Filmed in North and South Korea, "Inbetween", a film by Maria Stodtmeier, explores whether music can overcome the boundaries of a divided country. There is one figure representing the two Koreas, a figure whose life in itself forms a bridge between both worlds: Korean composer Isang Yun is one of the very few people acknowledged on both sides. The film traces the course of a life that has been interpreted in different ways, examining the worlds of North and South Korean music, taking the viewer on an exciting journey through two political systems that Isang Yun spent his life trying to reconcile. Since the establishment of ACCENTUS Music, Maria Stodtmeier has been involved in the enterprise as author, director and producer. Ms. Stodtmeier was co-director with Paul Smaczny on the documentary "El Sistema" (Grand Prix Golden Prague. "A composer cannot view the world in which he lives with indifference... Where there is pain, where there is injustice, I want to have my say through my music." - Isang Yun, 1983

ZEMENT

A 2020 Grammy nominee for best opera recording!

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Based on Oscar Wilde’s story The Birthday of the Infanta, Zemlinsky’s single-act opera Der Zwerg is the tragic tale of a dwarf who is presented at court, falls in love with the beautiful Donna Clara, but is ultimately forced to see himself as others see him and to die of a broken heart. Preceded by Schoenberg’s Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene, Op. 34 (1930), Zemlinsky’s Romantic score is full of psychological intrigue. Is Der Zwerg a critique of society’s superficiality? Is it the composer’s self-portrait in his doomed affair with Alma Schindler? Director Tobias Kratzer’s stunning, transparent production creates a space in which each character is thrown into sharp relief in this ‘fine, noble and melancholy work’. (Bachtrack.com)

Franz Schubert’s Winterreise, a cycle of 24 songs for voice and piano set to poems by Wilhelm Müller, is not only regarded as the zenith of Schubert’s song composition, but as the pinnacle of German art song in its entirety. German composer Hans Zender arranged the cycle in 1993 with the title: “Schubert’s ‘Winterreise’ – a composed interpretation“. Zender’s version for tenor and chamber orchestra reveals the cycle’s potential to disturb, and approaches Wilhelm Müller’s poems in its own way. Zender pushes into the darkest regions of human existence. With his interpretation, he brings to light emotions that pulsate just beneath the surface in Schubert’s work, uncovering the uncanny layers in the depths of the music. Like Hans Zender, Christian Spuck’s production, which was awarded the renowned Prix Benois de la Danse in 2019, concerns itself less with illustrating the external stations of the traveler’s journey. Instead, it approaches the cycle with thoroughly comprehensive abstraction. Using a mixture of large ensemble scenes and intimate solo images, Christian Spuck undertakes a journey into the innermost self. As he does so, he explores such timeless themes as love, longing, alienation, and abandonment, allowing the medium of dance to provide new perspectives on one of the greatest works of classical music.

Although it plays second fiddle on the international stage to the universally popular operetta Die Fledermaus, the glorious musical score of Die Zigeunerbaron by Johann Strauss II (“The Waltz King”) is no less brilliant than his most famous work. Videoland, purveyor of the finest in filmed middle-European operetta, here offers up a performance of The Gypsy Baron staged during the 2011 Seefestspiele Moerbisch Austria Festival. Starring Daniel and Harald Serafin, Evelin Novak, Lucien Krasznec and Wolfgang Bankl, with legendary mezzo Brigitte Fassbaender in charge of production.

Zoraida di Granata, a stirring tale of love, betrayal and reconciliation, set in the Moorish kingdom of Granada in Andalusia in 1480, gave the 24-year-old Donizetti his first major operatic triumph. It marked his establishment as a true musical dramatist with a sure sense of craftsmanship and a flair for the dramatic. The opera's virtuosic central roles, fine choruses and powerful set-pieces show Rossini's unavoidable influence, though it is more a presence rather than imitation. This performance of the 1822 edition, not the 1824 revision, is performed on original instruments by Gli Originali and conducted by Alberto Zanardi.