Gustav Mahler's Sixth Symphony is perhaps the darkest work he ever wrote-it's nickname is "The Tragic." And there is something almost destructive about the final movement. "But strangely enough," says Simon Rattle, "it is also a very classical symphony. Yes, it is extreme, but for long stretches it is less wild than other works of his-although of course it does convey a harrowing message. But it's like a lot of great works: there are always different ways of reading them. I've been conducting the Sixth for forty years now, and over time I've come to realise that it also contains hope." Mahler composed his Sixth Symphony during the summers of 1903 and 1904 at his "composer's cottage" in Maiernigg, near Klagenfurt. At the Vienna performance in 1907 (the third under his baton), he called it the "Tragic Symphony"-a nickname that soon became the stuff of legend. In particular, the darkness and devastating hopelessness of the finale-written at a time when he was at the high point of his life, both professionally and personally-are puzzling. Even his wife Alma could not quite explain the contradiction. As always, it was in and through music that Mahler came to terms with his experiences, exploring themes such as farewell, the meaning of existence, death, redemption, the afterlife, and love. More than other Mahler works, the Sixth Symphony is committed to "classical" symphonic form: it is in four movements and has no vocal parts. Despite all the liberties it takes, the opening movement follows sonata form. The Andante draws on the rondo form, as do the Scherzo and the Finale. Very unusually, even the Scherzo has march-like features and seems like a parodistic paraphrase of the opening, with a change of perspective. The march, which sets the tone from the very first note of the first movement, plays a major role.

Puccini's music touches the hearts of millions. But how well do we really know the man, his work, and his era? What was his life like? What shaped his genius? This new audio biography from BR-KLASSIK - vividly and captivatingly narrated by Udo Wachtveitl and accompanied by lush music - offers the answers. When Mim� utters her last words, Tosca throws herself on her dead lover, or Cio Cio San takes her child in her arms once more, opera audiences worldwide reach for tissues. This was Puccini's goal: far piangere - "to make people cry." His success in this brought him immense fame and fortune, but how did he craft such enduring art? This audio biography reveals the perfectionist behind the works, a man who spent years refining his operas to make them feel as if they were part of real life. Puccini's personal life is often reduced to his notorious passions for women, cars, and hunting, along with the tragedy surrounding the suicide of his maid, Doria Manfredi. He was undoubtedly a "macho" through and through, but as he confided to his soulmate Sybil Seligman, "not even my friends know who I really am." In this audio biography, with it's many quotations, Puccini shares numerous aspects of his story himself, often surprising listeners with his humour, self-deprecation, and critical reflection (though his behaviour remained unchanged). We hear of his affairs, miseries, joys, and struggles. We accompany him on his bicycle, aboard an ocean liner, duck hunting, in family disputes, and in moments of triumph in New York. And we witness his country - Italy, tragically torn by crisis and eventually sliding into war and fascism. The main focus, however, is his music, and not just his famous arias and operas. From the church music of his student days to experimental stage works like La Fanciulla del West and Il Trittico, this audio biography charts the remarkable development of his career and uncovers many musical gems.

Helmut Lachenmann, who celebrates his 90th birthday in the music year of 2025, has composed several milestones in contemporary classical music. Sir Simon Rattle and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra are dedicating themselves to some of these exceptional works. In his tuba concerto Harmonica, Helmut Lachenmann explores the limits of sound - with music that oscillates between eruption and silence, by means of "strictly constructed denial" (Lachenmann) and by deliberately disrupting the familiar, and eludes socially preformed listening expectations. This appeal to the audience's self-awareness remains as relevant as ever. The soloist is Stefan Tischler, principal tuba player of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the live recording with the BRSO conducted by Sir Simon Rattle was made on March 22, 2025. Klangschatten - mein Saitenspiel by Helmut Lachenmann deals with the "verso" of sound, it's suppressed and "unwelcome" components. The spectrum here ranges from toneless or muffled sounds to differently coloured noise and clear tones. Lachenmann himself described the piece as " an offer of expressive intensity that reflects the bourgeois longing for beauty and seeks to fulfil it, that is, to overcome it." The work was performed by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Matthias Herrmann on May 23, 2025 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. Helmut Lachenmann, born in Stuttgart in 1935, is one of the most renowned German composers of contemporary music. He studied piano, music theory and counterpoint in Stuttgart and composition with Luigi Nono in Venice. The first public performances of his works took place in 1962 at the Venice Biennale and at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. He taught composition in Hanover (1976-1981) and in Stuttgart (1981-1999), and has given numerous master classes in Germany and abroad. His works are performed by internationally renowned players and orchestras all over the world. Helmut Lachenmann has received numerous awards, including the German Music Authors' Prize of GEMA (2015) for his lifetime achievements and, most recently, for his compositional work, the 'President of the French Republic Prize' from the Academie Charles Cros (2025).

