” in 1893. An instant success – presented in over 50 German theatres Gretel Orchestra Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper within a year of its premiere – it soon became one of the most- Conductor Christian Thielemann performed operas in the world and has remained enduringly popular Stage Director Adrian Noble with both children and adults ever since. And, like all the best treats, it’s not just for Christmas! Peter, a broom-maker Adrian Eröd The secret of its lasting success lies, of course, not just in the delicious Gertrud thrills and spills of the familiar story – with its recognizably realistic child Hänsel Daniela Sindram heroes, its grotesquely comical, yet genuinely terrifying witch and its Gretel Ileana Tonca comfortingly happy-ever-after ending – but also in its magical musical Sandman and Dew Fairy Annika Gerhards mix of memorable folksong-inspired melodies and wonderfully rich and colourful orchestration. The latter brilliantly synthesizes the influences Video Director Agnes Méth of both , whom Humperdinck had assisted on the Bayreuth premiere of , and , who conducted A production of ORF and UNITEL CLASSICA Hänsel und Gretel’s Weimar premiere, declaring it “a masterpiece of conducted by cHristian tHiElEmann in co-production with ZDF/Arte the highest quality (…) all of it original, new and authentically German”. in cooperation with Wiener Staatsoper Mahler was another admirer. staged by adrian noblE In bringing the work back to the Wiener Staatsoper for its first new Length: 113' production since World War II – inventively directed by Adrian Noble, Cat. no. A 040 50047 former Artistic Director of Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company – it’s no surprise that, as one of today’s most admired interpreters of both Wagner and Strauss, German conductor Christian Thielemann should particularly relish the musical echoes of those composers’ works in Humperdinck’s score. In Opera magazine’s words, “He polished all these moments with refinement and subtlety, inspiring the Staatsopernorchester to play with energy, engagement and transparence.” Other reviews were equally ecstatic, praising both the orchestra’s “fabulously resplendent and silky playing” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) and Thielemann’s “concern for an elegantly flowing musical line (…) and for a lightness and transparency that allow this noble music to sparkle in manifold ways” – in short, the whole performance was “musically exceptional (…) a miniature miracle in sound” (Wiener Zeitung).

Photos: Michael Pöhn

21 NICCOLÒ JOMMELLI IL VOLOGESO

SEBASTIAN KOHLHEPP | SOPHIE MARILLEY ANA DURLOVSKI | HELENE SCHNEIDERMAN conducted by GABRIELE FERRO staged by JOSSI WIELER & SERGIO MORABITO NICCOLÒ JOMMELLI IL VOLOGESO OPERA

NICCOLÒ JOMMELLI The successful duo of Jossi Wieler und Sergio Morabito have rediscovered a Baroque gem in Niccolò Jommelli’s opera Il Vologeso. Their exciting staging, relocated to the present day, delighted both IL VOLOGESO the audience and the press: “theatrical subtlety wherever one looked, Orchestra Staatsorchester Stuttgart highly sensitive characterization throughout” (BR Klassik). Conductor Gabriele Ferro Born in Naples in 1714, Niccolò Jommelli was in his day a superstar Chorus Staatsopernchor Stuttgart among composers. In the course of his life he set some 80 librettos, Chorus Master Johannes Knecht nearly 30 of them during his time as at the court of Stage Director Jossi Wieler & Sergio Morabito Baden-Württemberg, where and his father Leopold made Jommelli’s acquaintance on their tour of western Lucio Vero Sebastian Kohlhepp Europe. Today Jommelli is acknowledged as a precursor to the Viennese Vologeso Sophie Marilley Classical school thanks to his relaxed approach to the typically rigid Berenice Ana Durlovski recitative-aria structure of the Baroque era. Lucilla Helene Schneiderman In 1699 the writer and scholar Apostolo Zeno created one of the most Flavio Catriona Smith powerful stories for the European opera stage with his libretto Lucio Aniceto Igor Durlovski Vero. During the battle against the Parthians, Lucio Vero, co-regent of the Roman emperor Marc Aurel, has fallen in love with Berenice, Produced by FAVO Film Queen of Armenia and the fiancée of his rival Vologeso, who is believed Video Director Marcus Richardt dead. But Vologeso is alive. And the emperor’s daughter Lucilla is not willing to relinquish her claim on her fiancé Lucio Vero … A co-production of FAVO Film, UNITEL CLASSICA For this, the first staged performance ofIl Vologeso for more than 200 and Staatsoper Stuttgart in cooperation with SWR and ARTE concert years, a strong cast has been assembled. Sebastian Kohlhepp as Lucio Vero, Sophie Marilley as Vologeso, Ana Durlovski as Berenice, Helene Schneiderman as Lucilla, Catriona Smith as Flavio and Igor Durlovski as Length: 183' Aniceto all bring the story of Vologeso to life again with their captivating Cat. no. A 050 50237 SEBASTIAN KOHLHEPP | SOPHIE MARILLEY and beautiful singing. ANA DURLOVSKI | HELENE SCHNEIDERMAN Gabriele Ferro, conducting the State Orchestra, transforms Jommelli’s music into great waves of emotion with his differentiated and thrilling conducting style. conducted by GABRIELE FERRO staged by JOSSI WIELER & SERGIO MORABITO

Photos: A.T. Schaefer

23 PIETRO MASCAGNI CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO PAGLIACCI JONAS KAUFMANN LIUDMYLA MONASTYRSKA ANNALISA STROPPA AMBROGIO MAESTRI

SÄCHSISCHE STAATSKAPELLE DRESDEN CONDUCTED BY CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN

STAGED BY PHILIPP STÖLZL SALZBURG EASTER FESTIVAL PIETRO MASCAGNI CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA OPERA

Santuzza Liudmyla Monastyrska Turiddu Jonas Kaufmann Lucia Stefania Toczyska Alfio Ambrogio Maestri Lola Annalisa Stroppa

RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO PAGLIACCI

Nedda Maria Agresta Canio Jonas Kaufmann Tonio Dimitri Platanias Beppe Tansel Akzeybek Silvio Alessio Arduini “Opera as Great Romantic Cinema”, wrote the Salzburger Nachrichten about the two one-act operas Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, which Orchestra Staatskapelle Dresden proved real crowd-pullers and ensured record attendances at the Easter Conductor Christian Thielemann Festival. No wonder, for “Jonas Kaufmann, for whom it was in both cases Chorus Staatsopernchor Dresden his role debut, was on stellar form twice” (Daily Telegraph). “Kaufmann sings Salzburger Bachchor both parts so lyrically, with such italianità, mellow with impeccable highs, Salzburger Festspiele & as to be a pure delight.” (Kurier) Equally impressive are Thielemann – “the Theater Kinderchor uber-conductor” (Telegraph) – and the Dresdeners, who “take time for Chorus Master Jörn H. Andresen sensitive, melodious soul portraits, while delivering consummate drama Stage Director Philipp Stölzl at just the right moment. What we hear from the pit is sensational in its Video Director nuances.” (Kurier) The scene is set by film and opera director Philipp Stölzl, contributing to the A production of UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with ORF, 3sat and ZDF performance’s huge fascination: Stölzl divides the stage into several levels, in cooperation with Salzburg Easter Festival staging crowd scenes below, private feelings above – the latter projected with filmic close-ups – doubling and trebling the action. Length: 161' Productions like this, insists Kurier, “simply must be described as world- Cat. no. A 040 50042/3 class”. “Thrilling” concludes the Telegraph.

Photos: Andreas J. Hirsch

25 WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART LE NOZZE Anett Fritsch Martina Janková DI FIGARO Adam Plachetka Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Dan Ettinger staged by Sven-Eric Bechtolf OPERA

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART When he wrote , Mozart created an unforgettable work about love and desire, about the primal force LE NOZZE of uncontrollable passion. Director Sven-Eric Bechtolf presents this storm of emotions to the Salzburg Festival in the very model DI FIGARO of an English stately home of the 1920s, inspired no doubt by the setting and furnishings of the fictional Downton Abbey. Orchestra Wiener Philharmoniker Conductor Dan Ettinger In a parallel staging worthy of the cinema, the nobility and their Chorus Konzertvereinigung servants live side by side in a world of their own, ensuring fast- Wiener Staatsopernchor paced action derived precisely from the libretto, the game of Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger love that never fails to entertain. Stage Director Sven-Eric Bechtolf The young conductor Dan Ettinger is fascinating for the great musical sensibility with which he directs an attractive young Il Conte Almaviva Luca Pisaroni cast that is not only altogether convincing vocally but absolutely La Contessa Almaviva Anett Fritsch ready to grace the screen. And it is those very singers – “the Susanna Martina Janková sweet-voiced, appealing soprano Martina Janková”, “the alluring Figaro Adam Plachetka soprano Anett Fritsch” and “the charismatic bass- Cherubino Margarita Gritskova Luca Pisaroni” (New York Times) – who capture our hearts. It all Marcellina Ann Murray sounds so full of life and so finely judged as it is being played out Don Bartolo Carlos Chausson on stage. At the end, Luca Pisaroni’s vocally impressive Count Don Basilio approaches his melancholy Countess (Anett Fritsch) with a glass Don Curzio Franz Supper of champagne and a plea for pardon. “The waves of applause have already begun, for Bechtolf extends Da Ponte’s ‘corriam Produced by Metis Film tutti a festeggiar’ almost as an invitation to the audience, which Video Director Tiziano Mancini indeed joins in the festivities with gusto.” (Die Presse)

shot in The concluding work of the Da Ponte trilogy succeeds as a great evening of opera in the hands of Sven-Eric Bechtolf with the ULTRA HD Vienna Philharmonic. Simply marvellous Mozart music from (3840 × 2160) Mozart’s birthplace.

