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Also available on standard DVD
The Cleveland Orchestra is the “aristocrat among American orchestras” (The Telegraph) and its sovereign, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders’ sound under its principal conductor. It is Welser-Möst’s nimble alternation between smoothness and a sound that’s as “sharp-edged as a skyscraper” (The Telegraph after the Brahms’ First at the orchestra’s London Proms concert). That keeps the ensemble and the audience figuratively on its toes. The Second Piano Concerto, completed in 1881, is the work of a composer who has become skilled in the manipulation of large forms. Brahms treats the soloist as an equal partner with the orchestra. Yefim Bronfman has the uncanny ability to play large without stridency, to handle the most delicate passages without losing presence, and to play everything in between with a ravishing sense of tonal color. Welser-Möst and Bronfman brought pulsing energy to the concerto’s second movement, a Scherzo, setting up an oasis of calm for the third that segued immediately into the genial finale, whose last chords were nearly obliterated by roars of approval from the audience. Laced into his forceful performance of Piano Concerto No. 1 was a surprising element of fury, as if the pianist had come unhinged momentarily. And yet Bronfman was also wholly present, taking time in relaxed passages to savor every second. Which of the two concertos Bronfman knocked further out the park is impossible to say. Both scores the pianist seized by their very hearts, drawing forth all the majesty, raw power and exquisite beauty that each contains.

Brahms’s German Requiem is a work of great intensity that speaks to people of all faiths and to believers and non-believers alike. In this concert recorded at the magnificent Baroque basilica of Saint Florian in Austria, The Cleveland Orchestra and its Music Director Franz Welser-Möst pare down all traces of bombast and, together with the Wiener Singverein and the soloists Hanna-Elisabeth Müller and Simon Keenlyside, they create a meditation on life and death, hailed by the press as “an event of the first order”. A German Requiem, to Words of the Holy Scriptures, Op. 45 is Brahms’ longest work, comprising seven movements which together last 65 to 80 minutes. The large-scale work is scored for chorus, orchestra, and soprano and baritone soloists.

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Juan Diego Flórez dazzled audiences and critics alike when he played the virtuoso role of Orphée in La Scala’s first ever staging of Gluck’s opera in its French version: “Juan Diego Flórez delivered a lesson in style. His tone is darker and his projection more self-effacing than in the past, but class is permanent. His agility and legato are utterly thrilling. The ovations were never-ending.” (Corriere della sera) The present release is a production by Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London Recorded live at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, March 2018. Gluck’s Orpheo ed Euridice was first performed in 1762. It is the first of Gluck’s “reform” operas, in which he attempted to replace the abstruse plots and overly complex music of opera sera with a “noble simplicity” in both the music and the drama. The present production was staged by Hofesh Shechter and John Fulljames.

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This brilliant live recording features the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the capable baton of Maris Jansons performing Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No 9 in E minor op. 95 “From the New World” and Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Dvorak’s Ninth’s “sharply profiled landscape” sketched by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the incomparable Mariss Jansons is, in the words of the daily newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, a “musical feast.” Mariss Jansons and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition were predestined to come together. Few conductors are as adept as Jansons to savor all the richness and colorfulness of the paintings and sketches by the artist Victor Harmann. Michael Beyer has directed the recording of this concert.

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Juan Diego Flórez dazzled audiences and critics alike when he played the virtuoso role of Orphée in La Scala’s first ever staging of Gluck’s opera in its French version: “Juan Diego Flórez delivered a lesson in style. His tone is darker and his projection more self-effacing than in the past, but class is permanent. His agility and legato are utterly thrilling. The ovations were never-ending.” (Corriere della sera) The present release is a production by Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London Recorded live at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, March 2018. Gluck’s Orpheo ed Euridice was first performed in 1762. It is the first of Gluck’s “reform” operas, in which he attempted to replace the abstruse plots and overly complex music of opera sera with a “noble simplicity” in both the music and the drama. The present production was staged by Hofesh Shechter and John Fulljames.

The Cleveland Orchestra is the "aristocrat among American orchestras" (The Telegraph) and the ensemble's music director, Franz Welser-M�st, leads them with verve and precision. This three DVD set from Belvedere features a 'cycle' of all the major orchestral works by Johannes Brahms. Included are the complete symphonies and piano concertos, the violin concerto, the Tragic Overture, the Academic Festival Overture and the Haydn Variations. Soloists include violinist Julia Fischer and pianist Yefim Bronfman.