The oratorios of Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674) are seminal works in the early history of a genre that combines sacred narrative, theatrical expression, and musical virtuosity to create a new, dramatic form. Of the mostly Old Testament stories to which Carissimi's oratorios refer, the vivid tale of Jonah stands out. During his divine mission at sea, the biblical hero is caught in a storm and swallowed by a whale. Carissimi shapes this material into a fast-paced plot with emotionally powerful solo recitatives, interspersed with a complex array of choral passages-including a striking double chorus depicting the storm. Who better to interpret Carissimi's expressive music than Giovanni Antonini, one of the foremost conductors on the period-instrument scene? The performance also features the historically informed performance ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, with instrumentation specially adapted to the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the unique tonal qualities of the oratorio. It's artistic director Giovanni Antonini has worked with the Bavarian Radio Chorus for many years, with critically acclaimed concerts featuring works ranging from the early Baroque period to the First Viennese School-and he also finds the perfect sound for Carissimi's music. With choral music by Claudio Monteverdi and Orlando di Lasso, this album also traces the development of dramatic vocal music in the transition from the late Renaissance motet to the more emotionally expressive interpretations of the early Baroque period. The famous Lamento d'Arianna is the only surviving piece from the lost opera Ariadne by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), who reworked this lament into an equally expressive madrigal in 1610. Excerpts from the two legendary and mysterious cycles Prophetiae Sibyllarum and Lagrime di San Pietro by the Wittelsbach court composer Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) conclude the album, allowing us to experience masterpieces of the motet style, to which the Bavarian Radio Chorus regularly devotes itself in historically informed performances. With it's powerful double-choir storm scene, the oratorio Jonah is a highlight of high Baroque choral music. Carissimi's oratorios are key milestones in the development of the genre. Featuring the renowned early music ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, led by Giovanni Antonini, with whom the BR Chorus has already performed programmes to high acclaim, this release also includes the madrigal version of the legendary Lamento d'Arianna by Claudio Monteverdi, the master of early Baroque opera. Also including excerpts from two important cycles of works by the Munich Renaissance master composer Orlando di Lasso, this dynamic live recording captures performances in Munich's Prinzregententheater.

Sir Georg Solti was a frequent guest conductor with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Born in Hungary in 1912, he played a decisive role in rebuilding the Bavarian National Theatre after the war. From the 1960s onwards, he was considered one of the world's leading conductors alongside Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan. Georg Solti returned to Munich once more for a special concert on February 10, 1984, with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. Aged 71 and at the height of his career, he conducted excerpts from Sergei Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. Works by these two Russian composers, as well as Bruckner and Mahler, suited him particularly well, as they sounded musically spirited and exceptionally transparent. Prokofiev's three-act ballet Romeo and Juliet was written in 1935 for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, but it's premiere did not take place until 1938, in Brno in the Czech Republic. At the special concert in Munich in 1984 with Georg Solti, fifteen numbers from the ballet music were performed in chronological order. Pyotr Tchaikovsky dedicated his Fourth Symphony - composed in 1877/78 at the same time as his opera Eugene Onegin - to his patron Nadezhda von Meck. Despite their lengthy correspondence, they never actually met. In a letter to her dated March 1878, Tchaikovsky outlined the feelings he had experienced while composing his Fourth Symphony, though no specific programme can be discerned from them.

From the outset, Sir Simon Rattle's conducting career has been marked by a spirit of innovation and renewal - and contemporary music in all it's facets continues to play a significant role in his work. So it was only natural that, upon taking up his post as chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, he should dedicate a concert to musica viva. The programme featured the world premiere of Vito �uraj's "Automatones" as well as Luciano Berio's "Coro". Sir Simon Rattle has conducted the latter piece several times before, but this performance marks the first recording under his baton. This is due to the unique demands that the composition places on recording technology: choir singers and orchestra musicians are positioned in pairs on the podium to overcome the visual and acoustic separation of choir and orchestra voices. This presented a particular challenge to the Bavarian Radio recording team, but they rose to it successfully, as can be heard on the new CD from BR-KLASSIK. Composed between 1975 and 1976, Luciano Berio's "Coro", for forty voices and orchestra, takes anonymous folk poems by the Sioux, the Navajo and the Zuni, as well as song texts from Polynesia, Peru, Croatia, Venice, Piedmont, Chile, and the Song of Solomon - all of them reflecting the deeply human urge for freedom - and combines them with the moving poetry of Pablo Neruda, whose death coincided with the bloody suppression of the Allende democracy in Chile by Augusto Pinochet in September 1973.

