Monarda Music
Johann Sebastian Bach's Passion oratorios are pinnacles of achievement in a long history of musical portrayals of Jesus of Nazareth's crucifixion. In these works the composer combines all the means at his disposal, drawing on cantata, oratorio and opera. Yet the active history of this Passion music did not really begin until a hundred years after the St. Matthew Passion's first performance: Felix Medelssohn Bartholdy's revival of this work in 1829 led to the rediscovery of Johann Sebastian Bach's music. This composition has long since come to occupy an assured place, beyond all boundaries of religious belief, as a supreme work of western art.
In this performance, Enoch zu Guttenberg directs the Neubeuern choral society founded by him an ensemble composed largely of amateurs, mostly inhabitants of the small town of Neubeuern. Under his direction the choir soon attained professional standards, winning an international reputation with press and public as is clear from their numerous prizes and awards. Guttenberg's assertively individual style unites elements of historical performance techniques with a modern and energetic mode of expression.
In this performance, Enoch zu Guttenberg directs the Neubeuern choral society founded by him an ensemble composed largely of amateurs, mostly inhabitants of the small town of Neubeuern. Under his direction the choir soon attained professional standards, winning an international reputation with press and public as is clear from their numerous prizes and awards. Guttenberg's assertively individual style unites elements of historical performance techniques with a modern and energetic mode of expression.
The composer Alban Berg (1885-1935), a pupil and associate of Schoenberg, lived in the mainstream of well-to-do Austrian society. His marriage to the beautiful Helene was thought to be made in heaven. But how can this doyen of Viennese respectability be reconciled with the composer who wrote the dark operas Wozzeck and Lulu?
Soprano Kirstine Ciesinki, who features in specially-staged extracts from Lulu and Wozzeck and sings "Nacht" from Seven Early Songs, travels to Vienna, Prague, the USA and German to investigate Berg's life.
Soprano Kirstine Ciesinki, who features in specially-staged extracts from Lulu and Wozzeck and sings "Nacht" from Seven Early Songs, travels to Vienna, Prague, the USA and German to investigate Berg's life.
A major force in contemporary music, Pierre Boulez is committed to the expansion and recreation of musical language. This documentary looks at his work, in particular the creation of Repons , which was heralded as the Signal of "a new age of instrumental achievement" (Financial Times). Boulez is seen rehearsing at his Paris laboratory for new music (IRCAM). He talks about his experimentation, the difficulties involved in communicating his ideas, and the post-war composers who have influenced him.
Recording the In Rehearsal programme, the cameras were witnessing part of the process of development of a new relationship between an orchestra and its Music Director. Dohnanyi is seen working with the Philharmonia on Haydn's Symphony No. 88 in G for a concert in their 1998 Haydn/Bartok series at London's Royal Festival Hall. It was to be Dohnanyi's first Haydn performance with the orchestra and so the limited time available for preparation was of vital importance. The musician's appreciation of his musically precise and exacting approach is evident in the concentrated atmosphere of rehearsals and also in comments they make about working with the maestro.
In this brilliant studio recording, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the country's boldest and most exciting dance company, brings its distinctive style home to you - dazzling, brash and dynamic, yet graceful and poetic.
Divining was Judith Jamison's first major work as a choreographer for Alvin Ailey. The dance evokes a strong feeling for African tribal ritual and is set to hauntingly rhythmic drum music.
Revelations expresses Ailey's intense feelings for his roots in the South. Here you'll see Ailey's vivid "blood memories" of the blues, spirituals, gospel music, ragtime and folk songs as well as the hard life of the Southern black during the Depression.
Set to Modern Jazz, The Stack-Up takes place in modern-day Harlem. You'll witness the cruel reality of urban street life as a young man is destroyed by drugs.
Cry was choreographed by Alvin Ailey in 1971 for Judith Jamison and is one of his most famous pieces. Created as a birthday present for his mother, it is Ailey's tribute to black women. You can't help feeling being moved by the struggle, the anger and most importantly, the celebration.
Divining was Judith Jamison's first major work as a choreographer for Alvin Ailey. The dance evokes a strong feeling for African tribal ritual and is set to hauntingly rhythmic drum music.
Revelations expresses Ailey's intense feelings for his roots in the South. Here you'll see Ailey's vivid "blood memories" of the blues, spirituals, gospel music, ragtime and folk songs as well as the hard life of the Southern black during the Depression.