A co-production of UNITEL CLASSICA and Servus TV in cooperation with Salzburg Festival and Wiener Philharmoniker

Length: 192' Cat. no. A 040 50050

Photos: Ruth Walz

27 LaBelle HÉLÈNE

Jun-Sang Han Peter Galliard Viktor Rud Philharmoniker Hamburg conducted by Gerrit Prießnitz

staged by Renaud Doucet Staatsoper Hamburg

28 JACQUES OFFENBACH

LaBelle OPERA HÉLÈNE

Orchestra Philharmoniker Hamburg Jacques Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène (The Beautiful Helen) has Conductor Gerrit Prießnitz always been one of its composer’s most successful works. With Stage Director & Choreographer Renaud Doucet characteristic acuity, Offenbach saw the foibles of his age and Set & Costume Designer André Barbe turned what he saw into a mordant satire. Not for a moment did his Second Empire audience think that his characters – the Pâris Jun-Sang Han love-struck Helen, her dotty husband Ménélas, her lascivious Ménélas Peter Galliard lover Paris, the doltish soldiers Ajax and Achilles, the corrupt Hélène Jennifer Larmore high priest Calchas or the good-for-nothing spendthrift Orestes Agamemnon Viktor Rud – were Greek heroes. It is human beings with all their foibles and Oreste Rebecca Jo Loeb vices who are the butt of a manic parody. Offenbach’s librettists, Achille Dovlet Nurgeldiyev Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, were men after his own heart, Ajax premier Sergiu Saplacan firing off one witty barb after another in the form of outrageous Ajax deuxième Benjamin Popson puns, ridiculous rhymes and onomatopoeic nonsense. Calchas Christian Miedl Bacchis Anat Edri Adopting a pro-active stance, director Renaud Doucet and designer André Barbe treat the piece as a “great show” with Produced by FAVO Film numerous choreographic elements, relocating the action of Video Director Marcus Richardt Offenbach‘s classical spoof and setting it on a cruise ship in the 1960s, when Flower Power, love and drugs were all the rage. A production of FAVO Film on behalf of NDR in cooperation with ARTE and UNITEL CLASSICA “La Belle Hélène is a firework display for ears and eyes” (Hamburger Morgenpost), “opulent and amusing” (Bild), and in Length: 117' the title role Jennifer Larmore convinces with her “fantastic Cat. no. A 050 50232 vocal performance” (Das Opernglas).

Photos: Klaus Lefebvre

29 JACQUES OFFENBACH Les Contes d’Hoffmann Kerstin Avemo ∙ Mandy Fredrich ∙ Rachel Frenkel ∙ ∙ Michael Volle Wiener Symphoniker ∙ conducted by Johannes Debus staged by Stefan Herheim OPERA

JACQUES OFFENBACH “The opera visit of the year – Bregenz is showing a Tales of Hoffmann that makes you forget everything you saw before.” (FAZ) LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN Sparkling with creativity, Stefan Herheim’s new staging of Jacques ( – Hoffmanns Erzählungen) Offenbach’s opera Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Tales of Hoffmann) at the Bregenz Festival, was received by an enthusiastic audience with standing ovation and frenetic applause. The international press agreed wholeheartedly: The New York Times praised the Orchestra Wiener Symphoniker “thoughtfulness and creativity” of the new production, devised by Conductor Johannes Debus the director as a search for one’s own self in a sparkling drag show. Chorus Philharmonic Choir Chorus Master Lukáš Vasilek The story of Hoffmann the poet and philosopher, who cannot write without alcohol and cannot live without love, tells of his past affairs Stage Director Stefan Herheim with various women and his search for love, which can never be fulfilled. Olympia/Giulietta Kerstin Avemo Antonia/Giulietta Mandy Fredrich Conductor Johannes Debus leads the through Muse/Nicklausse/Voice from the grave Rachel Frenkel the evening with verve. A “shining-toned” (NYT) Hoffmann Hoffmann Daniel Johansson is embodied by tenor Daniel Johansson in the title role. He is supported by a fantastic cast: “Rachel Frenkel is positively ideal Lindorf/Coppélius/Luther/Miracle/Dapertutto Michael Volle as Muse and Niklausse” (Kurier), Kerstin Avemo as Olympia Spalanzani Bengt-Ola Morgny is “endowed with brilliant, cheekily extemporized coloraturas” Crespel Ketil Hugaas (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), Michael Volle sings the parts of Lindorf, Andrès/Cochenille/Frantz/Pitichinaccio Christophe Mortagne Coppélius, Dr. Miracle and Dappertutto, “the work’s four villains, with warmth and intensity” (NYT) and Mandy Fredrich is a “finely- Video Director Felix Breisach phrased Antonia” (Kurier).

A co-production of ORF, tpc and UNITEL CLASSICA Herheim risks a lot and wins everything, making this production into in cooperation with Bregenz Festival a thoroughly accomplished and truly thrilling operatic experience, which draws us in so strongly “that we hardly dare take breath until Length: 174' the world of the drunken genius and desperate lover lies utterly in Cat. no. A 040 500 51 ruins”, adds the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the Süddeutsche Zeitung joined in: “A stroke of genius, a milestone in the history of staging this work”! If you need proof, that Bregenz’s Opera Awards for “Festival of the Year” is justified, don’t look any further.

Photos: Karl Forster

31 GIACOMO PUCCINI TURANDOT

MLADA KHUDOLEY ∙ RICCARDO MASSI MICHAIL RYSSOV ∙ Manuel von Senden

WIENER SYMPHONIKER CONDUCTED BY PAOLO CARIGNANI

STAGED BY MARCO ARTURO MARELLI OPERA

GIACOMO PUCCINI “Melodies for millions, impressively staged” – the Bregenz Festival TURANDOT creates a fabulous open-air event from Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot on the world’s largest lakeside stage, thereby bringing “a bit Orchestra Wiener Symphoniker of Hollywood to Bregenz” (ZDF heute journal TV news programme). Conductor Paolo Carignani Great stage shows before the breathtaking backdrop of Chorus Prague Philharmonic Choir are taken for granted at the greatest lakeside arena. Yet “seldom has Bregenz Festival Choir such a spectacle as this been seen, even in Bregenz” pronounced the Chorus Masters Lukáš Vasilek Stuttgarter Zeitung. To mark its 70th anniversary, the “Festival of the Benjamin Lack Year” (Opera Awards) presents a stunning new production of Puccini’s Stage Director & Set Designer Marco Arturo Marelli last opera Turandot, featuring pyrotechnics, stunts, acrobats, dragons and a 72-metre-long Great Wall of China that rears proudly to a height Turandot Mlada Khudoley of up to 27 metres (90 feet) from the water, dominating the set. But Altoum Manuel von Senden “opera at its best has always been spectacle with a brain. And nowhere Timur Michail Ryssov is that marriage of seriousness and showmanship pursued more openly The Unknown Prince (Calaf) Riccardo Massi than at the Bregenz Festival” according to the The New York Times. Liù Ping Andrè Schuen Director and set designer Marco Arturo Marelli impressively presents Pang Taylan Reinhard the story of the cold-hearted Chinese princess Turandot as a finely Pong Cosmin Ifrim honed parable on pathos, love and cruelty. As the orchestra strikes A Mandarin Yasushi Hirano up the first bars fortissimo, Marelli succeeds in producing “the most spectacular stage coup,” according to the Abendzeitung of Munich, Video Director Felix Breisach when the Great Wall of China collapses amid a deafening uproar to reveal an army of terracotta warriors. These soldiers are then witness A co-production of to what must be the most famous aria in the entire history of opera, ORF, SWR, SRF, 3sat, tpc and UNITEL CLASSICA “Nessun dorma”, which Riccardo Massi “thrillingly belts out” as in cooperation with Bregenz Festival Calaf “in the manner of Pavarotti” (Nürnberger Nachrichten). He is

Length: 123' accompanied by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under the musical Cat. no. A 040 50045 direction of Paolo Carignani. Mlada Khudoley is the heartless Princess Turandot and Operalia prizewinner Guanqun Yu the loving and devoted slave Liù. Nevertheless, the “magnetism of vocal and orchestral sound” (Der Tagesspiegel) does not fully exert its pull on us until the battle of the sexes in which Turandot and Calaf meet and their love finally triumphs.

Photos: / Karl Forster

33 LA GAZZETTA Nicola Alaimo • Hasmik Torosyan • Vito Priante • Raffaella Lupinacci

Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna conducted by

staged by Marco Carniti GIOACHINO ROSSINI

LA GAZZETTA OPERA Nicola Alaimo • Hasmik Torosyan • Vito Priante • Raffaella Lupinacci

GIOACHINO ROSSINI LA GAZZETTA

Orchestra Orchestra e Coro del Teatro The event that takes place annually in Rossini’s birthplace, praised by press Comunale di Bologna and public for its witty stagings even of Rossini’s less well known works, has landed on its feet: with La gazzetta, the has Conductor Enrique Mazzola triumphed once again! Stage Director Marco Carniti A real “singfest” enthused , while Online Musik Magazin Don Pomponio Storione Nicola Alaimo wrote of “frenetic applause” – the new production of Gioachino Rossini’s Lisetta Hasmik Torosyan seldom performed opera La gazzetta, ossia Il matrimonio per concorso Filippo Vito Priante (The Newspaper, or The Marriage Competition) at the 2015 Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro proved to be a musical triumph. The Orchestra del Teatro Doralice Raffaella Lupinacci Comunale di Bologna responded splendidly to the young Italian conductor Anselmo Dario Shikhmiri Enrique Mazzola: as “one of the most gifted artists of his generation, he is Alberto Maxim Mironov not only a faithful interpreter of the score, he sends the orchestra of the Madama La Rose Josè Maria Lo Monaco Teatro di Bologna – and his audience too – into a veritable Rossini delirium” Monsù Traversen Andrea Vincenzo Bonsignore (Deutschlandfunk). Tommasino Ernesto Lama The musical comedy based on Carlo Goldoni’s play Il matrimonio per concorso has lost none of its appeal almost two centuries after its 1816 Produced by Metis Film premiere in the Teatro dei Fiorentini. A newly-rich merchant places Video Director Tiziano Mancini newspaper advertisements to find a suitable husband for his daughter, which leads to amorous entanglements and in the end to two happy couples. shot in Director Marco Carniti stages his colourful production in the Paris of the 1950s, in a well-judged distillation of Rossini’s ironic social criticism: “the ULTRA HD (3840 × 2160) direction of Marco Carniti has intelligently focused on the ironic dimension of a somewhat confused libretto” (Huffington Post). Nicola Alaimo A production of UNITEL CLASSICA embodies the nouveau-riche Don Pomponio Storione in every muscle: in co-production with Rossini Opera Festival “he has confirmed his admirable dramatic qualities, with evidence of an unsuspected physical agility” (Huffington Post). Pesaro debutante Hasmik Length: 156' Torosyan stands out as Lisetta (Deutschlandfunk). Tenor Maxim Mironov as A productionCat. ofno. UNITEL A 000 CLASSICA 50033 Alberto is another star of the production: “His big aria in Act II proved one in co-production with Rossini Opera Festival of the musical highlights of the evening.” (Online Musik Magazin)

