Le Nozze di Figaro Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Lorenzo Da Ponte Theater an der Wien, Austria Released 19 March 2021 Veteran conductor and Mozart interpreter Nikolaus Harnoncourt dictates what may be his final testament in this the first of his cycle of all three Mozart / Da Ponte operas, presented in Vienna in 2014. He chose

Beethoven · Tchaikovsky · Schmidt · Stephan (Berlin Philharmonic, Kirill Petrenko) Lip-smacking music-making in BPO’s first fruits with Petrenko. Kirill Petrenko was already enjoying a fine relationship with the Berlin Philharmonic when, in June 2015, they elected him their new chief conductor. When he took up office a year ago, the orchestra’s house label issued

Earth Day: Beethoven and Mahler from Budapest I don’t speak Hungarian, but I understood conductor Iván Fischer perfectly well when he implored the socially distanced audience at Béla Bartók National Concert Hall to keep their masks above the nose and mouth for the duration of the programming. Such is concert-going in these strange times. I

Classical CD Reviews: Wagner’s “Die Walküre” The two best things about Simon Rattle’s new recording of Die Walküre are, well, Rattle, himself, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra The two best things about Simon Rattle’s new recording of Die Walküre are, well, Rattle, himself, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO). Conductor and orchestra have followed up their terrific

Wagner: Die Walküre review – Simon Rattle shapes orchestral excellence This is Wagner of scattered highlights, but the quality of the Bavarian RSO’s playing distracts from some underwhelming singing Over the last 15 years, Simon Rattle has conducted stagings of Wagner’s Ring several times – in Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg, and Vienna – and though at least

Did Beethoven believe in God? (2) Missa Solemnis, opus 123 (1824) … So, coming down to final choices, I’d put the early Karajan and Bernstein in the bag, along with Norrington and Solti. A 2015 Bernard Haitink concert from Munich should also command your attention. It is the distillation of a liftetime’s Beethoven performance with a crop

Rattle’s Awful “Die Walküre” After having been thrilled by Simon Rattle’s Das Rheingold, I was delighted to see that Die Walküre was being released next month, and so sampled it for review. Well, let’s go over the few positives. Elisabeth Kulman, that excellent mezzo, is back as Fricka and sings as well as ever. Tenor

Elisabeth Kulman and the open sky One of the most recognized classical singers in the music scene decided in 2014 to stop and check her own heart. What happens when success hits you and tears you apart? Elisabeth Kulman Cartagena Music Festival There is a video on YouTube published on October 30, 2011 in which

Berlin’s bowled over The city turned out in force to welcome the self-effacing Kirill Petrenko to the world’s top conducting job … Revolution and invention, risk, clarity and control, surged through every bar. Speeds were brisk and pliant, never extreme. Strings used vibrato warmly but sparely. Articulation throughout was crisp, always on the edge of

Kirill Petrenko beats the audience in Salzburg Kirill Petrenko has been the leader of the Berlin Philharmonic since Friday. Already last year he came to the Salzburg Festival with his orchestra and left a good feeling for this new partnership. A year later, this feeling is even more solid and the audience at the Großer