Set to Modern Jazz, The Stack-Up takes place in modern-day Harlem. You'll witness the cruel reality of urban street life as a young man is destroyed by drugs.
Cry was choreographed by Alvin Ailey in 1971 for Judith Jamison and is one of his most famous pieces. Created as a birthday present for his mother, it is Ailey's tribute to black women. You can't help feeling being moved by the struggle, the anger and most importantly, the celebration.
Through his particular combination of scholarship and inspired musicianship, John Eliot Gardiner has won international acclaim as a key figure in the revival of early music. His concert performances and recordings with the ensembles he has founded - the Monteverdi Choir, the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestra Revolutionnaire et Romantique - are unmistakable, not just for their zest and technical mastery, but as highly personal readings of music from Monteverdi to Verdi and beyond.
Rehearsal: The Scythian Suite is of particular interest in that Gergiev has a personal affinity with this composition. The Scythians lived in the region of the Caucasus where Gergiev has his roots: Ossetia. The ancient myths associated with these illustrious, blood-thirsty, but highly-cultured tribal nomads are an important part of the heritage of the Ossets. Intimately filmed and informed throughout by Gergiev's infectious passion for his work, this music-filled documentary captures the fascinating dynamics between the galvanic conductor and his orchestra, as he seeks to convey the spirit of the quintessentially Russian piece to Western musicians. Footage of rehearsals and performance are interwoven with comments from Gergiev and Oleg Prokofiev, the composer's son; archive film material of Prokofiev; and examples of Scythian treasures in the Hermitage Museum, to create a picture of the composer and his music. The film gives a unique insight into the chemistry which exists between composer, conductor and orchestra, and the means by which a masterly performance is achieved.
The preocupation of the composer of "minimal music", Philip Glass , with Indian music and his interest in Gandhi began in 1966 during his first visit to India where he met Ravi Shankar. Since then, the rhythmic figures of Indian music have exercised a significant influence on his music which has a strong meditative and almost hypnotic effect through the repetitive sequences of tones with minimal changes. Glass's work needs time to unfold its hypnotic effect and fascination. With his second opera Glass didn't want to draw a historic portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. Instead he used the example of Gandhi's work during the last years between 1893 and 1914 in South Africa to draw an outline of the current worldwide political and religious problems. In South Africa Gandhi formulated his theory of passive resistance and civil disobedience known as Satyagraha as a reaction to the government's discrimination against the Indian population evidenced by its denial of basic rights such as the right to vote.
Dame Janet Baker, in one of her greatest roles, leads a cast of some of Britain's finest interpreters of Baroque opera, and their performance under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras is one of the highest musical excellence. This video is a studio recording of John Copley's acclaimed English National Opera production.
The opera was first performed in 1724 at the Haymarket Theatre in London using castrati singers in the heroes' roles. This production follows modern practice in using women in these parts. Dame Janet's virtuoso role as Julius Caesar has been heralded as a masterful recreation of the music which Handel wrote for the finest singers of his time.
The opera was first performed in 1724 at the Haymarket Theatre in London using castrati singers in the heroes' roles. This production follows modern practice in using women in these parts. Dame Janet's virtuoso role as Julius Caesar has been heralded as a masterful recreation of the music which Handel wrote for the finest singers of his time.
In Symphony in D Kylian demonstrates his remarkable ability to create a highly inventive and graceful ballet which is, at the same time, extremely funny. Set to Haydn's Symphony No. 101 (The Clock) and Symphony No. 73 (The Chase), it is an affectionate send-up of classical ballet poses and is performed with great wit and style by the Nederlands Dans Theater.
A documentary introduction to Symphony in D shows Jiri Kylian rehearsing the work with students from The Royal Ballet School in London and includes an interview in which the Czech choreographer talks about his exile from his homeland and his career in dance.
David Hockney , one of Britain's most successful contemporary artists, took a break from painting early in the 1980s to experiment with photography. He created Joiner photographs = montages of prints showing subjects from many different angles and at different times. Filmed at his Los Angeles home, Hockney is seen creating one of these photo-pieces, from the initial idea through to the finishing touches. He talks about his interest in photography and its effect on his paintings.
Sinfonietta
Czech-born Kylian was inspired by the beautiful music of his compatriot Janacek to create this fluid, spacious, romantic ballet which has become a milestone in contemporary choreography. The forceful fanfares of Janacek's music are matched by a ceaselessly energetic and exuberant display of movement, creating an image which carries through the composer's intention of evoking the spirit of the "modern, free Czech."