Mozart’s Requiem may have been written under strange circumstances in the final months of the composer’s life, but the work itself is timeless. Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus give a powerful and poignant performance of Mozart’s masterpiece with an impressive group of solo singers, in a concert recorded live in Munich in May 2017. Even its composer’s death could not halt the success of Mozart’s Requiem. Although left incomplete on his death in December 1791, having been anonymously commissioned, the Requiem was completed by a pupil of Mozart’s, Franz Xaver Süssmayr. By the time it was premiered in 1793, it was already a famous work, shrouded in mystery. But even more mysterious than the story behind it is the magisterial quality of Mozart’s writing, from the ferocity of the Dies irae to the otherworldly grace of the Lacrimosa. Genia Kühmeier, Elisabeth Kulman, Mark Padmore and Adam Plachetka are the world-class soloists joining Jansons and his orchestra and chorus. Padmore was Artist in Residence with the orchestra for the 2016/17 season and his rapport with the orchestra is evident. His ringing, distinctive tenor voice is well matched, too, to Jansons’s eloquent and subtle interpretation. “For him it is not about rhetoric, but more about transcendence,” wrote Süddeutsche Zeitung of Jansons’s conducting – suggesting a transcendent faith in humanity, even in the face of death.

Mozart’s Requiem may have been written under strange circumstances in the final months of the composer’s life, but the work itself is timeless. Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus give a powerful and poignant performance of Mozart’s masterpiece with an impressive group of solo singers, in a concert recorded live in Munich in May 2017. Even its composer’s death could not halt the success of Mozart’s Requiem. Although left incomplete on his death in December 1791, having been anonymously commissioned, the Requiem was completed by a pupil of Mozart’s, Franz Xaver Süssmayr. By the time it was premiered in 1793, it was already a famous work, shrouded in mystery. But even more mysterious than the story behind it is the magisterial quality of Mozart’s writing, from the ferocity of the Dies irae to the otherworldly grace of the Lacrimosa. Genia Kühmeier, Elisabeth Kulman, Mark Padmore and Adam Plachetka are the world-class soloists joining Jansons and his orchestra and chorus. Padmore was Artist in Residence with the orchestra for the 2016/17 season and his rapport with the orchestra is evident. His ringing, distinctive tenor voice is well matched, too, to Jansons’s eloquent and subtle interpretation. “For him it is not about rhetoric, but more about transcendence,” wrote Süddeutsche Zeitung of Jansons’s conducting – suggesting a transcendent faith in humanity, even in the face of death.

The Stabat Mater is Dvor�k's most celebrated choral work. He began composing the piece in late 1875, but set it aside. Then, two tragedies befell him and he was plunged into an uncharacteristically melancholic mood. The deaths of his eleven-month-old daughter and three-year-old son compelled Dvor�k to complete his masterpiece. Even though stricken with grief, Dvor�k still could not resist writing simple, folk-like, melodies for his luminous Stabat Mater. On this performance, acclaimed conductor Mariss Jansons leads four superb soloists and the combined forces of the chorus and orchestra of the Bayerischen Rundfunk.

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The Cleveland Orchestra is the “aristocrat among American orchestras” (The Telegraph) and its sovereign, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders’ sound under its principal conductor. It is Welser-Möst’s nimble alternation between smoothness and a sound that’s as “sharp-edged as a skyscraper” (The Telegraph after the Brahms’ First at the orchestra’s London Proms concert). That keeps the ensemble and the audience figuratively on its toes. The Second Piano Concerto, completed in 1881, is the work of a composer who has become skilled in the manipulation of large forms. Brahms treats the soloist as an equal partner with the orchestra. Yefim Bronfman has the uncanny ability to play large without stridency, to handle the most delicate passages without losing presence, and to play everything in between with a ravishing sense of tonal color. Welser-Möst and Bronfman brought pulsing energy to the concerto’s second movement, a Scherzo, setting up an oasis of calm for the third that segued immediately into the genial finale, whose last chords were nearly obliterated by roars of approval from the audience. Laced into his forceful performance of Piano Concerto No. 1 was a surprising element of fury, as if the pianist had come unhinged momentarily. And yet Bronfman was also wholly present, taking time in relaxed passages to savor every second. Which of the two concertos Bronfman knocked further out the park is impossible to say. Both scores the pianist seized by their very hearts, drawing forth all the majesty, raw power and exquisite beauty that each contains.