The works of violinist and composer Nicolaus Richter de Vroe (*1955) have been and are regularly performed by the most renowned organisers and festivals of new music. The musician began his training at the Special School for Music in Dresden, now known as the Sachsisches Landesgymnasium fur Musik Carl Maria von Weber. After studying the violin at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, he performed with various chamber music, improvisation and experimental ensembles. In 1980, he joined the Staatskapelle Berlin and completed his composition studies with Friedrich Goldmann and Georg Katzer at the Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic. In 1982, he founded the Ensemble for New Music Berlin (East), which quickly became an important platform for contemporary music in the GDR. From the mid-1980s onwards, Richter de Vroe performed his own works and appeared as a performer at all ARD radio stations, as well as at international festivals. In 1988 he joined the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and, one year later, founded the XSEMBLE Munich - an ensemble characterised by experimental programming and stylistic openness. In 1996, he co-founded the Munich Society for New Music, dedicated to promoting contemporary music. Alongside his work as a composer and performer, Richter de Vroe has been a regular guest at Goethe Institutes worldwide since 1994, delivering lectures and giving portrait concerts and presentations of his work. In 2008 he was admitted to the Saxon Academy of Arts. Richter de Vroe's Violin Concerto was composed between 2018 and 2020 as a commission from musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk, kindly supported by the Friends of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. The world premiere, recorded on this CD, was performed by Ilya Gringolts and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Johannes Kalitzke on October 28, 2022 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. - The initial inspiration for Richter de Vroe's Violin Concerto came from Ilya Gringolts' interpretation of Gyorgy Ligeti's Violin Concerto. The concerto begins with an introduction, followed by a first cadenza accompanied by individual instruments in a drone-like manner. This is followed by the first nocturne, which features sounds reminiscent of natural lutes. In the so-called 'Main Movement', "things get pretty crazy! There's a real frenzy with lots of momentum and variety, not to mention a lot of - how shall I put it - 'nasty surprises'!" (Richter de Vroe) Avenir for organ, choir and orchestra was also commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk in 2013/14. This CD features the recording of the world premiere on June 6, 2014, performed by Wolfgang Mitterer on the organ and accompanied by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Johannes Kalitzke.

The works of violinist and composer Nicolaus Richter de Vroe (*1955) have been and are regularly performed by the most renowned organisers and festivals of new music. The musician began his training at the Special School for Music in Dresden, now known as the Sachsisches Landesgymnasium fur Musik Carl Maria von Weber. After studying the violin at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, he performed with various chamber music, improvisation, and experimental ensembles. In 1980, he joined the Staatskapelle Berlin and completed his composition studies with Friedrich Goldmann and Georg Katzer at the Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic. In 1982, he founded the Ensemble for New Music Berlin (East), which quickly became an important platform for contemporary music in the GDR. From the mid-1980s onwards, Richter de Vroe performed his own works and appeared as a performer at all ARD radio stations, as well as at international festivals. In 1988 he joined the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and, one year later, founded the XSEMBLE Munich - an ensemble characterised by experimental programming and stylistic openness. In 1996, he co-founded the Munich Society for New Music, dedicated to promoting contemporary music. Alongside his work as a composer and performer, Richter de Vroe has been a regular guest at Goethe Institutes worldwide since 1994, delivering lectures and giving portrait concerts and presentations of his work. In 2008 he was admitted to the Saxon Academy of Arts. Richter de Vroe's composition TETRA?b IV for four soloists and orchestra was commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk in 2002. The world premiere, which is recorded on this CD, features Isao Nakamura (percussion), Irvine Arditti, Mike Svoboda (trombone), Isabeella Beumer (voice) and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Rundel, and took place on November 15, 2002 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. - Although the large orchestra is joined by four soloists, the work is not a concerto or concerto grosso. The solo parts are so distinct that it would be challenging to have them compete in a concert setting. They also appear successively, each characterising a longer section of the work with their own style, and they can only be heard performing together towards the end. The vocalist's solo is based on a poem by the experimental Russian poet Daniil Kharms. Richter de Vroe's artistic affinity with Kharms' thinking is expressed in the title TETRA?b IV - the Russian word "Tetra", in which only the last letter is written in Cyrillic, means "notebook" - as well as in the composer's experimental approach to the text. Shibuya Movements for orchestra was also commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk in 1991/92. This CD features a recording of the world premiere on May 15, 1992 by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Cristobal Halffter, performed in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. Euforia for orchestra was composed in 2009, and it's world premiere on October 31, 2009 by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons also took place in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz.

