Stingray Classica

One of today’s most distinguished conductors, Franz Welser-Möst conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in a performance featuring works from the oeuvre of Johannes Brahms. The concert begins with the Academic Festival Overture, written in honor of the University of Breslau, which awarded the composer an honorary doctorate in philosophy. This is followed by Brahms only Violin Concerto (in D major), described by violinist Joseph Joachim, whom it was originally written for, as one of the four great German violin concerti. This performance features violin soloist Julia Fischer. It was recorded at Severance Hall in Cleveland, USA, in 2014.

Acclaimed classical music talent scout Antonio Mormone (1930-2017) lives on as the name-giver of the Premio Internazionale Antonio Mormone (PIAM), awarded to the winner of the Italian music competition of the same name. The first edition of this competition, which was held in various venues in Milan from 2019 to 2021, was dedicated to the piano. As part of this competition, Su Yeon Kim (South Korea, 1994) performs various works by Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1; Mazurka, Op. 2, No. 2 and 4; Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39; and Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 34 No. 1. The recital comes to a close with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Gigue in G major, KV 574. This performance was recorded at Teatro EDI Barrio’s in Milan, in January 2020.

Rodolfo Barráez conducts the Orchestra and Choir of the Academia de Musica del Palacia de Mineria in a performance of Carl Orff's cantata Carmina Burana. Soloists are Anabel de la Mora (soprano), Andrés Carrillo (tenor) and Daniel Cerón (baritone). Carmina Burana, composed in 1935 and 1936, is based on 24 poems from a medieval manuscript of the same name. The full title is "Songs from Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments and magical images". It was first performed at the Oper Frankfurt on June 8, 1937.

Iván Fischer conducts the Budapest Festival Orchestra in a concert recorded at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary in 2015. The concert opens with Sergei Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes, Op. 34. After this, Thomas Zehetmair stars as solo violinist in Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 63. The second part of the concert is features music by Igor Stravinsky. On the program is music composed for the ballet 'Jeu de cartes' (1937) and the Firebird Suite, No. 2 (1919). 'Jeu de cartes' is one of Stravinsky's neo-classical works and consists of three parts ('deals'). The Firebird Suite, No. 2 is based on the music from the ballet of the same name, which was written for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and premiered in Paris in 1910.

From the castle of Rammenau, the Gewandhaus-Quartett plays Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525 (Serenade 13 for Strings in G major) by Mozart. This serenade was completed in Vienna on August 10, 1787, while Mozart was working on the second act of the opera Don Giovanni, and was not published until about 1827, long after the composer's death. The traditionally used name of the work - A Little Night Music - comes from notes in Mozart's personal catalog. Founded in 1808, the Gewandhaus-Quartett is the oldest quartet in the world, continuously performing for more than 200 years. It is composed of members of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and has had more than 200 musicians to date. The Gewandhaus-Quartett is currently composed of Frank Michael Erben (first violin), Conrad Suske (second violin), Volker Metz (viola), Jürnjakob Timm (cello), and Steffen Adelmann (double bass).

Les Dissonances is a collective of artists founded by violinist David Grimal in 2004. The conductorless ensemble consists of musicians from the most prestigious European orchestras, international soloists, and young talents. In this performance, Les Dissonances play Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216. Leading violinist Grimal features as the soloist. With the exception of the first violin concerto, Mozart composed his other four violin concertos in 1775 at a time when he was concertmaster at the Salzburg court. Violin Concerto No. 3 opens with a theme the composer borrowed from the aria ‘Aer tranquillo’ of his then recent opera Il re pastore. In the beautiful Adagio, the strings are muted and the oboes make way for the flutes, which only sound in the second movement. The finale movement has a dance-like character. This performance was recorded at Cité de la Musique, France, in 2014.