Length: approx. 155' Cat. no. A 000 50033

shot in

ULTRA HD (3840 × 2160)

Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna conducted by Enrique Mazzola staged by Marco Carniti

Photos: Studio Amati Bacciardi

35

CARLO COLOMBARAAIDA | ANITA RACHVELISHVILI | KRISTIN LEWIS | FABIO SARTORI CONDUCTED BY | STAGED BY OPERA

GIUSEPPE VERDI Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece Aida at in Milan is an experience in itself. Consequently, a new production of Aida is an event barely to be surpassed, especially when performed before a notoriously critical audience of La Scala. With AIDA his unpretentious and lucid new interpretation of the opera, directorial legend Peter Stein succeeds in delivering a production acclaimed in equal measure by the Orchestra Orchestra and Chorus press and public: “a perfect coup de theatre” (Giornale della musica). of the Teatro alla Scala Conductor Zubin Mehta Indeed, he breathes new life into Giuseppe Verdi’s romantic drama about power, Stage Director Peter Stein passion, jealousy and death: the Nubian Princess Aida, who is unfortunate enough to find herself in prison in Egypt, is secretly in love with the leader of the army, The King Carlo Colombara Radamès. He however has been promised in marriage to the Egyptian king's Amneris Anita Rachvelishvili daughter Amneris, who also loves him. The secret love affair between Aida and Aida Kristin Lewis Radamès is uncovered and fate takes its course ... Radamès Fabio Sartori A “stellar cast” (La Stampa) contributes to the production’s success under the Ramfis Matti Salminen musical direction of Verdi specialist Zubin Mehta. “The entire ensemble is brilliant Amonasro George Gagnidze in its portrayal of the characters” (Die Presse), especially the American soprano A Messenger Azer Rza-Zada Kristin Lewis in the title role. Anita Rachvelishvili gives a wholly The High Priestess Chiara Isotton credible reading of the jealous Amneris, as does George Gagnidze as a restrained and resolute Amonasro, with Produced by Metis Film Fabio Sartori as the warrior Radamès who is the object Video Director Tiziano Mancini of both women’s affections. Carlo Colombara as a dignified Pharaoh and Matti Salminen as the shot in High Priest who demands respect round off the persuasive and eminently well cast ensemble.

ULTRA HD “Applaus for an Aida minus sphinx and pyramids (3840 × 2160) but nevertheless played in a spectacular and A production of elegant ambience” (Rai Radio 1). Servus TV and UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with Fondazione Teatro alla Scala

Length: 151' Cat. no. A 000 500200

Photos: Brescia-Amisano

37 Giuseppe Verdi

Kristin Lewis AnitA rAchveLishviLi MArco Berti MArK s. Doss conDucteD By GiAnAnDreA noseDA stAGeD By wiLLiAM FrieDKin

teAtro reGio torino GIUSEPPE VERDI Originally commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Suez Canal and the opening of Cairo’s new opera house, Verdi’s Egyptian epic Aida is here seen in a spectacular new staging specially mounted by the Teatro Regio Torino to celebrate the re-opening of Turin’s historic AIDA Museo Egizio, home to the world’s largest collection of Egyptian OPERA antiquities outside of the Cairo Museum. Orchestra Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Regio Torino Conducted by the Teatro Regio’s Music Director, Gianandrea Noseda Conductor Gianandrea Noseda – one of the world’s finest Verdians and Musical America’s Conductor Stage Director William Friedkin of the Year 2015 –, Turin’s authentically Egyptian staging is directed in true Hollywood style by the Oscar-winning American film director William Friedkin, creator of such famous movies as The Exorcist and The Aida Kristin Lewis French Connection. Amneris Anita Rachvelishvili Radamès Marco Berti Aida is perhaps best-known for the sonic splendour of its famous Amonasro Marc S. Doss “Triumph” Scene – a rousing military march-past, complete with Ramfis Giacomo Prestia onstage “Egyptian trumpets”. But Verdi’s grandest opera is also The King In-Sung Sim amongst his most intimate, focusing as it does upon the private A Messenger Dario Prola emotions experienced by the three victims of a tragic love-triangle: A High Priestess Kate Fruchtermann Radamès, Egypt’s victorious general, and the two rival princesses who adore him, the Pharaoh’s daughter Amneris and her Ethiopian slave Aida. Produced by Metis Film Video Director Tiziano Mancini Amongst the first-rate cast, critics singled out the American soprano shot in Kristin Lewis, who exhibits “a remarkable voice, which she uses with powerful dramatic instinct” (La Stampa), and the Georgian mezzo- soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, whose Amneris “dominates the stage ULTRA HD with her dark, rounded, irrestistible voice and extraordinary stage (3840 × 2160) presence” (La Gazzetta Musicale). A production of Fondazione Teatro Regio Torino in cooperation with UNITEL CLASSICA And all were united in praise of Noseda: “he controls everything – orchestra, singers, chorus, dancers, acrobats – with an all- Length: approx. 150' encompassing overview” (La Stampa); “he knows exactly when it’s Cat. no. A 000 50035 time to linger over a timbre, a colour, an expressive chord” (Corriere della Sera); “he draws from the score colours of a rare beauty, creating magnificent carpets of sound” ResMusica ( ); and, in the final scene in particular, “he resolves the expressive contrasts and the vocal- instrumental dialogue with remarkable dramatic insight and orchestral refinement” La( Repubblica).

Photos: Teatro Regio Torino/Ramella & Giannese

39 L a

TraviataGIUSEPPE VERDI

Olga Peretyatko ∙ Atalla Ayan Simone Piazzola ∙ Christine Daletska conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado staged by Rolando Villazón L a L a OPERA

TraviataGIUSEPPE VERDI

GIUSEPPE VERDI Orchestra Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble Star tenor and director Rolando Villazón has staged probably Verdi’s Traviata Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado best known masterpiece in colourful, lively and emotion-packed form Chorus Balthasar-Neumann-Chor at the Festspielhaus in Baden Baden, so he made for “an enthusiastic Stage Director Rolando Villazón reception for the premiere” (Stuttgarter Zeitung)! Villazón’s signature, both as singer and director, is unmistakable. He made his international breakthrough as Alfredo Germont and now, 10 years later, the Violetta Valéry Mexican-born singer has produced a Traviata full of energy, attention Olga Peretyatko ∙ Atalla Ayan Alfredo Germont Atalla Ayan to detail and even a hint of melancholy. Giorgio Germont Simone Piazzola Simone Piazzola ∙ Christine Daletska Flora Bervoix Christine Daletska Villazón chooses an unusual approach by relocating the action of Gastone, Vicomte de Létorières Emiliano Gonzalez Toro the great and tragic love affair between Alfredo and the courtesan conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado Baron Douphol Tom Fox Violetta to the colourful and noisy world of the circus (scenery by Marquis d’Obigny Konstantin Wolff Johannes Leiacker). Alfredo and Violetta’s love affair is recalled anew Annina Deniz Uzun in flashbacks as Violetta’s distant memories. A trapeze artist portrays the opposing parallel worlds in Violetta’s life. staged by Rolando Villazón Dr. Grenvil Walter Fink “The setting and opulence of the stage captivates the spectator, as do the stylized costumes designed by Thibault Vancraenenbroeck A co-production of for circus artists”, the Stuttgarter Zeitung explains approvingly. Olga UNITEL CLASSICA and SWR/Arte in cooperation with Festspielhaus Baden-Baden Peretyatko as Violetta delivers “a fantastic portrait of the title role wavering between adolescent joie de vivre, mature insight and anguish” (Stuttgarter Zeitung). Her partner is the young Brazilian tenor Atalla Length: approx. 140' Ayan as the jealous Alfredo, who delivers a “beguiling interpretation Cat. no. A 050 50236 with a dark, warm timbre and rich top notes” (Stuttgarter Zeitung). Simone Piazzolla as Alfredo’s strict father Giorgio Germont adds fine vocal lines to provide a strong sense of “Italianità” on stage (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). Directing the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble is the young Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado.

Photos: Andrea Kremper

41 RICHARD WAGNER TANNHÄUSER PETER SEIFFERT PETER MATTEI PETER SONN RENÉ PAPE

STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN CONDUCTED BY DANIEL BARENBOIM

STAGE DIRECTION & CHOREOGRAPHY BY SASHA WALTZ

STAATSOPER IM SCHILLERTHEATER RICHARD WAGNER OPERA RICHARD WAGNER TANNHÄUSER

Orchestra Staatskapelle Berlin Conductor Daniel Barenboim Chorus Staatsopernchor Berlin Chorus Master Martin Wright Stage Direction & Choreography Sasha Waltz

Tannhäuser Peter Seiffert Wolfram von Eschenbach Peter Mattei Walther von der Vogelweide Peter Sonn TANNHÄUSER Hermann, Landgrave of Thuringia René Pape Biterolf Tobias Schabel PETER SEIFFERT PETER MATTEI Heinrich der Schreiber Jürgen Sacher Reinmar von Zweter Jan Martiník “A real feast of music! Where to begin, where to end with PETER SONN RENÉ PAPE Elisabeth, the Landgrave's niece Ann Peterson praise for this Tannhäuser at the Berlin Staatsoper in the Venus Marina Prudenskaya Schillertheater? It sounds the way one has always dreamt of it STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN A young shepherd Sónia Grané but all too rarely heard it”, reported the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung with considerable enthusiasm. This was due above all to CONDUCTED BY DANIEL BARENBOIM Video Director Vincent Bataillon Barenboim’s musical magic: “It is with nuance and fine balance that Richard Wagner’s music now rises from the orchestra pit” A production of Bel Air Media in co-production with (FAZ), borne aloft by brilliant singers. Peter Seiffert in particular STAGE DIRECTION & CHOREOGRAPHY BY Mezzo and UNITEL CLASSICA as Tannhäuser celebrates a true “triumph”, according to the SASHA WALTZ in association with France Télévisions Süddeutsche Zeitung. Length: 192' Staged by choreographer Sasha Waltz on a fantastic stage by STAATSOPER IM SCHILLERTHEATER Cat. no. A 050 50163 Pia Maier Schriever with a circular tunnel of light in the manner of Hieronymus Bosch, the Berlin Tannhäuser deserves to be described as “world-class” (Süddeutsche Zeitung).