On December 1, 2024, Ivan Repusic, chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra, conducted a concert performance of Frano Parac's opera Judita at Munich's Prinzregententheater. This two-act, seven-scene opera is about the siege of a city by brutal foreign invaders. The biblical story of Judith, who liberates her homeland of Bethulia from it's Assyrian occupiers by killing Holofernes, certainly has parallels with Croatian history, particularly that of the city of Split. From the mid-15th century onwards, the country repeatedly fought against incursions by the Ottoman Empire - and Split in Dalmatia was particularly vulnerable to the attacks of the Turks, who advanced to it's gates. The poet Marko Marulic (1450-1524) alludes to these events in allegorical form in his epic Judita, completed in 1501. One of the earliest poetic works in the Croatian language, it established Marulic's reputation as the father of Croatian literature. To celebrate the 550th anniversary of the author's birth in 2000, and in commemoration of the 1, 700th anniversary of the foundation of Split, Frano Parac, a composer born in Split in 1948, chose the epic Judita as the basis for his first opera. It premiered on July 14, 2000 at the Croatian National Theatre in Split. The live recording made in December 2023 is now being released on CD by BR-KLASSIK, supplemented by Dance of the Baroness (Ples Barunice) from Parac's 1985 dramatic ballet Carmina Krle�iana, based on texts by the expressionist-modernist writer Miroslav Krle�a. First published in 1990 in a piano version, the dance is a rewarding and effective piece for pianists - and it's orchestral version is equally impressive.

On it's new CD from BR-KLASSIK, the Bavarian Radio Chorus, directed by Howard Arman, presents Christmas music from Italy. With his Lauda per la nativita del Signore, Ottorino Respighi modernised the medieval nativity play of the same name by the religious lyricist Jacopone da Todi. He had already explored art forms of the past in adaptations of early music, re-creations and free works based on Gregorian chants. In this piece, he assigned the medieval verses to three soloists - the angel, the Virgin Mary, and the shepherd - as well as a chamber choir. Accompanied by selected woodwind instruments reminiscent of the music of Italian shepherds, and by four-handed piano and triangle, the miracle of Christmas is brought to life in a simple yet impressive way. Francesco Paolo Frontini is remembered less for his compositions than for his many collections of Sicilian folk songs. From his Canti religiosi del popolo siciliano (Religious Songs of the Sicilian People, published in 1938), a collection of 22 songs for voice and piano underlaid with Sicilian dialect verses and their Italian translations, Howard Arman selected eight songs and arranged them for choir and instruments. Like Frontini, who already included regional variants from Catania, Palermo, and other parts of the Mediterranean island, Arman also arranged different regional versions of two songs. The melody of the Italian Marian carol O sanctissima, which is one of the most popular Christmas carols in the German-speaking countries with it's opening verse O du frohliche, could possibly also have originated from Sicily. The arrangement is once again by Howard Arman.

On February 1, 2025, Ivan Repusic, chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra, directed Boris Papandopulo's 1942 Croatian Mass for soloists and a cappella choir in Munich's Prinzregententheater with the Bavarian Radio Chorus. BR-KLASSIK is now presenting this outstanding interpretation of the impressive sacred composition on CD as a live recording. The Croatian composer and conductor Boris Papandopulo (1906-1991) worked as a choirmaster, conductor and opera director in Split, Rijeka, Zagreb and Sarajevo. He created more than 400 compositions, spanning almost every genre. Although of Greek origin, Papandopulo was deeply rooted in the Croatian musical tradition, and his broad stylistic spectrum extended to neo-classicism, jazz, pop and folk music. His works combine elements of Croatian folk music with twelve-tone music and demand a high level of virtuosity. Papandopulo completed his training in Zagreb and at the New Conservatory in Vienna, spending the majority of his life in Croatia. The Croatian Mass is a sacred work in the spirit and style of centuries-old Croatian vocal music as well as being a practical choral composition. It is composed without orchestral or organ accompaniment, as Croatian choral music is almost exclusively sung a cappella. Papandopulo composed the mass for the First Croatian Choral Society Kolo, which he directed from 1928 to 1934 and again from 1938 to 1946. He completed his Croatian Mass in 1938, and it premiered in Zagreb on April 1, 1942, performed by the Croatian Choral Society Kolo under the composer's direction. Although the Croatian translation of the Roman Catholic liturgy gives the work a certain national flavour, the piece is primarily influenced by the tradition of old Dalmatian church hymns. Composed in a polyphonic style, it's syllabic and diatonic text settings are generally characteristic of Croatian vocal music.