In this concert recorded in November 2016 at the magnificent Baroque basilica of Saint Florian, Austria – once the home of Anton Bruckner – the Wiener Singverein, the Cleveland Orchestra and its principal conductor Franz Welser-Möst pare down all traces of bombast wherever emotions could easily run out of control. Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45, reaches out to comfort the living through religious texts not traditionally associated with the Requiem Mass. The result is a work of great intensity that speaks to people of all faiths, believers and non-believers alike. The program’s two soloists – Hanna-Elisabeth Müller and Simon Keenlyside – are already at home on the world’s stages. While the former has carved a career for herself not only as an opera singer but also as a concert artist, the London-born Keenlyside has been building his impressive career around the prestigious guest appearances he has made during the past ten years.

Renowned French string quartet Quatuor Ébène marked the 250th birth anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) with a remarkable project: recording all of the great composer’s sixteen string quartets. For five years, violinists Pierre Colombet and Gabriel Le Magadure, violist Marie Chilemme, and cellist Raphaël Merlin immersed themselves in Beethoven’s 650 pages of sheet music. Their efforts culminated in the performance of the composer’s complete repertoire for string quartet, which covers three decades of Beethoven's musical creativity, during six impressive concerts at Philharmonie de Paris in the autumn of 2020. Quatuor Ébène explored every facet of Beethoven's string quartet repertoire: from the youthful Opus 18 string quartets to the Razumovsky, Harp, and Serioso quartets (Opus 59, 74, and 95) from his middle period, and finally, the depth of his late quartets (Opus 127 to 135). This program features Quatuor Ébène performing Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 5 in A major, Op. 18, No. 5; String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4; and String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major, Op. 127. This concert was recorded at Philharmonie de Paris on December 17, 2020.

This short documentary follows the participants of the 11th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, held in TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, in 2017. The competition actively presents, develops, and promotes piano talents from around the world. In doing so, it has become one of the prominent gateways to the international professional classical music scene for young musicians. The International Franz Liszt Piano Competition was founded in 1986 in the Netherlands and has since built a reputation as one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions.

Regarded as one of the finest interpreters of Romantic repertoire, Francesco Attesti (*1975) gave his first recital at age 11 and by the time he was 23, had earned the highest honours in piano from Florence’s Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini. In this recording of his 2016 Deeply Mozart concert tour, Attesti performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piano concertos KV 449 and KV 488 with the Italian OIDA Orchestra and conductor Paolo Belloli.

Sir Simon Rattle leads the London Symphony Orchestra in Gustav Mahler’s poignant song cycle ‘Das Lied von der Erde’ (The Song of the Earth). Joining him are two of today's leading vocalists: mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená and tenor Andrew Staples. Written in the final years of his life, Mahler’s masterpiece contemplates the beauty of life and the sorrow of parting through some of his most personal and beautiful symphonic writing. Written in the final years of his life and following the tragic death of his daughter, Mahler wrestles with the transience of life, contrasting moments of vivacity and happiness with introspection and melancholy. This performance was recorded at the Barbican Hall in London, UK, on May 9, 2021.

Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) composed nine books of madrigals in half a century, which helped transform the genre from the polyphonic, a cappella madrigals of the late Renaissance to the ‘concertato’ madrigals of the early Baroque, shifting the style’s focus to the ability of music to express emotions contained in a text. In 2011, British tenor Paul Agnew and renowned Baroque ensemble Les Arts Florissants started recording eight books of Monteverdi’s madrigals. In this program, Agnew leads Les Arts Florissants in the madrigals of Book III. Published in 1592, the book contains twenty madrigals for five voices. This performance was recorded at the Cité de la musique in Paris, France, in 2012.

Olivier Latry is the current holder of the Great Organ of Notre Dame. Between its original religious function and the interest of composers of all times, the great organ Cavaillé-Coll reveals its absolute modernity. Latry is considered one of the greatest organists of his generation, both in France and internationally. He sees himself as an ambassador of French music from the 17th through the 20th centuries as well as an advocate for the art of improvisation. Pieces played in the film are: Pierre Cochereau’s Boléro, Louis Vierne’s Carillon of Westminster and Scherzo from Symphony No. 2, Alexandre Guilmant’s Sonata No. 1, Charles-Marie Widor’s Gothic Symphony, Marcel Dupre’s Cortège, Litanie and J. S. Bach’s Passacaille & Fugue.