Photos: Bernd Uhlig

43 DER FREISCHÜTZ Michael König ∙ Georg Zeppenfeld ∙ ∙ Sara Jakubiak

Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Christian Thielemann

staged by Axel Köhler CARL MARIA VON WEBER DER FREISCHÜTZ OPERA Michael König ∙ Georg Zeppenfeld ∙ Albert Dohmen ∙ Sara Jakubiak

Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Christian Thielemann CARL MARIA VON WEBER “Mortal terror from the orchestra pit, Thielemann is in command of every detail. That makes for utterly gripping listening,” wrote the Financial Times. It is not often that such a musically exciting Freischütz as staged by Axel Köhler DER FREISCHÜTZ the one which Christian Thielemann recently conducted on the rostrum of the Sächsische Staatskapelle is heard at Dresden’s Semperoper. At Orchestra Staatskapelle Dresden the head of what Wagner called his “miraculous harp”, Thielemann in his Conductor Christian Thielemann function as GMD dares to take on Carl Maria von Weber’s most famous opera, thereby continuing the musical tradition, since Weber was for Chorus Staatsopernchor Dresden many years from 1817 royal kapellmeister and director of the German Chorus Master Jörn H. Andresen Opera at the Dresden court theatre. What a great honour, considering Stage Director Axel Köhler that Weber, along with Wagner and Strauss are seen as revered icons of the Dresden Staatskapelle. Max Michael König Kaspar Georg Zeppenfeld Der Freischütz was the most important work in the history of German Kuno, a hereditary forester Albert Dohmen opera after Mozart and Beethoven and prior to Wagner. Popular tunes, Agathe, Kuno's daughter Sara Jakubiak choruses of peasants and hunters, countryside vistas and ghostly scenes Ännchen – evoked in innovative orchestral colours – create effective contrasts, all brought together in recurring tonal elements and a uniform ambience. Fürst Ottokar Adrian Eröd Furthermore, the richly layered tonal shading of Der Freischütz is a Kilian Sebastian Wartig precursor to Wagner’s operas. It is for instance no coincidence that Hermit Andreas Bauer Wagner himself described Weber as one of his few predecessors. In turn, Thielemann is confident: “There would be no Wagner if it were not Produced by Metis Film for the Wolf’s Den!” Video Director Tiziano Mancini This production’s cast was top-drawer, even in the minor roles, a shot in veritable singing festival: “Michael König’s sullen Max has a gloriously free upper register and heroic weight; Sara Jakubiak makes a sweet- ULTRA HD toned, melancholic Agathe,” enthused The Financial Times. Georg (3840 × 2160) Zeppenfeld is a perfect addition to the cast: “Georg Zeppenfeld’s svelte-voiced, nihilistic Kaspar hits the mark” (Die Welt). Adrian Eröd as Prince Ottokar is quite simply “wonderful”, while Christina Landshamer A co-production of UNITEL CLASSICA sings the soubrette Ännchen “with enchantingly innocent traces and Semperoper Dresden of humanity,” Die Presse reports. “Bass-bombastic” is how Die Welt describes the Hermit Andreas Bauer. Length: 149' Cat. no. A 050 50235 “A small Dresden miracle,” aptly concludes Die Presse in its review of this production, while the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper agrees that: “this was a bull’s eye for Dresden.”

Photos: Matthias Creutziger

45 CONCERTS

CZECH PHILHARMONIC & JULIA FISCHER CONDUCTED BY ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK In Nature’s Realm – Concert Overture, Op. 91 BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ Concerto No. 2 in G minor, H. 293 for Solo Violin in G minor, Op. 11 No. 6, 3rd movement Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, “Pastoral Symphony” This concert was a quite special occasion for Julia Fischer displayed exceptional talent for the Czech and Fischer, who was presented with the Martinů Medal of Slav repertoire. It was a serious matinee, at which Fischer the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation following the concert brought out virtuoso ornamentation seldom to be heard in the Rudolfinum in Prague. Julia Fischer had just thrilled in this context.” Such was the admiring press comment. her audience with her interpretation of Martinů’s Violin Fischer’s solo performance was the centrepiece of Concerto. a concert that also featured works by Dvořák and “Technically everything was perfect with the utmost Beethoven, which wonderfully portray the world of fullness of sound. Thanks to her rich and full sound, nature. which she deployed with great taste and imagination,

Length: 99' A production of Czech Television and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 985 50006 0000 in collaboration with Czech Philharmonic

GRAFENEGG FESTIVAL – MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S GALA , Mezzo-Soprano ∙ PIOTR BECZALA, Tenor ∙ JULIA FISCHER, Violin TONKÜNSTLER-ORCHESTER conducted by YUTAKA SADO “Aural pleasure at the Wolkenturm” is how the Kurier A potpourri of lovely melodies from the world of opera, newspaper described it, referring to the “top-flight and the concert hall, which brought praise summer night’s gala from Grafenegg”, taking place from the audience and from the Wiener Zeitung: “Piotr in the picturesque open air ambience of Grafenegg, Beczala’s wonderful operetta top notes, Elisabeth Lower . Under the artistic overall direction of Kulman’s rich mezzo and Julia Fischer’s graceful violin Rudolf Buchbinder the Grafenegg Festival has playing with her refined reading of catchy Spanish tunes” blossomed into a benchmark event for all the top stars are the ingredients for an unmatched evening recital in on the classical music scene. Grafenegg.

Length: 74' A co-production of ORF and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 045 50049 0000 in cooperation with Grafenegg Festival

THE ODEONSPLATZ CONCERT "SPANISH NIGHT" JULIA FISCHER, Violin SYMPHONIEORCHESTER DES BAYERISCHEN RUNDFUNKS conducted by PABLO HERAS-CASADO The ballet music “El sombrero de tres picos” by Spain’s Concerto performed by star violinist Julia Fischer, that , with its three dances that characterize shows clear signs of Spanish influence in the rhythm and three Spanish regions, opened the lively proceedings melody. The musicians rounded off this Spanish night in in the open air. It was complemented by the Iberian Munich with ’s homage to Spain, “Ibéria”, influences in the other works written by composers and ’s “”. outside Spain, such as Prokofiev’s Second Violin

Length: 83' A production of BR Cat. no. A 055 50445 0000 in co-production with UNITEL CLASSICA

46 Photo: Petra Hajská Photo: Petra

JULIA FISCHER Photo: Ludwig Schedl

HOLLYWOOD IN VIENNA CONCERT

HOLLYWOOD IN VIENNA A TRIBUTE TO JAMES NEWTON HOWARD with DANIELA FALLY, LOUISE DEARMAN, FRANTIŠEK JÁNOŠKA, INSINGIZI & FRIENDS et al. ORF VIENNA RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA conducted by KEITH LOCKHART “Hollywood in Vienna” is an annual symphonic gala the fabulous world of Alice in Wonderland the programme, concert celebrating classic and current masterpieces of true to its motto “Tales of mystery”, sets out for film music and honouring each year one of today’s leading mysterious places and wondrous tales. film music composer. The second part of the concert is dedicated to James In the first part of this edition of the concert, the ORF Newton Howard, multi-award winning composer of film Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton scores such as Batman Begins, Pretty Woman and The of Keith Lockhart takes you away on a magical mystery Hunger Games. The press raved: “Goosebumps, tears and tour, full of eerily-beauty and musical delight. From the standing ovations!” (Kurier) eccentric Addams Family in their Victorian Mansion, to

Length: 96' A production of BOFM Cat. no. A 045 50053 0000 in cooperation with Axis/DP, ORF III and UNITEL CLASSICA

MOZARTWOCHE SALZBURG ANDRÁS SCHIFF & CAPPELLA ANDREA BARCA LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, D 485 WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in E flat major, KV 482 The programme opens with Beethoven’s First Piano note to the last in creating a sound world that flooded Concerto: “Sensitively supported by the rich and supple the mind’s eye with images” (Drehpunkt Kultur). The tone of the strings, Schiff’s pianistic virtuosity explores climax of the concert is the Mozart Piano Concerto the length and breadth of Beethoven’s early work”, was No. 23. “Schiff here demonstrates his skill in pianistic the admiring verdict of the Salzburg press. Schiff again interpretation and in conducting, nuanced, passionate, a succeeds in Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 “from the first sensitive revelation”, enthused the press.

Length: 109' A co-production of Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg Cat. no. A045500450000 and UNITEL CLASSICA

MOZARTWOCHE SALZBURG & MARC MINKOWSKI W. A. MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, KV 488 / No. 5 in A major, KV 219 FRANZ SCHUBERT Symphony No. 8 in C major (4th movement), D 944 THIBAULT NOALLY, Violin FRANCESCO CORTI, Fortepiano The Salzburg Mozart Week – arranged by the Mozarteum Concerto and his Piano Concerto in A major are played on foundation, the trustees of Mozart’s musical legacy – is instruments that were once in the composer’s possession. always offering something unique: under the direction In Franz Schubert’s Great C major Symphony, the of the principal conductor and artistic director of the culmination of this wonderful evening, “Minkowski and Salzburg Mozart Week, Marc Minkowski, the Musiciens the Musiciens du Louvre are entirely in their element” du Louvre perform on not one but two of Mozart’s (Wiener Zeitung). original instruments! Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin

Length: 76' A co-production of Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg Cat. no. A 045 50046 0000 and UNITEL CLASSICA

49 RED RIBBON CELEBRATION CONCERT BUILDING BRIDGES FOR PEACE with , KRISTINE OPOLAIS, ELENA MAXIMOVA, JUAN DIEGO FLÓREZ, PIOTR BECZAŁA, , YUSIF EYVAZOV, GREGORY PORTER TONKÜNSTLER-ORCHESTER conducted by YUTAKA SADO Now, in its fourth year, the Red Ribbon Celebration Quasthoff, Yusif Eyvazov and Kristine Opolais as well as Concert has become an integral part of the world the jazz singer Gregory Porter perform an extraordinary famous Vienna Life Ball Weekend, one of the biggest concert according to the motto “Building Bridges for fund-raising events to further the cause of those living Peace”. From Porter’s hit Water under Bridges to a with HIV or AIDS. Staged in the legendary Burgtheater, humorous interpretation of Franz Lehar’s Dein ist mein the concert assembles a line-up of stars which reads like ganzes Herz by Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov, the the who is who of classical music. Anna Netrebko, Juan stars where celebrated with “only bravos” (Salzburger Diego Flórez, Piotr Beczała, Elena Maximova, Thomas Nachrichten).