Idomeneo has long been one of Sir Simon Rattle's favourite works, and with good reason. Mozart's "dramma per musica" from 1781 completely revitalised the opera seria genre, which had previously been considered outmoded. It opens the series of operas from the composer's mature period. For this commissioned work for the excellent ensemble of the Munich Residenztheater, Mozart had unlimited musical resources at his disposal. It was his most extensive and ambitious stage work to date, featuring demanding arias, differentiated role portraits, a virtuoso orchestral part and several large choral scenes that rank among the most impressive in his oeuvre. - Mozart's first great opera gave Simon Rattle the opportunity to work intensively with the Chorus immediately after taking up his position as the new Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra in the autumn of 2023, further deepening his interest in historical performance practice in Munich. He was supported by an exceptional cast of singers, including British tenor Andrew Staples in the challenging title role, soprano Sabine Devieilhe and mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena as the tender lovers Ilia and Idamante, soprano Elsa Dreisig as the envious and distraught Elettra, and several other soloists and choral soloists. Howard Arman directs the Bavarian Radio Chorus, and Simon Rattle conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The music of the composer, educator and musicologist Liza Lim, who was born in Perth, Australia in 1966, has a collaborative and transcultural focus. Her recent works have explored beauty, anger and noise, ecological issues, and women's spiritual traditions. Liza Lim has received commissions from leading orchestras and institutions worldwide, and her works continue to be performed at prestigious festivals. In 2024, she was named "Composer of the Year" by OPUS KLASSIK. Liza Lim is Professor of Composition and Australian Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. As part of a Laureate Fellowship from the Australian Research Council, she will lead a five-year program starting in 2025 to promote the exploration of pressing climate and social issues through music. Her gender equity initiatives through Sydney Con's Composing Women have had a significant impact on commissioning, performance and next-generation leadership in Australian music. A Sutured World for cello and orchestra was commissioned in 2024 by musica viva of the Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Cello Biennale Amsterdam, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Casa da Musica Porto. The world premiere recorded on this CD took place in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz on October 25, 2024, with Nicolas Altstaedt (cello) and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner. The orchestral work Mary - Transcendence after Trauma was commissioned by musica viva of the Bayerischer Rundfunk in 2020/21. The world premiere of the work at musica viva, originally scheduled for January 28, 2022, had to be cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. In the meantime, the triptych was premiered at the Cologne Philharmonie on April 29, 2022 as part of "Musik der Zeit" with the WDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Cristian Macelaru. This CD features the musica viva recording of May 12, 2023 in Munich's Herkulessaal by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Franck Ollu. The Compass for flute, didgeridoo and large orchestra was commissioned by musica viva of the Bayerischer Rundfunk and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2005/06. The premiere took place at the Sydney Opera House on August 23, 2006 with Rosamund Plummer (flute), William Barton (didgeridoo) and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alexander Briger. This CD features the musica viva recording of the European premiere of the work on January 12, 2007 in Munich's Herkulessaal, with Carin Levine (flute), William Barton (didgeridoo) and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christoph Poppen. ? The main work on the CD is Liza Lim's latest composition: a live recording of the world premiere of the cello concerto "A Sutured World" (2024) as part of the musica viva concert series by the Bayerischer Rundfunk from the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz - with the famous cellist Nicolas Altstaedt ? The CD also features Liza Lim's compositions "Mary - Transcendence after Trauma" (2020/21) and "The Compass" (2005/06) as live recordings from the musica viva concert series ? Performed and conducted by renowned musicians, all of them experts in contemporary music

This production is dedicated to the works of two American composers, of whom Morten Lauridsen is certainly the better known in Germany. His choral work O magnum mysterium (1994) in particular has become one of the hits of contemporary choral literature in recent years. Lauridsen (born 1943) grew up in Portland, Oregon, the son of Danish immigrants. The songs of Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers were very present in his home. He initially studied English and history and worked as a fireman. He then turned his attention entirely to music and moved to the University of Southern California, where, after graduating, he taught music theory and later became a professor of composition. As a creator of primarily vocal music he received many awards, including the National Medal of Arts in 2007. From 1994 to 2001, he was composer in residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, one of the leading professional choirs in the USA, which also premiered his Lux aeterna. All five movements of this cycle refer to the "Eternal Light". While Lauridsen was setting the underlying liturgical texts to music, his mother was dying - but the words about light as a universal symbol of all-encompassing enlightenment gave him consolation. Jake Runestad is one of the latest additions to the list of great American composers and is in the process of securing his place in US music history. Born in 1986 in Rockford, Illinois, he grew up in a family that sang a lot. There was also a piano, and during his primary school years he began to play little melodies on it - also teaching himself Scott Joplin's The Entertainer. From 2009 to 2011, he studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, after which he quickly gained recognition, especially in the field of choral music. However, his catalogue of works also includes operas, orchestral pieces and chamber music. He has received commissions from the Washington National Opera, the vocal ensemble VOCES8 and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. His first album, The Hope of Loving, was immediately nominated for a Grammy Award. A keen mountaineer and camper, Runestad finds nature a great source of inspiration. In his Earth Symphony, Mother Earth herself is given a voice; the five interrelated sections deal with her destruction, her sorrow, her healing, and also her hope for humanity.