Czech-born Kylian was inspired by the beautiful music of his compatriot Janacek to create this fluid, spacious, romantic ballet which has become a milestone in contemporary choreography. The forceful fanfares of Janacek's music are matched by a ceaselessly energetic and exuberant display of movement, creating an image which carries through the composer's intention of evoking the spirit of the "modern, free Czech."
The Latvian conductor Mariss Jansons is recognized as one of the most distinguished musicians of his generation and now belongs to the international elite of his profession. He was the Music Director of the Oslo Philharmonic from 1979 to 2000. Under his guidance, it became established as a front-rank orchestra, touring extensively and becoming a firm favourite at many festivals around the world, noted for its fresh, open sound and Jansons' passionate conducting of the works of Shostakovich, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Bartok . In this program, Jansons is seen rehearsing Bartok's powerful Miraculous Mandarin Suite with the Oslo Philharmonic and the following performance at the Oslo Concert Hall.
Frida Kahlo: declared a symbol of Mexican national heritage, made into a cult figure by the women's movement, praised by the likes of Picasso and Breton. At the age of 18, she suffered an accident that would forever change her life, destining her to pain, numerous operations and childlessness. This film takes you to the Blue House in Coyoacan, the place of her birth and the last years of her life. Today, the house serves as a museum dedicated to the charismatic artist. Haunting self-portraits and a stirring world of images tell of her life and passions, her thoughts and feelings, her exhausting love for Diego Rivera and her deep connection to Mexico.
Colour, form, area - this is the formula of the greatest pioneer of abstract painting. Kandinsky came to art late in his life, but his impact through Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) and Bauhaus paved the way for modern art. In 1913, he created one of the first abstract pictures, the theoretical basis of which was inspired by his essay Uber daas Geistige in der Kunst (On the Spiritual in Art). Accompanied by Mussorgsky's Pictures from an Exhibition, Labarthe goes on a sensual journey which makes the soul resound with colors and forms.
Sergei Prokofiev devoted the last twelve years of his live to War and Peace . He completed the orchestration by April 1942 and the entire score was ready in March 1943. Having completed the first version (containing 11 scenes) unusually quickly, the composer continued working on the opera over the next ten years. The greatest landmark in the stage history of the opera came with the 1991 production at the Mariinsky Theatre, when Prokofiev's complete score was performed for the first time with no cuts. This production presents a new and exciting reading of Prokofiev's masterpiece.
Sir Colin Davis was a "maestro without airs and graces"(Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) and an interpretor of Mozart and Berlioz who enjoyed worldwide renown. This recording of Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde features Davis in fine form, brilliantly conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, where he was principal conductor from 1983 to 1993.
This symphonic song cycle, which Leonard Bernstein described as Mahler's "greatest symphony", was never performed in Mahler's lifetime. Though completed in 1908, it was first premiered in 1911 in Munich. Doris Soffel is not only a celebrated opera singer: she has earned an international reputation as one of the finest interpreters of Mahler's works. The American tenor Kenneth Riegel has for decades been a regular performer on the world's opera stages, from New York and Paris to Vienna and Salzburg. The soloists deliver an impressive display of their mastery of lieder in this recording. After it was founded in 1949, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra soon began to build a highly respected international reputation. Shaped by a succession of great principal conductors including Rafael Kubelik, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons and Sir Colin Davis, the orchestra possesses an unusually broad-ranging repertoire and an...
This symphonic song cycle, which Leonard Bernstein described as Mahler's "greatest symphony", was never performed in Mahler's lifetime. Though completed in 1908, it was first premiered in 1911 in Munich. Doris Soffel is not only a celebrated opera singer: she has earned an international reputation as one of the finest interpreters of Mahler's works. The American tenor Kenneth Riegel has for decades been a regular performer on the world's opera stages, from New York and Paris to Vienna and Salzburg. The soloists deliver an impressive display of their mastery of lieder in this recording. After it was founded in 1949, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra soon began to build a highly respected international reputation. Shaped by a succession of great principal conductors including Rafael Kubelik, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons and Sir Colin Davis, the orchestra possesses an unusually broad-ranging repertoire and an...