Length: 57' A production of Life Ball in cooperation with Interspot Film Cat. no. A 045 50048 0000 for ORF III and UNITEL CLASSICA

ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE DU LUXEMBOURG – THE INAUGURAL CONCERT GYÖRGY LIGETI Concert Românesc Symphony No. 1 in D major, “Titan” Live from the Grand Auditorium of Luxembourg’s orchestrated pieces he achieved a complete success, stunning new Philharmonie – universally acclaimed by exhibiting sovereign control of both subtle details and musicians, critics and audiences alike for its outstanding surging climaxes.” (ResMusica) Thanks to his conducting acoustics – rising star Gustavo Gimeno presents his style the “natural talent” (NRC Handelsblad) is now being inaugural concert as music director of the grand duchy’s compared with such podium giants as his own mentor, prestigious Philharmonic Orchestra. : “There stands a real conductor, Chailly In this concert he directs an artfully balanced Austro- with his right hand and Abbado with his left, calm, cool Hungarian programme of post-Romantic works. “In his and collected” (Het Parool). uncommonly transparent readings of complex, subtly

Length: approx. 75' A production of UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 515 50001 0000

THE CARL NIELSEN GALA CARL NIELSEN Hymnus amoris / Clarinet Concerto / Symphony No. 4, ”The Inextinguishable“ KLARA EK, Soprano ∙ DAVID DANHOLT, ADAM RIIS, Tenor ∙ TORSTEN NIELSEN, Baritone JOHAN KARLSTRÖM, Bass ∙ OLLI LEPPÄNIEMI, Clarinet DANISH NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA conducted by JUANJO MENA Carl Nielsen was unquestionably Denmark’s most The programme features the Clarinet Concerto, Nielsen’s important composer, commanding great respect already last and one of his most famous orchestra works, which during his lifetime throughout Scandinavia. Now known soloist Olli Leppäniemi executes with verve and virtuosity, to the rest of the world he is counted among the world’s and also his Fourth Symphony, “The Inextinguishable”. greatest. The Koncerthuset in marked the The concert’s opener is the early cantata Hymnus Amoris composer’s 150th anniversary with a grand gala under – an expression of love offered to his wife by the young the musical direction of Juanjo Mena, in the presence of composer – paying homage to love in all its light and Queen Margarethe herself. shade with compelling intensity.

Length: 90' A production of Cat. no. A 905 50003 0000 Danish Broadcasting Corporation

50 Photo: Fritz Novopacky Photo: Fritz

ANNA NETREBKO the Prokofiev Marathon Photo: Philharmoniker/Andrea Huber Photo: Philharmoniker/Andrea

MUNICH PHILHARMONIC MARIINSKY ORCHESTRA the Prokofiev Marathon valery GerGiev THE PROKOFIEV MARATHON CONCERT

This suite of five concerts at Munich's Philharmonic Hall history and modern age. All of Prokofiev’s piano concertos performed by the Orchestra, the are complemented by works of the German musical Mariinsky Orchestra and several soloists, forms part of literature. Such a compilation appeals to the audience the MPhil 360° Festival. The MPhil 360° Festival is a – the press raved: “The interpretations [of the five piano new festival which marks the beginning of Valery Gergiev's concertos] were so different, that an extremely enlightening collaboration with the Munich Philharmonics. portrait of Prokofiev came off“, not least “the new maestro Core of the program of the festival’s first edition are the five was shining with the Munich Philharmonics” (SZ). piano concertos of Prokofiev which enter into a dialogue with

PART I PART II HERBERT SCHUCH, Piano DENIS MATSUEV, Piano MARIINSKY ORCHESTRA MARIINSKY ORCHESTRA (Cat. no. A055505170000 – Length: approx. 80') (Cat. no. A055505180000 – Length: approx. 70')

SERGEI PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 1 in D flat major, Op. 10 Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16 further programme: further programme: SERGEI PROKOFIEV CARL MARIA VON WEBER Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25, “Classical Symphony” Overture from Der Freischütz, “Invitation to the Dance”, Op. 65, Symphony No. 82 in C major, “Bear Symphony” arr. for orchestra byHector Berlioz

PART III PART IV BEHZOD ABDURAIMOV, Piano ALEXEI VOLODIN, Piano MUNICH PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA PELAGEYA KURENNAYA, Soprano (Cat. no. A055505190000 – Length: approx. 60') MARIINSKY ORCHESTRA (Cat. no. A055505200000 – Length: approx. 90') SERGEI PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 SERGEI PROKOFIEV further programme: Piano Concerto (for the left hand) No. 4 MAX REGER in B flat major, Op. 53 Four Tone Poems after Arnold Böcklin, Op. 128 further programme: “Tanja – Katja”, Romance in Folk Style for Woman’s Voice and String Orchestra PART V KARL AMADEUS HARTMANN OLLI MUSTONEN, Piano Simplicius Simplicissimus, Suite JÖRG WIDMANN, Clarinet RODION SHCHEDRIN MUNICH PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 “Naughty Limericks” (Cat. no. A055505210000 – Length: approx. 85')

SERGEI PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 5 in G major, Op. 55 A production of CLC and Medici.tv in association with UNITEL CLASSICA further programme: JÖRG WIDMANN “Con Brio”, Concert Overture for Orchestra Cat. no. A 555 50037 0000 WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Clarinet Concerto in A major, KV 622

53 AT THE CONCERT

STAGE AND SCREEN – A TRIBUTE TO LEONARD BERNSTEIN LOUISE DEARMAN, LUCY SCHAUFER, SCARLETT STRALLEN, JULIAN OVENDEN, Vocals JOHN WILSON ORCHESTRA ∙ MAIDA VALE SINGERS conducted by JOHN WILSON John Wilson and his orchestra are an annual Proms symphonic orchestra and big jazz band, and streetwise highlight, bringing the glitz and glamour of stage and Maida Vale Singers for a tribute to the composer Leonard screen to the Royal Albert Hall. A starry cast of soloists Bernstein, that includes Bernstein’s biggest hits as well as including Proms favourite Julian Ovenden (fresh from a selection of rarities. Downton Abbey) and the West End’s Louise Dearman “An evening of highlight after highlight. 5 out of 5 stars!” join the John Wilson Orchestra, a clever combination of (Evening Standard)

Length: 107' A BBC production Cat. no. A 025 50147 0000 in association with John Wilson Orchestra and UNITEL CLASSICA

ANDRÁS SCHIFF – THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS Sir András Schiff brings Bach’s monumental work for Hall was András Schiff, who made no concessions to solo keyboard to the Royal Albert Hall and delivers a the capacity crowd: this was all about Bach’s astonishing spellbinding account of the Goldberg Variations. “Schiff’s variations. Schiff’s “command and awareness of the playing was buoyant and dazzling in a performance that smaller-scale architectures were just as impressive as underlined the cogency and integrity of his approach to his mastery of the whole 30-variation span“ wrote The this monumental work” stated . Telegraph. Alone at the piano in the vastness of the Royal Albert

Length: approx. 80' A BBC production Cat. no. A 020 50082 in association with UNITEL CLASSICA

WEST-EASTERN DIVAN ORCHESTRA PLAY & CONDUCT DANIEL BARENBOIM Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 9 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56 PYOTR I. TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 GUY BRAUNSTEIN, Violin · KIAN SOLTANI, Violoncello The orchestra’s London appearance, as part of the 120th- technical challenges in an interpretation of overwhelming anniversary Proms season, marked a significant date for energy and power” (The Guardian), while Beethoven’s Barenboim himself: he was celebrating 65 years (less a Triple Concerto could almost serve as a paradigm for day) since making his debut in his native Buenos Aires. the orchestra’s egalitarian ethos where Barenboim and His programme cleverly contrasts the anti-Romantic his partners “offered urbane poise, ideally suited to this terseness and crystalline beauty of Schoenberg’s relaxed, airily melodic work” (The Telegraph). Chamber Symphony – “a taut, rhythmic performance Visibly shocked by the storm of applause, Barenboim with a fine sense of dramatic momentum” Evening( was coaxed into giving not just one but three encores – Standard) – with the tempestuous emotionalism of Sibelius’s dreamy Valse triste, Glinka’s thrilling Ruslan and Tchaikovsky’s opus, where “the orchestra rose to all Ludmila overture and a playful tango by José Carli.

Length: approx. 145' A co-production of BBC and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 025 50146 0000

55 THE SIBELIUS CYCLE CONDUCTED BY SIR Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39 (40') Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43 (47') Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52 (30') Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63 (40') Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 82 (32') Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 104 (35') Symphony No. 7 in C major Op. 105 (54') For the recent major London residency of the Berliner “High-voltage Sibelius kicks off Rattle’s London Philharmoniker at the Barbican Sir Simon Rattle has Residency” raved the press consequently over the chosen music that means most to him, the complete cycle opening of the cycle. The Telegraph agreed: “Sibelius’s of Sibelius symphonies in honour of the 150th anniversary symphonies sounded thrillingly new in the hands of of the composer’s birth: “Sibelius is so concentrated and Simon Rattle and the Berlin Phil”, in a way, that “a great exact. With Sibelius you feel that if one drop touches your orchestra and conductor can make familiar music seem skin it would burn right through the bone.“ the hottest thing in town”.

