Italia noir Ottorino Respighi, Luigi Nono, Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi / La Traviata

Jérémie Rhorer and Le Cercle de l’Harmonie return to Verdi’s La Traviata, after their acclaimed production of the opera in 2018.

Verdi "Messa da Requiem"

The great Verdi Gala

»Every music has its heaven«, Verdi once said. His music was created under the clear skies of »Bella Italia«. Verdi’s music arouses strong emotions, but always remains genuine and true – and beautiful, as beautiful as the sky over Italy. There is a »very special« hit in many of Verdi’s operas. The world-famous »Prisoners’ Chorus« from Nabucco or »Preghiera di Desdemona« (Ave Maria) or »Ella giammai m’amò«. They are among the most moving pieces that European music has ever produced. NABUCCO, LA TRAVIATA, RIGOLETTO, IL TROVATORE and AIDA are masterpieces from the first to the last bar. With his soft, full timbre, Italy’s star tenor Cristian Lanza, Silvia Rampazzo and baritone Giulio Boschetti as well as the choir and orchestra of the Milano Festival Opera present the very best of Verdi’s magnificent arias, duets and choruses. With great talent and even more feeling, Cristian Lanza knows how to give his voice wings. The Italian tenor, born in Rome, has been one of the greats of the scene for some time now. His grandfather continues to be a source of inspiration for him. Born in Italy, he is the grandson of the world-famous singer Mario Lanza. But he has long since ventured out of his grandfather’s slipstream. Cristian Lanza’s lyric tenor has a softer and fuller timbre than that of his grandfather. He not only has the high notes that are expected in tenor arias, but also enchants and touches his listeners with his soulful voice.

Bruckner's works for the liturgical Gebrauch Mass No. 1 in D minor and further compositions

2024 is Bruckner year. This makes the classical world think first and foremost of his symphonies and his monumental religious works. By contrast, his works for liturgical use are much less well-known. The RIAS Kammerchor embarks on a voyage of discovery together with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and, in addition to a number of shorter works, presents the Mass No 1 in D minor – with the aim of rediscovering the sonic experience of the period in which it was written by using a markedly slimmed-down cast.

Ensemble Modern I Porträt Ruth Crawford Seeger: Songs

The composer Ruth Crawford Seeger was not only part of the ultramodernist movement that sought to investigate the possibilities of music beyond European traditions, she was also a researcher into the folkloric music of the USA and influenced by the Theosophists. A woman of her time, the fast-moving inter-war years, and yet so far ahead of them – Musikfest Berlin and Ensemble Modern dedicates a three-part concert portrait to her that enables her musical world to enter a dialogue with contemporaries and present-day composers.

Staatskapelle Berlin and Susanna Mälkki

In this programme the Staatskapelle Berlin under Susanna Mälkki present music that is conscious of death while attempting to grasp the value of life. Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde was written immediately after the death of his daughter. Hush is the final work of composer Kaija Saariaho, that could only be premiered after her death in 2023 – yet movingly resonates with life.

Anna Prohaska I & Pierre-Laurent Aimard I

harles Ives occasionally wrote songs that manage without a human voice – singers made such a fuss, he felt, he would replace them with a solo instrument. However, in the pieces chosen by Anna Prohaska and pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, the voice will take the leading role. Ives’s songs work with a broad palette of themes, wandering from childhood dreams to industrialisation, from criticism of society to autumn moods. They are contrasted with songs by Debussy and Strawinsky.

Collegium Vocale Gent “Et in arcadia ego”: Italian madrigals of the 16th century

Arcadia is the land of eternal sunshine and unclouded joy – but death also afflicts those who dwell there. A musical memento mori: in an affecting programme of vocal music, Collegium Vocale Gent conducted by Philippe Herreweghe explores the sound worlds of the late Renaissance and early Baroque

Soirée of modernity Charles Ives meets Arnold Schönberg

Ives meets Schönberg: Charles Ives and Arnold Schönberg never met in person, but they knew each other very well. An evening of songs, piano and chamber music as well as original texts by the composers, who were born in different cultural circles in the same year, brings them into dialogue with each other. The montage promises to provide an insight into the thinking of two founders of New Music who, independently of each other, embarked on similar paths and created radically new forms of musical expression.

São Paulo Big Band Brazil’s “música popular”

Brazil’s “música popular” is more than just bossa and samba: European harmonies, syncopated African rhythms and pieces by well-known international names like Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil all meet in arrangements by the São Paulo Big Band.