Bernard Haitink is one of the most sought-after Mahler conductors of our day. In this concert of Mahler's Fourth Symphony , recorded live from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, he conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The American Maria Ewing fascinates with her interpretation of the soprano solo featured in the work's finale. Bernard Haitink first conducted the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1956. Beginning in 1963, Haitink was chief conductor for 25 years, during which time the orchestra developed significantly. Particularly Haitink's interpretations of Mahler and Bruckner made a worldwide impression. The Concertgebouw Orchestra was founded in 1888. On the occasion of its 100th anniversary in 1988, the orchestra officially received the appellation Royal .
Revolution! In 1915 the Russian artist Malevich declared a Black Square on a White Background an icon of his times and thus founded a new form of art, liberated from objects - Suprematism. Supported by the Bolsheviks at first, his "formalistic" art was soon considered counterrevolutionary. 50 years later, in 1989, the first comprehensive Malevich retrospective outside Russia was held in Amsterdam's Stedeliijk Museum. It is here that Barrie Gavin outlines the artist's creative phases and his life story. In doing so, he discovers the most diverse "isms" of the 20th century and one of the most significant pioneers of abstract art.
MEHTA, Zubin: In Rehearsal - STRAUSS, R.: Till Eulenspiegel's lustige Streiche (Israel Philharmonic)
Richard Strauss' orchestral works contain a wealth of autobiographical allusions. This is equally true of the whimsical tone-poem Till Eulenspiegel , opus 28, which was completed in 1895. Strauss felt badly treated by the public in his home town of Munich, because his neo-Wagnerian opera Guntram had closed after only a single performance. In fact he had already planned a one-act stage work about the pranks of the legendary rascal Till Eulenspiegel and his 'victims', the town of Schilda's narrow-minded petit bourgeois citizens. The openly programmatic composition with its phenomenal audacity and unique demands on orchestral technique simultaneously shocked and delighted his public.
La Clemenza di Tito was commissioned to celebrate the coronation of the Emperor Leopold II as King of Bohemia in 1791, and was written in eighteen days. Nicholas Hytner's elegant new staging, performed in the original Italian language, was premiered during the Mozart Bicentenary season at Glyndebourne on 28th June, 1991. An impressive cast is led by Philip Langridge (Tito), Ashley Putnam (Vitellia) and Diana Montague (Sesto). New recitatives, to replace those written by Mozart's pupil Sssmayr, were commissioned from composer Stephen Oliver for this production. Andrew Davis conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The energy and excitement of performances under the baton of maestro Valery Gergiev are thrilling. This performance, with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, was recorded live at the city's Doelen Hall. The programme includes Debussy's Fragments Symphoniques for D'Annunzio's mystery play Le Martyre de St Sebastien, Prokofiev's Scythian Suite , Stravinsky's Fireworks and his Piano Concerto. The soloist for Stravinsky's Piano concerto is the Georgian virtuoso Alexander Toradze, a singularly imposing figure at the keyboard.
David (1748-1825) saw his art as a weapon for social change. This film traces his career from his youth, as a Student of Boucher, through his heavy involvement in the politics of the French Revolution, to his exile in Brussels. Drawing on the memoirs of his pupil Delecluze and other historical documents, it provides a fascinating insight into the world of late eighteenth-century French society.
Andre George Previn's simultaneous world careers as a director, composer and pianist are extremely thrilling and interesting, and they cannot be told in just a few words. The names of his teachers and the artists and orchestras with which he worked belong to the select few of their field in the classic scene.
Previn was born in 1929 in Berlin and emigrated to the United States in 1938 where his family settled in Hollywood. He was awarded the Oscar a total of four times. Along with his work as a director he has also composed orchestra and chamber music as well as two stage entertainments. He however doesn't consider himself as belonging to the musical avant-garde.
Previn was born in 1929 in Berlin and emigrated to the United States in 1938 where his family settled in Hollywood. He was awarded the Oscar a total of four times. Along with his work as a director he has also composed orchestra and chamber music as well as two stage entertainments. He however doesn't consider himself as belonging to the musical avant-garde.
Prokofiev's disturbingly enigmatic opera, The Fiery Angel , was never performed in his lifetime - considered too decadent by Stalin and his successors - but David Freeman's imaginative production asserts it as one of the composer's greatest masterpieces.
Ostensibly, it is a tale of religious hysteria and demonic possession, but the novel, by the Russian decadent Valry Bryusov, from which the opera is derived, also explores symbolically the love triangle endured by the writer himself, inspired by the self-destructive figure of his lover, the poet Nina Petrovskaya.
David Freeman has completely entered into this opera's strangely unnerving world. Evil is all around us and in his sensational production the image is taken quite literally.