Length: 243' A production of BBC , Berliner Philharmoniker and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 025 50145 0000 in co-production with ZDF for Arte

MOZART & HAYDN CONDUCTED BY SIR SIMON RATTLE WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Concertante in E flat major, KV 364 JOSEPH HAYDN “Une symphonie imaginaire”, a pasticcio arranged by Simon Rattle , Violin AMIHAI GROSZ, At this summer’s Lucerne Festival, Sir Simon Rattle and Rattle takes us back to the birth hour of creation, lets the the Berliner Philharmoniker presented a new Haydn earth quake, unleashes the stormy sea as well as its lovely symphony that never existed before: Rattle gathered waves, and, above all, shows the allegedly conservative together ten of the most original and avant-garde-like “Papa Haydn” as an odd bird who astounds his audience in instrumental movements by Joseph Haydn to fashion a the final movements of his symphony. In addition to this “Symphonie imaginaire,” a new Haydn symphony that astonishing Haydn pasticcio, Rattle conducted Mozart’s never existed before. Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola and orchestra.

Length: 90' A production of Music Cat. no. A 955 50009 0000 in co-production with ZDF/Arte in association with the Lucerne Festival and UNITEL CLASSICA

56 Photo: Mark Allan

SIR SIMON RATTLE HK GRUBER & MAHLER CONDUCTED BY HK GRUBER Aerial – Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor HÅKAN HARDENBERGER, Trumpet Mahler’s Fifth is among the best loved of his symphonies; a racing start, too: the “master trumpeter” (Berliner not least thanks to the Adagietto, made legendary as the Zeitung) Håkan Hardenberger carried the audience with soundtrack to Visconti’s Death in Venice. Andris Nelsons him in HK Gruber’s trumpet concerto Aerial. After all on the rostrum of the the Berliner Philharmoniker his showpiece: the composer wrote this BBC Proms made this symphony into “a true celebration of beauty commission specially for him. “Hardenberger, the and the phenomenal Philharmonic string sound” wrote virtuoso supersonic, thrills his audience through and in Der Tagesspiegel delight. The concert got off to through.” (Berliner Morgenpost)

Length: 113' A production of Berlin Phil Media Cat. no. A 055 50446 0000 and UNITEL CLASSICA

BARTÓK, SHOSTAKOVICH & RAVEL CONDUCTED BY MARISS JANSONS BÉLA BARTÓK Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 129 MAURICE RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé , Violin As head of two world-class orchestras, the Royal (Süddeutsche Zeitung). For Shostakovich’s 2nd Violin Concertgebouw and the Symphonieorchester des Concerto Jansons and the Berliner Philharmoniker are Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons is one of the joined by the German violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann. leading conductors of his generation. For this special Jansons spreads out a finely shaded soundscape for the concert he brings works by Bartók, Shostakovich and Ravel violinist, who in his turn returns the compliment with to the rostrum and together with the “musical intelligence and violinistic furore” (Süddeutsche he succeeds in “rocking the Berlin Philharmonie” Zeitung).

Length: 99' A production of Berlin Phil Media Cat. no. A 055 50447 0000 and UNITEL CLASSICA

58 Photo: Monika RittershausPhoto: Monika

ANDRIS NELSONS Photo: AFP - C. Platiau

PHILHARMONIE DE PARIS CONCERT

BACH & MENDELSSOHN CONDUCTED BY JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH in D major, BWV 243 BARTHOLDY Psalm 42 “Wie der Hirsch schreit”, Op.42 / Christmas Cantata “Vom Himmel hoch” / “Christus”, Op. 97 (The Birth of Christ) ANNA LUCIA RICHTER, Soprano · MARIANNE CREBASSA, Mezzo-soprano · , Alto WERNER GÜRA, Tenor · CHRISTIAN IMMLER, Baritone Thomas Hengelbrock and the teamed Following this, the musicians draw the attention of up to perform one of the most brilliant works of European the audience to the content and structural parallels church music: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat. between Bach and Felix Mendelssohn, who has rendered This opus is a musical setting of the biblical canticle outstanding services to the revivification of the interest Magnificat, which is one of the most ancient Christian in music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The musicians hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn, frequently delight the audience with the Psalm 42 and the Christmas sung liturgically in Christian church services. Cantata, two compositions full of religious fervor.

Length: approx. 95' A co-production of CLC Productions, Orchestre de Paris and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 015 50043 0000 in cooperation with ARTE France and the support of CNC

ESCAICH, WIDMANN & SAINT-SAËNS CONDUCTED BY PAAVO JÄRVI THIERRY ESCAICH Organ Improvisation JÖRG WIDMANN Viola Concerto (World Premiere) CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, “Organ Symphony” THIERRY ESCAICH, Organ · ANTOINE TAMESTIT, Viola The spectacular new Rieger organ of the Philharmonie The new organ with close to 7000 handmade pipes, 15 de Paris is inaugurated with solo, ensemble, and meters high and 20 meters wide, with 91 stops on four symphonic works starring Paavo Järvi at the rostrum manuals and pedal specially designed for the symphonic of the Orchestre de Paris and Thierry Escaich, Titular repertory, is heard for the first time at this festive Organist and with that successor of Maurice Duruflé at performance. Paris Saint-Étienne-du-Mont.

Length: approx. 110' A co-production of CLC Productions, Orchestre de Paris and UNITEL CLASSICA with the participation of ARTE France and medici.tv and the support of CNC Cat. no. A 015 50042 0000

BARTÓK CONDUCTED BY ESA-PEKKA SALONEN BÉLA BARTÓK Dance Suite / Concerto for two , Percussion and Orchestra / Concerto for Orchestra KATIA LABÈQUE & MARIELLE LABÈQUE, Piano · CAMILLE BASLÉ & ÉRIC SAMMUT, Percussion Live from the awe-inspiring new Philharmonie de sensory voyage (...) with precise phrasing and incredible Paris, the French capital’s elite orchestra performs a flexibility (...) an irresistible feeling for timbre, tightrope- programme devoted to the endlessly fascinating music of walking accents, acoustic spaces, instrumental breathing Béla Bartók. On the podium is Esa-Pekka Salonen, one (...) rhythmic agility, range of sensitive colours, humour of the composer’s truly authoritative interpreters. and irony, brilliance, luminosity, moments of astonishing This concert was hailed as “revelatory” by the leading sweetness. The Orchestre de Paris soared and surpassed French journal Diapason, “a unique expressive and itself. Salonen is clearly a unique artist.”

Length: approx. 95' A co-production of CLC Productions, Orchestre de Paris, Mezzo Cat. no. A 015 50041 0000 and UNITEL CLASSICA and the support of CNC

61 SHOSTAKOVICH, TCHAIKOVSKY & STRAVINSKY CONDUCTED BY DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 107 PYOTR I. TCHAIKOVSKY , Suite The Firebird, Suite YO-YO MA, Violoncello This remarkable concert led by designated Chief The three-part suite from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Conductor Daniele Gatti marks the return of master cellist Nutcracker being enormously popular, partly as a result of Yo-Yo Ma (after twenty years) to the Concertgebouw the Disney film Fantasia and Stravinsky’s Firebird, which, Orchestra. In this season opening night they perform with his phenomenal orchestration, is evoking an exotic Shostakovich’s intense First Cello Concerto, which and often brooding atmosphere. bears witness to the strained relationship between the “After twenty years, this is a unique opportunity to work composer and the Soviet authorities. together with the wonderful RCO again – very special Maestro Gatti juxtaposes the concerto with two indeed!” (Yo-Yo Ma) successful works from the great Russian dance tradition:

Length: 99' A co-production of Cat. no. A 865 50023 0000 RCO and UNITEL CLASSICA

SHOSTAKOVICH & SIBELIUS CONDUCTED BY ANDRIS NELSONS JEAN SIBELIUS Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93 ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER, Violin “Stradivari on eight cylinders” was the headline for the Zeitung with admiration. “It can be played differently, rich cornucopia of sound that Anne-Sophie Mutter but not better.” (Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung) poured out with the Sibelius Violin Concerto. “Her Mutter’s violin concerto is wonderfully complemented Stradivari lets her sing the arches of melody with warm by Shostakovich’s 10th, in which Nelsons truly triumphs: vibrato and lends real fire to her double-stopping; she “World-class, these exponents from Amsterdam” was stages great leaps as soaring stairways to heaven or the verdict of the Südwest Presse. headlong descents to hell”, reports the Süddeutsche

Length: 103' A co-production of Cat. no. A 865 50021 0000 RCO and UNITEL CLASSICA

MARISS JANSONS – THE FAREWELL CONCERT GUSTAV MAHLER “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” MARTIJN PADDING Ick seg adieu (World premiere) AARON COPLAND “Old American Songs” BÉLA BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116 , Baritone For one last time, Mariss Jansons - who will bear the title capacity. The final performance assisted by Thomas of conductor emeritus as of now - descends down the red Hampson is part of the AAA Festival based on the theme carpeted stairs of the Great Hall as Principal Conductor “Origins – Folk Art as Inspiration”, an adventurous series of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. After his exploring composers inspired by folk music. resignation, this concert turnes out to be his last in this

Length: 92' A co-production of Cat. no. A 865 50022 0000 RCO, NHK, Mezzo and UNITEL CLASSICA

62 Photo: Anne Dokter Photo: Dokter Anne

YO-YO MA BARTÓK & SHOSTAKOVICH CONDUCTED BY ANDRIS NELSONS BÉLA BARTÓK Violin Concerto No. 1, Sz. 36 DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60, “Leningrad” , Violin In this concert evening the Royal Concertgebouw Soviet citizens who died during the Great Patriotic War. Orchestra and Andris Nelsons turn their attention to Furthermore, star violinist Janine Jansen performs the Seventh Symphony of Shostakovich. The work, Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 1, a work which had to which Shostakovich wrote during the Germans’ siege wait fifty years after it was written, in 1958, for its first of Leningrad, is a symbol of resistance against the performance. Nazi regime and a musical testament to the millions of

Length: approx. 100' A co-production of Cat. no. A 865 50024 0000 RCO and UNITEL CLASSICA

“BREAKING NEWS” JOHN ADAMS CONDUCTS JOHN ADAMS JOHN ADAMS Tromba Lontana / Doctor Atomic Symphony / Scheherazade.2 (Premiere) LEILA JOSEFOWICZ, Violin Composer–conductor John Adams is known the world instrumental works, as in his new violin concerto over as a pioneering composer of operas based on current Scheherazade.2, written for Leila Josefowicz. Moved by and recent historical events. TV footage of oppressed and abused women, Adams Adams has distilled a turbulent symphony from his opera juxtaposes the masculine power of the orchestra with a Doctor Atomic, in which Robert Oppenheimer, the strong woman, an empowered Scheherazade: “This one hits ‘father of the atomic bomb’, filled with excitement and back!” Tromba Lontana is a short, gentle fanfare marking doubt, anticipates the very first atomic bomb test in 1945. the 150th anniversary of the declaration of independence He also draws inspiration from current events in his with which Texas seceded from Mexico in 1836.