The Cleveland Orchestra is the “aristocrat among American orchestras” (The Telegraph) and its sovereign, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders’ sound under its principal conductor. It is Welser-Möst’s nimble alternation between smoothness and a sound that’s as “sharp-edged as a skyscraper” (The Telegraph after the Brahms’ First at the orchestra’s London Proms concert). That keeps the ensemble and the audience figuratively on its toes. Brahms’ Fourth and last Symphony could be said to glow with autumnal colors. Endowed with a strong undercurrent of subdued melancholy, it seems to pine for an irretrievable past. Franz Welser-Möst offers a “lean, propulsive performance” (The Plain Dealer) of this work with his highly concentrated Cleveland Orchestra. The swift pace of the symphony in Welser-Möst’s hands reflects the conductor’s quest for a distinctive, far-from-the-mainstream interpretation. Written nearly contemporaneously in the late 1870s, Johannes Brahms’ rousing Academic Festival Overture and Violin Concerto op. 77 bear witness to a composer at the height of his abilities, a mature master of large-scale masterpieces. The Violin Concerto demands extreme technical proficiency. As if to exemplify this, violinist Julia Fischer gears herself from the very start of this emotionally searing work to maintaining a restrained yet passionate tone.

The Cleveland Orchestra is the “aristocrat among American orchestras” (The Telegraph) and its sovereign, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders’ sound under its principal conductor. It is Welser-Möst’s nimble alternation between smoothness and a sound that’s as “sharp-edged as a skyscraper” (The Telegraph after the Brahms’ First at the orchestra’s London Proms concert). That keeps the ensemble and the audience figuratively on its toes. Brahms’ Fourth and last Symphony could be said to glow with autumnal colors. Endowed with a strong undercurrent of subdued melancholy, it seems to pine for an irretrievable past. Franz Welser-Möst offers a “lean, propulsive performance” (The Plain Dealer) of this work with his highly concentrated Cleveland Orchestra. The swift pace of the symphony in Welser-Möst’s hands reflects the conductor’s quest for a distinctive, far-from-the-mainstream interpretation. Written nearly contemporaneously in the late 1870s, Johannes Brahms’ rousing Academic Festival Overture and Violin Concerto op. 77 bear witness to a composer at the height of his abilities, a mature master of large-scale masterpieces. The Violin Concerto demands extreme technical proficiency. As if to exemplify this, violinist Julia Fischer gears herself from the very start of this emotionally searing work to maintaining a restrained yet passionate tone.

Franz Welser-M�st has conducted The Cleveland Orchestra in a series of acclaimed video and audio productions, further enhancing the ensemble's storied recorded legacy. At the Anniversary Gala on September 29, 2018, documented in the present video recording, he programmed works touching on more than a century of Viennese musical traditions. Opening with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24, featuring soloist Lang Lang, a regular collaborator with the orchestra since 2000, it also includes works by Richard and Johann Strauss, concluding with Ravel's cataclysmic La Valse. The Cleveland Orchestra was founded in 1918. Over the ensuing decades, the Orchestra quickly grew from a fine regional organization to being one of the most admired symphony orchestras in the world. Seven music directors have guided and shaped the ensemble's growth and sound: Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodzinski, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohn�nyi, and Franz Welser-M�st. The opening in 1931 of Severance Hall as the Orchestra's permanent home brought a special pride to the ensemble and it's hometown, as well as providing an enviable and intimate acoustic environment in which to develop and refine the Orchestra's artistry. Touring performances throughout the United States and, beginning in 1957, to Europe and across the globe have confirmed Cleveland's place among the world's top orchestras. For this anniversary concert, The Cleveland Orchestra will be joined by none less than world famous pianist Lang Lang. Heralded by the New York times as "the hottest artist on the classical music planet, " Lang Lang works with many of the best classical musicians of our time. He first appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra in 2000.

Salzburg Marionette Theatre's condensed two-hour version of The Ring of the Nibelung was premiered in cooperation with the Salzburg State Theatre in March of 2012. Performing to the legendary recordings by Georg Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic, the unrivaled puppetry of the Salzburg Marionettes guides spectators through Wagner's epic masterpiece. This simplified version, which showcases the best known scenes, is perfect for Wagner beginners and younger audiences.

Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel

While hunting at night, Prince Arindal encounters the beautiful fairy Ada. Both fall in love immediately. Arindal decides to be always at Ada's side in the fairy realm. The fairy king warns, however, if Arindal should ever leave Ada alone for longer than a year she will turn to stone. But the Prince must leave Ada. Will he be back on time? Wagner's opera Die Feen (The Fairies), a charming fairy tale about the magic of love and music, is featured here in a special adaptation for children by the Wiener Staatsoper.