JOHANNES BRAHMS - HUNGARIAN DANCES: Before the publication of his Hungarian Dances in their original version for piano four hands, Johannes Brahms was hardly known to the educated middle classes, but the works ensured that the composer became a household name. In their subsequent orchestral versions, the Dances entered the repertoire of prestigious concert orchestras and, after music had become technically reproducible, went on to become even more massively popular. On this CD, BR-KLASSIK presents Brahms' 21 Hungarian Dances in their orchestral versions, in a studio production with the Munich Radio Orchestra under it's former chief conductor Roberto Abbado. Johannes Brahms had become acquainted with Hungarian melodies and scales through the Hungarian violinist Eduard Remenyi, with whom he had undertaken his first concert tour in 1853. His Hungarian Dances for piano four hands were composed from around 1858 onwards; the first ten were published in 1869, the others in 1880. In 1872, Brahms presented a version of the first ten dances for solo piano and in 1873 he orchestrated Dances Nos. 1, 3 and 10, premiering them in Leipzig on February 5, 1874. In his Hungarian Dances, Brahms skilfully combined various Hungarian folk song melodies with his own. The fact that the originals were, and remain, unknown to most listeners is probably what makes the compositions so appealing. His Hungarian Dances were extremely popular right from the start, and are still among his best-known works today. None other than Antonin Dvorak was responsible for the orchestrations of other dances, and popular orchestral versions were also produced by Albert Parlow, Andreas Hallen, Martin Schmeling, Paul Juon and Hans Gal.

GIACOMO PUCCINI "LE VILLI" - Opera ballo in two parts Libretto by Ferdinando Fontana after the story "Les Willis" by Alphonse Karr With his first stage work 'Le Villi', the young Giacomo Puccini instantly struck a chord with his contemporaries. His unerring instinct for deeply moving melodies made him a beacon of hope for a new generation of Italian opera composers. In this 'opera ballo' he masterfully set to music the gruesomely beautiful legend of an unfaithful fiance who is killed by the frenzied dance of the "Willis" - elemental spirits haunting the Black Forest. On October 13, 2024, a few weeks before the centenary of the composer's death on November 29, the Munich Radio Orchestra presented a concert performance of the two-act version of 'Le Villi' at the city's Prinzregententheater. Anita Hartig, Kang Wang and Boris Pinkhasovich performed the solo parts, the Bavarian Radio Chorus sang, and the Munich Radio Orchestra played under it's chief conductor, Ivan Repusic. To mark the 100th anniversary of the great Italian composer's death, BR-KLASSIK is now presenting the live recording of this extraordinary concert on CD. 'Le Villi' was composed in the autumn of 1883. The 25-year-old Puccini, who had just passed his final exams at the Milan Conservatory, took part in a one-act opera competition organised by the publisher Sonzogno, but came away empty-handed. The premiere of the one-act version on May 31, 1884 at the Teatro dal Verme in Milan was nevertheless a sensational success, largely due to the magical sound of the music and the charming melodies. Admittedly, the dramaturgy of this 'opera ballo' was probably too unusual for it to remain in the stage repertoire for very long. It's sensational success quickly faded and could not be revived even after several reworkings (the two-act version created in 1884, and first performed on December 26 of that year at the Teatro Regio in Turin, forms the basis of this recording). Nevertheless, this first work paved the way for all of Puccini's subsequent operatic triumphs. - Celebrating the Puccini year 2024, the Munich Radio Orchestra conducted by Ivan Repusic presents the composer's first stage work 'Le Villi' in the two-act version from 1884 in Italian - Recording of a recent concert on October 13, 2024 from the Prinzregententheater in Munich - Featuring renowned opera performers Anita Hartig, Kang Wang and Boris Pinkhasovich as well as the Bavarian Radio Chorus

Musica viva KALITZKE AND FERRARI Johannes Kalitzke: Zeitkapsel - Totentanz fur gro�es Orchester ("Time Capsule - Dance of Death for large orchestra") Luc Ferrari: Histoire du Plaisir et de la Desolation ("A Story of Pleasure and Desolation") On November 10, 2023, Johannes Kalitzke presented himself in a double role as conductor and composer ("the one makes you want the other") in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz with the world premiere of his Zeitkapsel - Totentanz for large orchestra ("Time Capsule - Dance of Death for large orchestra"), commissioned by musica viva, as well as with Luc Ferrari's Histoire du Plaisir et de la Desolation, a sonic search for "new sensuality". - Both compositions can be experienced in this CD live recording of the musica viva concert. Johannes Kalitzke (born 1959) is a renowned German conductor and composer. Zeitkapsel - Totentanz for large orchestra was commissioned by Bavarian Radio's musica viva in 2022-2023. The world premiere documented on this CD took place on November 10, 2023 in Munich. Sebastian Schottke was responsible for the sound direction. Representing time capsules in the material sense, the orchestral piece contains musical artifacts from different times and cultures that were rediscovered at a later date and that characterise the sonic context of the piece, above all the first ever acoustic recording in history: a recording of sound waves on wax paper from 1860. Fragments of it can be heard at the end of the piece, like a revelation. Histoire du Plaisir et de la Desolation for orchestra by Luc Ferrari (1929-2005) was written in 1979-1981 as a Radio France commission for the Orchestre National de France, and was premiered in Paris in 1982 by that orchestra under the direction of Michael Luig. Orchestral music is not necessarily what one associates with the name Luc Ferrari. The composer, who died young, became known primarily as an exponent of musique concrete, opening up new creative paths in his use of tape technology. His sonic quest leads from the promising opening movement Harmonie du diable to the double-edged nature of pleasure (Plaisir-Desir), only to fail brilliantly with the "rupture of all logic" in the final Ronde de la desolation. ? Johannes Kalitzke conducts the world premiere of his orchestral piece Zeitkapsel - Totentanz for large orchestra; live recording from the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz as part of Bavarian Radio's musica viva concert series ? He also conducts the impressive and rarely performed orchestral piece Histoire du Plaisir et de la Desolation by the French composer and sound artist Luc Ferrari ? The conductor and composer Kalitzke conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Johannes Kalitzke, conductor

