It should be noted that this is NOT the EMI edition of Der Fliegende Holländer that Klemperer conducted in the early 1960s. Instead, it is the 1968 BBC live recording, which, in addition to a sound that is sometimes even superior to the EMI recording, unlike the studio recording, offers the first, Dresden version of the opera.

On STRANGER THINGS, pianist and composer Inna Faliks reflects on the musical forces that have shaped her artistic voice. Childhood compositions written just before emigrating from Odesa appear alongside works by Arnold Schoenberg and Johannes Brahms, tracing a path from Romantic tradition to the expressive freedoms of early modernism. Two of Faliks' own compositions set the stage for a program where memory, discovery, and creative identity converge - revealing how the unexpected often guides an artist's journey.

Wagner defined Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg as the most complete work that he had ever created. The Bayreuth Festival 2025 presents the comedy in a new production staged by Matthias Davids, whose playful irreverence stands between tradition and renewal. Under the exceptional baton of Daniele Gatti, who debuted in Bayreuth in 2008 with Parsifal, the cast showcases it's brilliance and finesse. Georg Zeppenfeld, at the core of the performance, interprets Hans Sachs with excellent vocal skills and particular sensibility. Equally remarkable performances are given by Michael Spyres and Christina Nilsson, respectively, as Walther and Eva, and by Michael Nagy as a finely drawn Beckmesser. The result is a compelling piece of music theatre: 'A comedy of manners where themes of art, tradition and human love arise naturally.' (Seen and Heard International) Michael Spyres 'has everything a Stolzing needs: he is effortlessly present, sounds light yet embodied in the upper register, a German knight with italianità.' (BR-KLASSIK)

Wagner defined Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg as the most complete work that he had ever created. The Bayreuth Festival 2025 presents the comedy in a new production staged by Matthias Davids, whose playful irreverence stands between tradition and renewal. Under the exceptional baton of Daniele Gatti, who debuted in Bayreuth in 2008 with Parsifal, the cast showcases it's brilliance and finesse. Georg Zeppenfeld, at the core of the performance, interprets Hans Sachs with excellent vocal skills and particular sensibility. Equally remarkable performances are given by Michael Spyres and Christina Nilsson, respectively, as Walther and Eva, and by Michael Nagy as a finely drawn Beckmesser. The result is a compelling piece of music theatre: 'A comedy of manners where themes of art, tradition and human love arise naturally.' (Seen and Heard International) Michael Spyres 'has everything a Stolzing needs: he is effortlessly present, sounds light yet embodied in the upper register, a German knight with italianità.' (BR-KLASSIK)

Germany
Majestic Marches

A Musical Visit to Kulmbach and the Tin Soldier Museum

The Places:
On a hill above the ancient town of Kulmbach stands the imposing 12th century Hohenzollern fortress of Plassenburg. Among various collections on display is the remarkable Tin Soldier Museum, with various figures and dioramas that recreate battles and mirror the great castle itself, with a variety of scenes from all periods of human history.

The Music:
The March has an inevitable part to play in human history. Marco Polo remarked on the use of music by the armies of China to terrify the enemy before a battle. Military music, however, has a more precise purpose, whatever alarm it may strike into the hearts of those who hear it. Drums and trumpets may serve as useful signals, to advance or retreat, to eat or to sleep. The same instruments and their near relations may serve to keep an army moving together, and may serve to inspire feelings of bravery and patriotism. At the same time a march can provide a suitable accompaniment to an occasion of solemnity, a wedding, a funeral or a state ceremony. The music chosen for this tour offers a series of Marches by different composers, culminating in Mendelssohn’s Wedding March.

Picture Format: NTSC, Color, 4:3
Audio Format: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM Stereo 2.0
Region: 0 (All Region)

The composer's great-granddaughter was keen to stage Cord Garben's abridged version of the cycle at the Teatro Colin in Buenos Aires, but in the event things turned out rather differently. The present documentary provides a thrilling and visually memorable account of the long journey taken by this version from it's inception to the first night.

With this remastered edition of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde from the 1952 Bayreuth Festival, Note One label launches it's new series Note One Heritage, which makes important historical recordings in music history accessible again. The legendary performance on 23 July 1952 at the Bayreuth Festival Theatre is considered one of the most striking documents of the early post-war years and the artistic renewal of the festival in the era of the so-called New Bayreuth. At the podium is Herbert von Karajan, whose conducting steadily intensifies the dramatic tension of the score, ultimately culminating in an almost ethereal Liebestod. At the centre are two extraordinary singers: Martha Modl, one of the most dominant dramatic voices of her time, and Ramon Vinay, whose powerful, passionate Tristan ranks among the greatest interpretations of this role. Their encounter unites two contrasting temperaments in an electrifying musical dramaturgy - from eruptive passion to meditative introspection. The cast is complemented by outstanding Bayreuth forces such as Hans Hotter as Kurwenal, Ludwig Weber as King Marke and Ira Malaniuk as Brangane. The Bavarian Radio recording - long out of print and now remastered - reveals the atmosphere of a performance whose intensity and immediacy were celebrated as extraordinary even at the time. Note One Heritage's first release invites listeners to rediscover a pivotal moment in the history of opera and the festival.

The gala concert to celebrate the 475th anniversary of the foundation of the Sachsische Staatskapelle Dresden on September 22, 2023 After the introductory tones of Carl Maria von Weber's festive 'Jubel' Overture have died away, conductor Christian Thielemann turns round and addresses himself to the audience: not an official pronouncement with an edited manuscript but a spontaneous, deeply felt expression of commitment. The principal conductor praises the 'wondrous way' in which the orchestra's sound has remained true to itself over the centuries, recalling the great succession of it's Kapellmeisters 'from Hasse through Weber and Wagner to Busch and Bohm' and relating it to the exceptional artistic depth of the city. With a nice touch of irony he quotes Rousseau, who praised Dresden's 'splendid orchestra' at a distance in 1763, and Beethoven, who wrote half a century later: 'It is said to be the best in all Europe.' Finally Thielemann finds words that sound like a gentle reminder in this splendid hall: 'Take care of this orchestra of mine the way you take care of Meissen porcelain and your art collections! It is an appeal and an avowal of love too - for the musicians, for the city, for a 475-yearold tradition that never gathers dust but is constantly renewing itself. The gala concert of September 22, 2023 is more than a celebration of the past: it is an affirmation of what remains present - that Dresden light that streams forth from this recording.

Elisabeth Meyer-Topsøe’s debut CD (KPT 32156) was Editor’s Choice in Gramophone (Jan. 94). “An impressive new soprano” (Gramophone) “Here is a discovery, perhaps the most promising Jugendlich-Dramatische soprano to burst on the scene since Studer…a burgeoning talent with almost limitless possibilities…” (Alan Blyth, Gramophone)