The Baton, a documentary by Michael Wende, puts the conducting profession under the magnifying glass. In it, an animated character called the Baton-Designer follows twelve conductors who are participating in the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition. The film’s style, with its sharp cuts, tongue-in-cheek allusions and clever graphics, delivers humor and tension in equal measure. It is an entertaining and illuminating cinematic crash course on the conducting profession, featuring Herbert Feuerstein as the voice of the Baton-Designer.

65 Minutes
Dolby Digital 2.0 16:9
NTSC
Region 0
German & English

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Celebrating his 75th birthday with a programme of Stravinsky, Hummel and Beethoven, “everything about Mariss Jansons exudes joy and sovereignty,” wrote Süddeutsche Zeitung. This thrilling, varied concert was recorded in January 2018, with Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra demonstrating the close relationship which has developed between them over the past 18 years. This recording also features a stellar quartet of soloists partnering with one of this fine orchestra, playing under the conductor who, even at 75, continues to inspire them to great artistic heights. Born in 1943 in the Latvian capital of Riga, Mariss Jansons grew up in the Soviet Union as the son of conductor Arvid Jansons, studying violin, viola and piano and completing his musical education in conducting with high honours at the Leningrad Conservatory. Further studies followed with Hans Swarovsky in Vienna and Herbert von Karajan in Salzburg. In 1971 he won the conducting competition sponsored by the Karajan Foundation in Berlin. His work was also significantly influenced by the legendary Russian conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky, who engaged Mariss Jansons as his assistant at the Leningrad Philharmonic in 1972. Over the succeeding years Mariss Jansons remained loyal to this orchestra, today renamed the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, as a regular conductor until 1999, conducting the orchestra during that period on tours throughout the world. Since 2003 Jansons has been Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

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REVIEW:

Beethoven insisted that the keynotes of his Mass were cheerfulness and gentleness, and these qualities are evident in a tenderly shaped Sanctus and Benedictus.

– Gramophone

Emperor Joseph II was partial to musical contests. In 1786 he decided to regale his visitors with a contest involving what were then the two most popular forms of vocal music for the stage: Italian opera and the German Singspiel. And so he commissioned two works from two composers, both of them outstanding in their respective fields, each work to involve the same basic arrangement. For the Italian opera the choice fell on Antonio Salieri, the director of music at the Vienna Court Opera, while Mozart was chosen to write the German Singspiel. The first performance took place at a magnificent gala at Schönbrunn 1786, when two stages were set up, one at each end of the Orangery. This musical contest produced no outright winner, Joseph II having been astute enough to offer his visitors only the crème de la crème of singers and composers. Salieri’s stature as an opera composer was abundantly demonstrated by Nikolaus Harnoncourt when he conducted Prima la musica at the Mozart Week Festival in Salzburg in 2002 – but at no point was Mozart’s own reputation impugned in consequence. The performance of both works is captured on this new release.

It's one of Wiener Staatsoper's most outstanding opera productions for children: Cinderella - Viennese version for children by Alma Deutscher, the musical prodigy of our times. Based on the popular fairy tale, Deutscher tells a modern version of the story, combining humor, poetry and the magic of theatre. Alma Deutscher began composing Cinderella, her favorite fairy tale, at the age of eight. However, she does not directly follow the Brothers Grimm original, as music plays a central role in her version. Cinderella is a young composer whom her stepmother and stepsisters envy because of her talent and demote to working as a music copyist. The prince is a poet who finds Cinderella through their common love of art.

At the end of April 1791, Wolfgang Amadé Mozart applied for the position of second Kapellmeister at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, hoping to inherit the position from Leopold Hofmann, the incumbent Kapellmeister, the City Council of Vienna accepted Mozart’s petition in a strongly worded decree as a basis for the text in the vocal passages of his Sieben Klangräume Accompanying the Unfinished Fragments of Mozart’s Requiem KV 626. All of the parts of the Requiem composed by Mozart himself exist in a complete four-part vocal score with organ bass - only the first movement is fully orchestrated - and contain virtually all of the key musical aspects: theme, harmony, melody, dynamics and modulation. According to Haas, “Mozart sketched out the main musical voices for the whole piece, producing almost a skeleton to the work” – in other words, fragments of sound. This was the approach used by Haas for his Klangräume (Sound Spaces): “ In between these fragments of sound, I was able to add a different sound world - one in the style of the early 21st century.” Haas responds powerfully to the nature of the fragments. Haas regarded the Requiem fragment as “sacrosanct”. The only aspect that Haas adopted from Mozart was his orchestration: mixed choir, mostly with four voices, but also extended to include as many as 16 voices for the spoken passages, but no vocal soloists. Haas does not use any musical material written by Mozart. He only uses the key signature of D minor on which he builds a series of harmonics for his composition. However, Haas responds powerfully to the nature of the fragments. The choir does not sing any of the words from the Requiem. Haas used the letter from the City Council of Vienna answering Mozart’s petition for the Position of assistant to the Kapellmeister at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. “Although Mozart is offered the position, he is granted it with such administrative brutality, which shows a total lack of understanding of everything related to art.” Haas uses the orchestral instruments to echo and foretell the moods in Mozart’s fragments, adding intricate tonal contrasts to the polyphonic richness of Mozart’s music. He adopts completely different compositional methods to establish connections to Mozart’s composition.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

