Avant Premi ère CATALOGUE 2015 THANK YOU TO ALL OUR PARTNERS AND CO-PRODUCERS : Avant Premi ère CATALOGUE 2015 COPRODUCTION & PRESALES: Unitel GmbH & Co. KG Gruenwalder Weg 28d, 82041 Oberhaching, Germany Tel: +49.89.673469-630 ∙ Fax: +49.89.673469-610 [email protected] Ernst Buchrucker (Managing Director) [email protected] ∙ Tel: +49.89.673469-19 Dr. Thomas Hieber (Head of Business and Legal Affairs) [email protected] ∙ Tel: +49.89.673469-611 Dr. Magdalena Herbst (Head of Production) [email protected] ∙ Tel: 49.89.673469-862 WORLD SALES – EXCLUSIVE INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTOR FOR ALL UNITEL PROGRAMMES: C Major Entertainment GmbH Kaiserdamm 31/86, 14057 Berlin, Germany Tel.: +49.30.303064-64 [email protected] Elmar Kruse ∙ [email protected] (Managing Director) Nadja Joost ∙ [email protected] (Sales Manager, Director Live Events & Popular Music) Nishrin Schacherbauer ∙ [email protected] (Sales Manager) Ira Rost ∙ [email protected] (Sales Manager, Assistant to Managing Director) Avant Premi ère CATALOGUE 2015 OPERA Gaetano Donizetti: La Favorite 8 HK Gruber: Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald (Tales from the Vienna Woods) 10 Leoš Janáček: Jenufa 12 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Da Ponte-Cycle 14 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni 16 Aribert Reimann: Lear 18 Gioachino Rossini: Aureliano in Palmira 20 Franz Schubert: Fierrabras 22 Richard Strauss: Arabella 24 Richard Strauss: Elektra 26 Richard Strauss: Feuersnot 28 Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier 30 Giuseppe Verdi: Il trovatore 32 Giuseppe Verdi: La forza del destino 34 Giuseppe Verdi: Un ballo in maschera 36 BALLET “Cubania” by Carlos Acosta 38 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake 40 CONCERTS Boston Symphony Orchestra – The Inaugural Concert (A. Nelsons) 43 Pretty Yende in Prague 43 14th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition 43 Hector Berlioz: Requiem – Grande Messe des morts (G. Dudamel) 45 Wiener Philharmoniker – Strauss & Staar (A. Nelsons) 45 The last three Mozart Symphonies (N. Harnoncourt) 45 Grafenegg Festival – Midsummer Night’s Gala 47 Red Ribbon Celebration Concert 47 Hollywood in Vienna – A Tribute to Randy Newman 47 Max Raabe & Palastorchester – A Night in Berlin 88 Berliner Philharmoniker Schumann & Brahms (S. Rattle) 49 Johann Sebastian Bach: Johannespassion (S. Rattle) 49 Czech Philharmonic Antonín Dvořák: The complete Symphonies (J. Bělohlávek) 51 Bedřich Smetana: Má vlast (J. Bělohlávek) 51 Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 (A. Prohaska, M. Jansons) 53 Rossini, Shostakovich & Prokofiev (Y. Wang, M. Jansons) 53 Strauss & Brahms (A. Nelsons) 53 Brahms & Shostakovich (L. Prunaru, G. Horsch, A. Nelsons) 54 Flothuis, Strauss & Shostakovich (A. Ogrintchouk, A. Nelsons) 54 4 Staatskapelle Berlin Johannes Brahms Piano Concertos (G. Dudamel) 57 Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (D. Barenboim) 57 Staatskapelle Dresden Emmerich Kálmán: Die Csárdásfürstin, concert performance (A. Netrebko, J. D. Flórez, C. Thielemann) 59 Festive Advent Concert (P. Heras-Casado) 59 Richard Strauss: Elektra, concert performance (C. Thielemann) 59 Richard Strauss: Letzte Lieder & Eine Alpensymphonie (A. Harteros, C. Thielemann) 60 Richard Strauss Gala (C. Goerke, A. Harteros, C. Nylund, C. Thielemann) 60 Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks The Odeonsplatz Concert: “Russian Night” 63 Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa solemnis (B. Haitink) 63 Haydn, Mendelssohn & Bruckner (J. E. Gardiner) 63 Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 (M. Jansons) 64 Purcell & Mahler (D. Harding) 64 Bartók & Mahler (Y. Nézet-Séguin) 64 The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra & Daniel Barenboim at the Teatro Colón Martha Argerich & Daniel Barenboim: Piano Duos at the Teatro Colón 67 Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Ravel et al. (D. Barenboim) 67 BBC Proms West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (D. Barenboim) 69 Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich (D. Zinman) 69 World Orchestra for Peace (V. Gergiev) 69 Stars of Tomorrow 70 CHAMBER MUSIC Franz Schubert: Winterreise (M. Goerne, M. Hinterhäuser, W. Kentridge) 73 Benjamin Britten: String Quartets (Belcea Quartet) 73 Tormenti e dolce oblio – Umane passioni e affetti vocali (M. Mauillion, A. Mauillion, F. Heumann) 73 The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas (Rudolf Buchbinder) 75 DOCUMENTARIES Anna the Great 77 Don Giovanni – A Night at the Opera Backstage 77 From War to Peace 77 Nikolaus Harnoncourt – Between Obsession and Perfection 79 A Trio for Schubert 79 Nine Sketches of Dvořák 79 Christian Thielemann – My Strauss 81 Richard Strauss – At the End of the Rainbow 81 The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in South America 81 UPCOMING PRODUCTIONS 83 INDEX 86 5 PROUDLY REPRESENTS THE INTERNATIONAL TV DISTRIBUTION OF THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE LONDON CUBANĺA | GISELLE L’ ELISIR D’ AMORE | THE WINTER’S TALE DON GIOVANNI | I DUE FOSCARI LES VÊPRES SICILIENNES | PARSIFAL Photo: Bill Cooper/Royal Opera House 2014 OPERA “Each note a masterpiece”, said Arturo Toscanini of