Length: approx. 100' A co-production of Cat. no. A 865 50026 0000 RCO and UNITEL CLASSICA

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: CHRISTMAS ORATORIO (CANTATAS I – III) JUDITH VAN WANROIJ, Soprano · ELISABETH KULMAN, Alto FABIO TRÜMPY, Tenor · YORCK FELIX SPEER, Bass conducted by JAN WILLEM DE VRIEND The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s annual buoyant tempi and opts for the jubilant opening chorus’s Kerstmatinee (Christmas Day matinee) has become a original and more apt text, “Tönet, ihr Pauken” (Timpani beloved holiday tradition, yet this concert was the first resound! Trumpets ring out!). The elite orchestra’s matinee the occasion has been dedicated entirely to players are joined by a superb 28-voice chamber choir, Bach’s inspirational Christmas Oratorio. In presenting this Cappella Amsterdam, and international soloists. As the historically informed performance of the first three parts, Evangelist, Swiss tenor Fabio Trümpy “was a fabulously Baroque specialist Jan Willem de Vriend adopts suitably beautiful story-teller” (Het Parool).

Length: approx. 80' A co-production of Cat. no. A 865 50025 0000 RCO and UNITEL CLASSICA

64 Photo: Christina Chouchena

JANINE JANSEN CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN

Photo: Matthias Creutziger CONCERT

BRUCKNER & BEETHOVEN CONDUCTED BY CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 ANTON BRUCKNER Symphony No. 6 in A major YEFIM BRONFMAN, Piano Bruckner’s music has played a central role in Thielemann’s and clarity. It could hardly have been better!” relationship with the Staatskapelle; he launched each Beethoven’s Piano Concerto featured one of today’s new concert season with a Bruckner symphony - now the outstanding keyboard virtuosos, the Soviet-born Israeli- Sixth, this recording of which completes Thielemann’s American pianist Yefim Bronfman, in a performance cycle of the mature Bruckner symphonies. marking the start of his residency as the Staatskapelle’s For the Sächsische Zeitung this performance marked “Capell-Virtuos”. In the words of the Dresdner Neueste “another Bruckner triumph for Dresden” by revealing“ Nachrichten: “He has music ‘in his fingertips’ (…) ‘High the greatness of the work with a rarely heard transparency School’ of piano playing.”

Length: approx. 100' A production of UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 055 50459 0000 in cooperation with Semperoper Dresden

ANTON BRUCKNER: SYMPHONY NO. 9 CONDUCTED BY CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN Bruckner’s Ninth – presented in the unfinished version made for his Ring of the Nibelung. As an avowed fan of in three movements – calls for no fewer than four Wagner, Bruckner included them in several of his works. “Wagner tubas” at the beginning and end of the Adagio, Thielemann now lets them sound at full volume. The press an instrument which Richard Wagner had specially verdict: “a musical and spiritual event”.

Length: 66' A production of UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 055 50454 0000 in cooperation with Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

ANTON BRUCKNER: SYMPHONY NO. 4, "ROMANTIC" CONDUCTED BY CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN Conductor Christian Thielemann lives up to his name yet which Bruckner had only accepted as a stopgap so that again as a “Bruckner specialist” (Klassik Akzente). the work could easily be performed. The Fourth Symphony is given in the presumed original Thielemann brings out the tone painting very vividly in version recovered by Robert Haas. This version differs Baden-Baden: “These are tone paintings of the finest considerably from the first, effectively published score, quality”, wrote one reviewer enthusiastically.

Length: 75' A production of UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 055 50453 0000 in cooperation with Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

67 FESTIVE ADVENT CONCERT AT THE FRAUENKIRCHE DRESDEN LUCA PISARONI, SONYA YONCHEVA, SAMUEL KUMMER CONDUCTED BY Since the first of these annual events in 2000, when His soloists are rising-star soprano Sonya Yoncheva, the magnificent Frauenkirche was still a building site “charismatic” (New York Times) bass-baritone Luca – destroyed during World War II, it was painstakingly Pisaroni, and the organist and “sound artist” (Stuttgarter reconstructed out of the ruins – the Advent Concert has Zeitung) Samuel Kummer. become a new holiday tradition in Dresden, to be enjoyed Beginning in a blaze of glory with the opening chorus from by music lovers throughout the world. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, the thoughtfully compiled That appeal is reflected in the concert’s lineup of artists. programme features seasonally appropriate selections This time they are headed by renowned Scottish maestro by Handel, Seidel, Weber, Mendelssohn, Humperdinck, Donald Runnicles, featured “in the solid, German Gounod and Reger. “A thrilling concert, festive, ambitious repertoire which is his chief glory” (Financial Times). and impressively filmed.” Sächsische( Zeitung)

Length: 58' A production of ZDF in co-prodution with UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with Staatskapelle Dresden Cat. no. A 055 50463 0000 and Stiftung Frauenkirche Dresden

MOZART PIANO CONCERTOS NOS. 20, 21 & 27 PLAY & CONDUCT RUDOLF BUCHBINDER WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor / Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major / Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major The Austrian piano virtuoso Rudolf Buchbinder, widely his earlier works, while at the same time paving the way acclaimed for his technical perfection, is also a known for the Romantic Era. expert for Mozart. Together with the Staatskapelle The concert was recorded in Dresden in an unique Dresden he plays and conducts three of Mozart’s most setting, which matched not only the musical perfection, beloved piano concertos. Both No. 20 and No. 21 were but also the first ultra-high definition recording of this written by Mozart in the fruitful year of 1785 and are work: right inside the Gläserne Manufaktur, a luxury car counted among his first major symphonic concertos. No. manufactory in the heart of Dresden, a stage was set up 27, Mozart’s last piano concerto, is full of references to next to the assembly line with glass walls and oak floors.

shot in Length: approx. 90' A production of UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with ZDF/Arte Cat. no. A 055 50451 0000 ULTRA HD in cooperation with Staatskapelle Dresden (3840 × 2160)

68 Photo: Frank Höhler

FESTIVE ADVENT CONCERT AT THE FRAUENKIRCHE DRESDEN ESA-PEKKA SALONEN & ALICE SARA OTT

Photo: Astrid Ackermann CONCERT

HILLBORG, GRIEG & SIBELIUS CONDUCTED BY ESA-PEKKA SALONEN ANDERS HILLBORG “Eleven Gates” Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 JEAN SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 82 ALICE SARA OTT, Piano This concert by the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen evening, with the Piano Concerto by the Norwegian Rundunks has an entirely Scandinavian theme. Under the Edvard Grieg. The orchestra rises to the challenge with aegis of Finnish-born Esa-Pekka Salonen the orchestra the impressive final work, the great Fifth Symphony by begins the recital with “Eleven Gates”, a work of sound- Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, a performance marking painting by the contemporary Swedish composer Anders his 150th birthday “that no one who was present will ever Hillborg. Alice Sara Ott provides the focal point of the forget.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Length: 90' A co-production of BR and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 055 50433 0000

WEBERN & SHOSTAKOVICH CONDUCTED BY ANTON WEBERN “Im Sommerwind” Idyll for Orchestra, after a poem by Bruno Wille DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141 Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink begins the musical It is followed by Dmitri Shostakovich’s 15th Symphony. programme at the rostrum of the Symphonieorchester This orchestral work, written in the summer of 1971, is des Bayerischen Rundfunks with Anton Webern’s early often considered as a review of the composer’s own life: In and seldom played orchestral work “Im Sommerwind”. his last symphony, Shostakovich places allusions to works This “idyll” for large orchestra – composed in 1904 and of himself and quotes masterly music by Rossini, Glinka, officially premiered decades after Webern’s death – is Mahler and Wagner. The moved audience “reflected on surprisingly tonal and shows another side to the 20th- the great riddles and ambiguities that only art offers” tz( ). century modernist.

Length: 91' A co-production of BR and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 055 50434 0000

BEETHOVEN & NIELSEN CONDUCTED BY LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60 CARL NIELSEN Symphony No. 5, Op. 50 The Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt is a Blomstedt directs the orchestra in two symphonies that phenomenon – as he approaches his 88th birthday, he could scarcely be less alike: The musicians play Ludwig is one of the oldest conductors in the world. And yet: on van Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony and Symphony No. 5 the rostrum he embodies such a vitality and energy, that by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen with concentrated he at once enthralls his musicians as well as his audiences. intensity, honouring Nielsen in his 150th anniversary year.

Length: 73' A co-production of BR and UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 055 50449 0000

71 DANIEL BARENBOIM & MARTHA ARGERICH

Photo: Guido Adler/DG CONCERT

MARTHA ARGERICH & DANIEL BARENBOIM PIANO DUOS AT THE TEATRO COLÓN Six Studies in the Form of Canons for Pedal Piano, Op. 56 (arr. Claude Debussy) CLAUDE DEBUSSY En blanc et noire, L 134 BÉLA BARTÓK Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Sz. 110 The return to their native city of Martha Argerich and Martha and Daniel the master-architect” (Buenos Aires Daniel Barenboim – two childhood friends from Buenos Herald) – but also of two different instruments: while Aires, born just a year apart, who both grew up to become Argerich was playing a “standard” Steinway, her duo global superstars – proved an unforgettable evening of partner presented his brand-new “Barenboim”, custom- pianistic magic. “Coexistence”, as symbolisation of the made for him and modelled on Liszt’s piano. The result festival motto, was in terms not just of two musical parts was an amazing performance “in which two very individual coming together in the hands of two very different yet ways of playing united (…) to turn every interpretation equally distinctive artistic personalities – “the mercurial into something unforgettable” (Página|12).