BERNARD HAITINK conducts: SHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONY No. 15 in A major op. 141. The Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra enjoyed a long and intensive artistic collaboration, which came to an abrupt end with Haitink's death in October 2021. BR-KLASSIK now presents outstanding and previously unreleased live recordings of their concerts from past years. This recording of Shostakovich's Fifteenth Symphony documents a concert given in February 2015 in Munich's Philharmonie i'm Gasteig. Haitink first conducted a Munich subscription concert in 1958, and from then on was a regular guest with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra - either in the Herkulessaal of the Residenz or in the Philharmonie i'm Gasteig. This congenial collaboration lasted for more than six decades. The orchestra musicians and singers enjoyed working with him just as much as the BR sound engineers. As an interpreter of the symphonic repertoire, and especially that of the German-Austrian Late Romantic period, Haitink was held in high esteem throughout the world. With him, the symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich were always in the best of hands. Haitink's driving principle was to make the sound architecture of a musical composition, with it's complex interweaving, transparently audible; extreme sensitivity of sound was combined with a clearly structured interpretation of the score. As the last symphony in the oeuvre of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, the Fifteenth is a kind of symphonic conclusion. Although the composer set out to write a "happy symphony" and this epithet has since become commonplace, everything cheerful in it has a dimension that is exaggerated into the bizarre and grotesque. The work also contains musical references, for example to Rossini's "William Tell" overture, Wagner's "The Ring of the Nibelung" (the so-called "fate motif") and "Tristan and Isolde", and Alban Berg's "Wozzeck". Quotations from Shostakovich's own earlier works also appear. The symphony was composed in 1971 in Repino, a suburb of St Petersburg. The world premiere took place on January 8, 1972, under the baton of the composer's son Maxim.

For his ''Occasional Oratorio'', composed in 1746 in an age of personal and political upheaval, Handel made generous use of much of his own earlier material, and this resulted in something quite close to an anthology: a choice collection of his most beautiful and most famous pieces - as it were, a ''Best Of''. The ''Messiah'' librettist Charles Jennens complained loudly that the oratorio was ''a triumph for a victory not yet gain'd'', and that its libretto, by a certain Newburgh Hamilton, was an ''inconcevable jumble of John Milton and Edmund Spenser''. Nevertheless, the ''Occasional Oratorio'' offers the modern listener magnificent and largely familiar melodies, highly virtuosic Baroque arias, moving choruses and, above all, a magnificent Late Baroque sound that, in this extremely compact score, is quite unique. Audiences at the time probably considered this to be ''Handel at his best'', and today's public doubtlessly shares that opinion. This virtuoso and colorful interpretation, recorded recently on February 11, 2017 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz, was an exemplary success, delighting the audience and the trade press alike. Howard Arman conducted the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, teh Akademie fur Alte Music Berlin with its historically informed performance practice, and a line-up of highly talented English soloists.

Telling the story of Christmas from the Nativity to the visit of the Three Wise Men, J.S. Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" and comprised of six cantatas, this piece remains for many, ubiquitous to the holiday season. What elevates this December 2010 live recording from the Herkulessaal in the Munich Residenz is the spirited collaboration between the young and excellent vocalists including Rachel Harnisch, Anke Vondung and more, along with the fine Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of Peter Dijkstra with the transcendental period instrument ensemble, the Akademie f�r Alte Musik Berlin all of whom provide a stunningly fresh take on this baroque masterpiece.

The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks has already performed Beethoven symphony cycles on several occasions. Mariss Jansons has now extended the cycle concept in two respects: with works specially commissioned from contemporary composers, who have contributed their own musical reflections on Beethoven symphonies, and by presenting these outstanding concert events on the record market as a series of live recordings. Following the excellent response from critics and audiences for the award-winning Complete Edition (BR-KLASSIK, 900119), BR-KLASSIK now also presents Beethoven's symphonies on individual CDs. In addition to the live recording of the "Pastorale" by Ludwig van Beethoven from Munich's Herkulessaal in 2012, the production includes a contribution from the Georgian composer Giya Kancheli (born 1935), whose work "Dixi" ("I have spoken") for choir and orchestra is oriented towards Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and was first performed in 2009.