Donizetti’s La Favorite. Something of a seldom-performed rarity today, it was rarely out of the Paris (THE FAVOURED ONE) opera repertoire in the decades that followed its premiere. It is considered one of the composer’s most cogent works of music drama and shows Donizetti at the height of his powers as an orchestrator. The opera is the first Conductor Antonello Allemandi original French opera by the Italian bel canto composer - a happy congruence Orchestra Orchestre National du Capitole of the Italian and French operatic traditions. Chorus Chœur du Capitole Chorus Master Alfonso Caiani “The Favourite” is set in 14th-century Spain, Stage Director Vincent Boussard where the young novice Fernand falls in love Costume Designer Christian Lacroix with young noblewoman Léonore, leaves the monastic order and enlists in the army, unaware that the love of his life is the King’s favourite Léonor de Guzman Kate Aldrich mistress … Fernand Shi Yijie Alphonse XI Ludovic Tézier The young Chinese tenor Yijie Shi in the leading Balthazar Giovanni Furlanetto role of Fernand emerges as the discovery of Don Gaspar Alain Gabriel the evening. “His singing leaves nothing to be Inès Marie-Bénédicte Souquet desired and he plays the part with a full and complete richness of voice from the very first scene” Forum( Opera). His aria “Ange si pur” in the fourth Produced by CLC productions act, a big number for the great tenors since the days of Caruso, earned him tumultuous applause. At his side, Kate Aldrich impressed with her “rich Video Director Olivier Simonnet mezzo timbre, effortless high notes, a supple voice” La( Depeche). Ludovic A production of CLC productions Tézier as the King “is quite simply indispensable in co-production with Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and in the role of Alphonse XI to which he brings a UNITEL with the participation of France Télévisions and vocal colour and presence that are magnificent” Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (Concert Classic). Length: 152' Vincent Boussard’s staging catches the eye Cat. no. A 010 50031 with a simple clarity that shows off the elegant and colourful robes by Christian Lacroix, one of the most successful and influential Paris fashion designers of our age – “a spectacle of extreme aesthetic coherence” (Concert Classic). The Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse was regarded in Donizetti’s time as one of the most important centres of bel canto and remains one of France’s most important opera houses to this day. Photos: atrice Nin 9 HK GRUBER GESCHICHTEN AUS DEM WIENER WALD S BA ED O N “TALES Ilse Eerens FROM THE H VIENNA Daniel Schmutzhard O R WOODS V Jörg Schneider Á ” R R E TH LL Angelika Kirchschlager ’S BESTSE Anja Silja Wiener Symphoniker conducted by HK Gruber Bregenz Festival HK GRUBER GESCHICHTEN OPERA AUS DEM WIENER WALD (TALES FROM THE VIENNA WOODS) Orchestra Wiener Symphoniker Ödön von Horváth’s 1931 play “Tales from the Vienna Woods” takes a twisted view Conductor HK Gruber of Johann Strauss Jr’s 1868 waltz of the same title. During his lifetime, he considered Chorus Vokalensemble Nova teaming up with Kurt Weil to make an opera of the work. Three-quarters of a century Chorus Master Colin Mason later, the Bregenz Festival has finally accomplished this job, by asking Viennese Stage Director Michael Sturminger composer Heinz Karl Gruber to write the opera – and “Gruber is a worthy substitute for Weil” states the Financial Times. Marianne Ilse Eerens Horváth’s tale is a timeless satire of gossipy hypocrisy: On the day of her betrothal, Alfred Daniel Schmutzhard fun-loving Marianne leaves her fiancé, the honest butcher kar,Os and elopes with a Oskar Jörg Schneider rogue from Vienna, has his child, is abandoned by the child’sfather, finds work as a Valerie Angelika Kirchschlager nude dancer in a bar, steals from one of the guests and ends up in prison. The staunchly Zauberkönig Albert Pesendorfer Catholic community is highly critical of the young woman. Finally, the butcher deigns Mutter Anke Vondung to make an “honest woman” of her and provide her with a middle-class home. Großmutter Anja Silja The libretto and staging,both by Michael Sturminger, adhere closely to Horváth’s Erich Michael Laurenz original. The protagonist emerges from the fog on an empty stage and disappears et al. into the mist again at the end. The action in between is a clever programme of cross-fade images: the Vienna Woods gives way to the River Danube, which in turn Produced by Felix Breisach becomes a block of council flats; the cathedral of St. Stephenmutates into a night Medienwerkstatt club. In connection with the direction of the very human characters, this produces an Video Director Felix Breisach incredibly dense, timeless work. A co-production of ORF and UNITEL CLASSICA in cooperation with Bregenz Festival The music is as captivating as the staging: “With his breathtaking instrumentation HK Gruber creates multi-faceted moods and virtuoso tone colours. The large-scale Length: approx. 160' Vienna Symphony sounds incredibly soft and all-enveloping one minute, then rears up Cat. no. A 040 50037 like a wild animal the next.” (Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung) “This work really plucks at your heart strings” (Süddeutsche Zeitung).