Length: approx. 70' A Production of UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 835 50006 0000

BEETHOVEN & TCHAIKOVSKY CONDUCTED BY DANIEL BARENBOIM LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 19 PYOTR I. TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 In the course of their Buenos Aires residency Barenboim none of her magical tone or perfect articulation” (Buenos and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra together with Aires Herald). In Tchaikovsky’s emotionally tempestuous “honorary member of the Divan” Martha Argerich, gave Symphony No. 4 – in which the composer confronts the “a concert that proved to be the hottest ticket in the challenge of fate, – Barenboim’s reading “rose to all the festival.” (Página|12). Opening with Beethoven’s Piano big moments” (Buenos Aires Herald). Concerto No. 2, the orchestra confirmed that “it is, As a surprise encore, Argerich and Barenboim played a simply, one of the great orchestras in the world today” two-piano arrangement of the sweetly nostalgic Bailecito (Página|12) , while “Argerich proved again that she has lost by their compatriot Carlos Guastavino.

Length: approx. 100' A Production of UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 835 50007 0000

“CONCERT FOR UNDERSTANDING OF CIVILIZATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS” CONDUCTED BY DANIEL BARENBOIM WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Symphony No. 39 in E flat major, KV 543 / Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV 550 / Symphony No. 41 in C major, KV 551 In order to celebrate the declaration of the “Human The imposing setting of the Human Rights Hall at the Rights” Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Palace of Nations, which houses the Miquel Barceló Orchestra perform an all-Mozart programme at the dome, provides a stunning backdrop for the music of heart of the United Nations in in the presence Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in this concert that aimes at of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban promoting peace efforts around the world and highlights Ki-moon. The performance featured Wolfgang Amadeus the principles contained in the Universal Declaration. Mozart’s last three Symphonies, No. 39, No. 40 Great G minor symphony, and No. 41 (Jupiter).

Length: 97' A Mediapro production Cat. no. A 955 50008 0000 in association with UNITEL CLASSICA

73 & ANNE–SOPHIE MUTTER

Photo: Marco Borrelli CONCERT

TCHAIKOVSKY & BRAHMS CONDUCTED BY RICCARDO MUTI PYOTR I. TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 JOHANNES BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73 ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER, Violin One thing you can rely on is the Salzburg Festival always programme. Mutter’s playing is stupendous, she succeeds offering compelling couplings of artistic personalities: in in a way that draws astonishment. In Brahms’s Symphony this case star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and Maestro No. 2, the veteran conductor Muti “lets the string and Riccardo Muti. Exactly 30 years to the day since wind groups demonstrate in exemplary manner how it can Mutter first performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto sound when all the musicians are in perfect harmony with at the Festival, Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece is back on the one another.” (Salzburger Nachrichten)

Length: 97' A production of ORF and UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with BR and NHK Cat. no. A 045 50050 0000 in cooperation with Salzburg Festival and Wiener Philharmoniker

RUDOLF BUCHBINDER & ZUBIN MEHTA JOHANNES BRAHMS Piano Concertos No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 & No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83 “It is not every day that Brahms sounds as perfect as this,” is maestro Zubin Mehta, no less, who has long been enthuses the Kurier newspaper, describing Buchbinder’s intensively associated both with the orchestra and with performance with the Wiener Philharmoniker. The soloist Rudolf Buchbinder. “What Rudolf Buchbinder, “phenomenal piano virtuoso” (Kurier) plays the First and the Wiener Philharmoniker and conductor Zubin Mehta Second Piano Concertos of Johannes Brahms in the delivered at the easily deserves the accolade Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. On the rostrum ‘milestone’.” (Kurier)

Length: 96' A co-production of Cat. no. A 045 50047 0000 ORF and UNITEL CLASSICA

75 VINCENZO SCALERA & JUAN DIEGO FLÓREZ

Photo: Marco Borrelli CHAMBER MUSIC CHAMBER MUSIC

JUAN DIEGO FLÓREZ & VINCENZO SCALERA THE SALZBURG RECITAL The Salzburg Festival, where the world’s most famous out lieder recital in the Grosses Festspielhaus. The first artists come together, is always good for great concert of the three encores brought for many the covert climax experiences – and yet this unique concert is sure to go of the evening: Floréz plucked a guitar and accompanied down in the annals of the festival. himself in Consuelo Velázquez’ “Bésame mucho”. With a varied programme of popular Italian airs by Tosti With infinite tenderness, gentle heights, heartfelt and Leoncavallo, tender French songs by Henri Duparc devotion and seemingly never-ending top notes, Floréz and old favourites from Italian , the “Peruvian conquered every heart in the house, prompting storms vocal miracle” (Die Presse) was an utter delight at his sold- of enthusiastic applause.

Length: 88' A production of UNITEL CLASSICA Cat. no. A 045 50051 0000 in cooperation with Salzburg Festival

JOHANNES BRAHMS – THE COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51/1 String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51/2 String Quartet No. 3 in B flat major, Op. 67 BELCEA QUARTET Founded in London in 1994, the Belcea Quartet is now quartets by Johannes Brahms: “The three quartets are seen as one of the world’s most renowned string quartets. of great beauty and refined sophistication, which never The quartet’s broadly based repertoire ranges from the fails to inspire us”, says Corina Belcea. It is a beauty and works of the Viennese Classical era to premieres of refinement that radiates from the brilliant and nuanced contemporary compositions. interpretation to be heard on this studio recording Here the Belcea Quartet devotes itself to the three string

Length: 109' A production of Heliox Films and UNITEL CLASSICA in co-production with the Belcea Quartet Cat. no. A 955 50006 0000 with the participation of Classicall Television M-Media and the support of CNC

GÜHER UND SÜHER PEKINEL – THE ISTANBUL CONCERT Ciaconna for two Pianos BÉLA BARTÓK Sonata for two Pianos and Percussion, Sz. 110 Three Preludes for two Pianos LEONARD BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from for two Pianos and Percussions WITOLD LUTOSŁAWSKI Variations on a Theme by Paganini for two Pianos and Percussion GÜHER & SÜHER PEKINEL, Piano ∙ RAPHAEL HAEGER & SIMON RÖSSLER, Percussions Turkish pianist twin-sisters Güher and Süher Pekinel the current tragedies in the world, this recital offers a were first discovered by Herbert von Karajan and have different meaning as a kind of invitation to fight against gained international success since their first appearance unjust sufferings. Accompanied by Berlin Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival. They are considered one of the Orchestra percussionists they perform milestones of the finest piano duos of our time. This concert focusses on repertoire for two pianos. Both the “Symphonic Dances composers who witnessed World War II and reflect in from West Side Story” and “Ciaconna” were arranged for their works the basic values of humanism. Considering the Pekinel sisters under the auspices of the composers.

Length: approx. 80' A production of the Pekinel Sisters Cat. no. A 205 50001 0000

77 LEONARD BERNSTEIN

Photos: Unitel DOCUMENTARIES DOCUMENTARY

“LEONARD BERNSTEIN – LARGER THAN LIFE” A PORTRAIT BY GEORG WÜBBOLT Leonard Bernstein was America’s ambassador to the winning documentaries on Herbert von Karajan and Sir world of music. He was one of the most influential , covers the whole spectrum of Bernstein’s musicians of the last century and inspired an entire life: From his world famous TV series Young People’s generation with his music ensembles and symphony Concerts to the recording of his Mahler cycle and from orchestras. An influential teacher, a brilliant conductor, a the West Side Story to his Chichester Psalms. fine composer and an accomplished pianist. A man, who The film includes interviews with Bernstein’s children lived five lives and who exuded passion from every pore. as well as with friends and companions such as Stephen This portrait by Georg Wübbolt, director of the award- Sondheim, and .

Length: 52' A BFMI production in co-production with UNITEL and ZDF/3sat Cat. no. A 040 50054

“LIVING WITH BEETHOVEN – THE NINE SYMPHONIES WITH THE BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER AND SIR SIMON RATTLE” A FILM BY DANIEL FINKERNAGEL AND MAGDALENA ZIĘBA-SCHWIND In October 2015, the Berliner Philharmoniker and its chief is the motivation and fascination – for a conductor and conductor Sir Simon Rattle rehearsed all of Beethoven's orchestral musicians – behind returning again and again nine symphonies and presented them as a cycle to their to these nine symphonies? Why do we hear milestones, audience. The film by Daniel Finkernagel and Magdalena highlights, masterpieces in these symphonies? What is Zięba-Schwind documents on the one hand how the the relevance of this music? What significance do they new Beethoven cycle originated, and on the other, why have in our lives and what could be their message? musicians repeatedly take on this challenge at all: What

Length: 45' A production of Berlin Phil Media Cat. no. A 055 50523 in cooperation with BR and RBB

“THE SWAN OF PESARO – ROSSINI RELOADED” A DOCUMENTARY BY THEO ROOS Known as “The Swan of Pesaro,” Rossini was the most of Belcanto and its main protagonist Rossini. Together popular composer of the first half of the 19th century. His with star-tenor Juan Diego Flórez, Rossini expert Alberto highly ornate musical style revolutionized the art form, Zedda, soprano Joyce DiDonato and many others, he inaugurating the “Golden Century” of Italian opera. While sheds light on the complex character of a composer his creative life was rather short, his success and influence known to the world as musical jester while his admirers was immense – intellectual giants from Richard Wagner showed deepest respect for the compelling emotions, to Arthur Schopenhauer where amongst his admirers. the vivid diversity and the profound depths hidden in the In this documentary director Theo Roos explores the era lightness of his music.

Length: 61' A Theo Roos Film production Cat. no. A 050 18724 on behalf of ZDF/3sat

79 THANK YOU! ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER Photo: Stefan Höderath/DGPhoto: Stefan

TheLambert Cl OrkisUB ∙ MahanConcert Esfahani Mutter‘s Virtuosi I thought to myself: OK, if there’s a bunch of people who’ll never go to the Philharmonie, I’ll have to go to them. I’ll ‘stalk’ them, so to speak, and go to their club.

For a change, rather than standing on stage in one of the world’s renowned grand concert halls, Anne-Sophie Mutter spent two evenings playing in a tiny graffiti-scrawled nightclub in the Friedrichshain district of Berlin, jam-packed with hip young people. Accompanied by pianist Lambert Orkis and her own Virtuosi – young scholarship holders from her foundation for up-and-coming talent from all over the world – Anne-Sophie Mutter performed works ranging from the Baroque to the present day.

Length: 56' A production of DEF Media on behalf of ZDF Cat. no. A 055 50458 0000 in co-production with