Ostensibly, it is a tale of religious hysteria and demonic possession, but the novel, by the Russian decadent Valry Bryusov, from which the opera is derived, also explores symbolically the love triangle endured by the writer himself, inspired by the self-destructive figure of his lover, the poet Nina Petrovskaya.
David Freeman has completely entered into this opera's strangely unnerving world. Evil is all around us and in his sensational production the image is taken quite literally.
With a highly acclaimed performance of Mahler's 3rd Symphony Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen acquired worldwide fame at the tender age of 25. Within the following years he not only became the musical head of several festivals, but also guest-conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra London and chief-conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Salonen's appointment as musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the year 1992 is definitely one of the highlights in the career of this amazing musician. Together with the LAP the ambitious Finn realized many great concerts and released some fabulous recordings, mostly with 20th century music repertoire.
This program shows Salonen while rehearsing Claude Debussy's La Mer . There is a special connection between La Mer and the conductor, who is fascinated by the countless sound possibilities of the impressionistic work. He used some performances to experiment with the work's score, but admits that only due to long lasting and intense collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic he had had the opportunity to really analyze the different elements of La Mer and to elaborate the whole symphonic composition by assembling the single parts again.
Salonen's appointment as musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the year 1992 is definitely one of the highlights in the career of this amazing musician. Together with the LAP the ambitious Finn realized many great concerts and released some fabulous recordings, mostly with 20th century music repertoire.
This program shows Salonen while rehearsing Claude Debussy's La Mer . There is a special connection between La Mer and the conductor, who is fascinated by the countless sound possibilities of the impressionistic work. He used some performances to experiment with the work's score, but admits that only due to long lasting and intense collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic he had had the opportunity to really analyze the different elements of La Mer and to elaborate the whole symphonic composition by assembling the single parts again.
This studio recording of Par Isberg's ballet, created specially for television, is based on a romantic adventure story by the great nineteenth-century Swedish writer Selma Lagerlof. The original score was composed by Jan Sandstrom and is performed here by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jonas Dominique. With lavish period sets and costumes designed by Bo-Ruben Hedwall, this large-cast ballet tells a gothic tale reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast.
In the late 1880s, Selma Lagerlof's family were forced to move from Marbacka, the house she had lived in during her childhood. This even had a profound influence on her life and writing and is one of the sources of inspiration for The Tale of a Manor.
In the late 1880s, Selma Lagerlof's family were forced to move from Marbacka, the house she had lived in during her childhood. This even had a profound influence on her life and writing and is one of the sources of inspiration for The Tale of a Manor.
Jiri Kylian's ballet is set to Arnold Schoenberg's passionate string sextet, Verklarte Nacht , a narrative composition about a young woman walking at night with her lover and admitting that she is pregnant by another man. He accepts the situation as part of his love for her. Danced by two couples, Kylian's stylized interpretation of the piece expresses the passion of the music, as well as capturing its delicate ethereal texture.
Alban Berg (1885-1935) lived in the mainstream of well-to-do Austrian society. His marriage to the beautiful Helene was thought to be made in heaven. But how can this doyen of Viennese respectability be reconciled with the composer who wrote the dark operas Wozzeck and Lulu ?
This multi-layered film explores Berg's double life. Soprano Kristine Ciesinki, who features in specially-staged extracts from Lulu and Wozzeck, travels to Vienna, Prague, the USA and Germany to track down important archive documents and people who can recall the composer's presence in their lives.
This multi-layered film explores Berg's double life. Soprano Kristine Ciesinki, who features in specially-staged extracts from Lulu and Wozzeck, travels to Vienna, Prague, the USA and Germany to track down important archive documents and people who can recall the composer's presence in their lives.
Ingres (1780-1867) presents a paradox - admired by many but loved by few, he was called reactionary and opposed the new Romanticism. Yet many who followed in the footsteps of his arch rival Delacroix found inspiration in Ingres' work. Demonstrating the diversity of his art and the flexibility of his style, this film considers his reaction against the artistic changes of his day. It uses contemporary documentation and Ingres' words and paintings to investigate the enigma he presents.
Titian's genius and significance in European art are undisputed. Trained at the Giovanni Bellini workshop and influenced by working together with Giorgione, he came to a masterly use of colour, light and shade. His oeuvre contains everything his times demanded: drama, carnal lust, religious fervour, mythology and portraits. Didier Baussy-Oulianoff takes us to the places where the renais