The Cleveland Orchestra is the “aristocrat among American orchestras” (The Telegraph) and its sovereign, Franz Welser-Möst, rules his subjects with a velvet glove. Indeed, velvet and silk keep showing up in descriptions of the Clevelanders’ sound under its principal conductor. It is Welser-Möst’s nimble alternation between smoothness and a sound that’s as “sharp-edged as a skyscraper” (The Telegraph after the Brahms’ First at the orchestra’s London Proms concert). That keeps the ensemble and the audience figuratively on its toes. When Brahms set out to write his first symphonies, the pressure was high. Critics and audiences expected him to follow directly behind Beethoven. Some even called Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 “Beethoven’s Tenth.” Although it took Brahms quite a number of years to present these works, the first three of his symphonies, recorded here in live performances, do not disappoint.

One of the highlights of the 1956 Mozart Week was the concert, which brought together Herbert von Karajan, Clara Haskil and the Philharmonia Orchestra London. Karajan knew how to project the qualities of the orchestra using the pieces he selected. The slow introduction of the Symphony No 39 gave him an early opportunity to demonstrate the precision and aural splendor of the orchestra. Those listening to the Piano Concerto No 20 experienced an enchanting hour with Clara Haskil at the piano. On no other occasion did she play the slow movement in such a calm and heartfelt manner so expressively, as on that evening. In the slow movement, above which hung a “frisson of eternal beauty”, the artist managed to excel herself. Now, this historic concert is available on this release.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Celebrating his 75th birthday with a programme of Stravinsky, Hummel and Beethoven, “everything about Mariss Jansons exudes joy and sovereignty,” wrote Süddeutsche Zeitung. This thrilling, varied concert was recorded in January 2018, with Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra demonstrating the close relationship which has developed between them over the past 18 years. This recording also features a stellar quartet of soloists partnering with one of this fine orchestra, playing under the conductor who, even at 75, continues to inspire them to great artistic heights. Born in 1943 in the Latvian capital of Riga, Mariss Jansons grew up in the Soviet Union as the son of conductor Arvid Jansons, studying violin, viola and piano and completing his musical education in conducting with high honours at the Leningrad Conservatory. Further studies followed with Hans Swarovsky in Vienna and Herbert von Karajan in Salzburg. In 1971 he won the conducting competition sponsored by the Karajan Foundation in Berlin. His work was also significantly influenced by the legendary Russian conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky, who engaged Mariss Jansons as his assistant at the Leningrad Philharmonic in 1972. Over the succeeding years Mariss Jansons remained loyal to this orchestra, today renamed the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, as a regular conductor until 1999, conducting the orchestra during that period on tours throughout the world. Since 2003 Jansons has been Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

-----

REVIEW:

Beethoven insisted that the keynotes of his Mass were cheerfulness and gentleness, and these qualities are evident in a tenderly shaped Sanctus and Benedictus.

– Gramophone

Playing pieces from “Miroirs” and “Gaspard de la nuit,” empathetic pianist Ragna Schirmer reveals the essence of Ravel’s artistic compositions with delicate brilliance. These musical works are animated by an incomparable union of mechanical precision and aching fantasy. In such moments it becomes clear that these mournfully beautiful sound creations are the essence of the artistic soul whose fibers Maurice Ravel wove into his compositions so assuredly. Ragna Schirmer’s exquisite interpretations bear witness to Ravel’s passionate sensibilities and that which could not be said, something he himself concealed from those around him during his lifetime. This virtuoso recording is also a bold interpretation that demands the attention of the listener. With her distinctive interpretations, Ragna Schirmer enjoys an exceptional reputation far beyond the borders of Germany. She has won the highly regarded International Bach Competition in Leipzig twice- a unique achievement in the history of the prize. Numerous awards from national and international competitions, ecstatic reviews and the receipt of two of Germany’s top classical music awards, the ECHO Klassik, reflect her remarkable career. Her teachers include Bernard Ringeisen in Paris, himself a student of Marguerite Long, friend and student of Maurice Ravel.