Long considered one of the seminal works in the classical oratorio tradition, St. Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach also holds a strong connection with many to the Passion weeks. A part of the BR-KLASSIK WISSE/N (BR-Klassik Knowledge) audio book/music insight series, author Wieland Schmid gives us an introduction to the St. Matthew Passion, which clearly illustrates both the basic structural principles as well as looking over the composer's shoulder as he writes, instantly illuminating the way Bach used such a wide variety of means to translate the Biblical texts into music. A thrilling journey through the St. Matthew Passion, which will appeal both to audio book and music fans. The musical examples are presented by the Choir and Symphony as well as the famed and history Regensburg Cathedral Sparrows boys' choir and led by Peter Dijkstra. The narrator Christian Bruckner, is known for being the regular German dubbing voice for Robert de Niro, as well as dubbing for a number of other film roles and participating in a large collection of talking books.

One of the most popular symphonic poems by Richard Strauss -actually one of the most famous tone poems ever -is his "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" op. 30, from 1896. The distinctive theme, followed by timpani blows and powerful, surging chords in the brass, was well-known long before it was used for a film score (Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey"). Fifty years ago, this work went far beyond the limits of classical music -and is now familiar to all. The cumbersome title, along with the fact that the composition tackles Friedrich Nietzsche's eponymous poetic and philosophical work may even have initially hampered its overwhelming popularity. Nietzsche himself fittingly commented: "To which genre does this 'Zarathustra' belong, I wonder? I am rather inclined to think it is 'symphonies'. "Strauss’s "Burleske" for Piano and Orchestra sounds completely different. It was composed a decade earlier in 1885/86, when the 21-year-old composer had just begun his first job as Capellmeister of the Meiningen Court Orchestra and as the assistant of Hans von Bülow. Originally referred to as "Scherzo" (Strauss also called it a "piano concerto" ina letter to his mother), the work was dedicated to Strauss’s mentor, Bülow. It was first performed in Eisenach in 1890 by the piano soloist Eugen d'Albert. The themes are cheerful and "burlesque", and the solo instrument and the orchestra perform together in the best sense. The music shows us Strauss in an early phase –he had not yet linked his compositional technique to that of Liszt and Wagner. In the year the work was premiered, Strauss himself referred to the "Burleske" as a work that "he had left far behind him". Only rarely performed for many years, the work regained popularity over the past two decades, thanks not least to Glenn Gould.

During the Weimar Republic era, alongside Richard Strauss, the then oft-performed composer Walter Braunfels was considered an important exponent of a moderate modernism. Despite his Jewish roots, his works are characterized by a deep Christian humanism. Written in 1933, Verkündigung ("The Annunciation"), set in medieval times, reflects on the major issues of that time, including a search for meaning behind undeserved suffering. Ulf Schirmer leads the Münchner Rundfunkorchester with renowned soprano Juliane Banse and rising tenor Matthias Klink in the main roles.

Two famous orchestral works that were written in the 20th century but breathe the spirit of nineteenth-century music can be heard on this new album from BR-KLASSIK: the ballet music "Carmen Suite", based on the famous melodies from George Bizet's eponymous opera and masterfully arranged and adapted by the composer Rodion Shchedrin in 1968, and Ottorino Respighi's well-known symphonic poem "Pini di Roma" (The Pines of Rome), written in 1924. The name of the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin is primarily associated in the West with his "Carmen Suite", which has been highly popular ever since its first performance. The thirteen movements of this ballet music are based on Bizet's opera “Carmen”, and carefully adapted to the musical language of the present day. After Shchedrin's wife Maya Plisetskaya, long-time prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre, had vainly asked both Shostakovich and Khachaturian to compose a "Carmen" ballet especially for her, her husband decided to do so instead – a decision that was rewarded with international success. The rousing music in Shchedrin's interpretation sounds very familiar, yet in many ways, entirely new! The Italian composer Ottorino Respighi is especially admired for his masterly instrumentation. The symphonic poems in his "Roman Trilogy", which deal with the fountains, pine trees and festivals of his adopted home city of Rome, made his name immortal. In his “Pines of Rome” he describes four locations in the Eternal City, each with a different historical background. Children play under the pines in the gardens of the Villa Borghese; a solemn hymn can be heard from inside an ancient catacomb; in the pines on Rome’s Janiculum Hill we hear a nightingale singing; and finally, in the morning mists on the Appian Way, we hear a consul leading his army in triumph up the Capitoline Hill.