Les Dissonances is a collective of artists founded by violinist David Grimal in 2004. The conductorless ensemble consists of musicians from the most prestigious European orchestras, international soloists, and young talents. In this performance, Les Dissonances perform Johannes Brahms’ String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 18. The work is scored for two violins, two violas, and two cellos. Brahms wrote his only two string sextets at the very beginning of his career. String Sextet No. 1 was written in 1860. Brahms was one of the first to compose for this ensemble, blazing a trail for Antonín Dvořák, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Arnold Schoenberg, and others. This performance was recorded at Opéra de Dijon, France, in 2013.

J. S. Bach’s six Brandenburg Concerto’s belong to his best-known works. The composer wrote these concertos between 1711 and 1720 and dedicated them in 1721 to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg. In celebration of the pieces’ 300th anniversary, Czech harpsichordist and conductor Václav Luks and the renowned Baroque ensemble Collegium 1704 recorded all six Brandenburg Concertos on historical instruments in 2021. The concertos are based on the Italian concerto grosso form, in which a group of solo instruments is set against a large ensemble. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos feature remarkable combinations of solo instruments and virtuoso solos. In this performance at the Hall of Mirrors in the Köthen Castle, Germany, Luks and his Collegium 1704 present Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047. This piece features trumpet, violin, recorder, and oboe solos. Especially outstanding are the high, virtuoso trumpet parts.

On 22 April 2016, Yehudi Menuhin would have celebrated his 100th birthday. One of his most famous students - and one of his best friends - is violinist Daniel Hope. For him, Yehudi Menuhin was the reason he become a violinist. At first, his mother became the secretary of Menuhin when Daniel Hoe and his parents moved to London. Hope grew up in Menuhin's house and learned not only to love music, but also to make the violin a part of his life. Playing the violin every day is like walking every day, or drinking and eating. He played with Menuhin some of Bartok's Duos which was, according to Hope, an introduction to Bartok’s extraordinary music. A piece of Bartok had to be part of this program as well as Ravel's Kaddish, the encore Daniel Hope choose when Menuhin conducted his last concert in Düsseldorf. But this concert starts with Elgar's Violin Concerto. Hope plays with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under the baton of Iván Fischer.

Claude Debussy’s symphonic sketches for orchestra known collectively as ‘La Mer’ evoke a richly varied vision of the sea. The first part (‘De l’aube á midi sur la mer’) calls up a morning and afternoon at sea, the second (‘Jeux de vagues’) echoes the play of the waves, and the third and final part (‘Dialogue du vent et de la mer’) conjures the communing voices of wind and waves. Debussy knew his sea, the Mediterranean, intimately both from childhood visits to Cannes and from his Italian travels later in life.

Uwe Scholz, one of the most important choreographers of the 20th century, created two interpretations of Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps for the Leipzig Ballet. Sacre I, for one dancer, can be interpreted as a bleak and oppressive dance about Scholz’ own life. This unique solo is performed by Giovanni Di Palma to the four-handed piano version. The powerful Sacre II is staged for nearly 60 dancers, here accompanied by the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Kiyoko Kimura, one of Uwe Scholz’ muses, is the featured dancer. The full ballet was filmed as part of a portrait of Scholz in February 2003. By popular demand, this unique showcase of Uwe Scholz’ exceptional talent is now, at last, available for public viewing.

Swedish pianist and composer Roland Peter Pöntinen performs Couperin’s Les Baricades mistérieuses, Rameau’s Gavotte in a minor, Busoni’s Albumblatt No. 1, Saariaho’s Prelude and Ballade, Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Albéniz’ Ibera (book 2, Nos. 1 and 3), Rachmaninov’s Sérénade in B flat minor and Ravel’s Oiseaux tristes (from Miroirs), recorded in July 2007, in the Folwang Hochschule in Essen.

The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence Musical May) is Italy’s oldest opera and arts festival. It was founded in 1933 with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas. Over the years, the scope widened, and orchestral concerts have long been an integral part of the festival. As part of the festival’s 2021 edition, maestro Daniel Harding leads the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a wonderful concert program featuring Johannes Brahms’s Tragic Overture in D minor, Op. 81, and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major, ‘Titan’. Brahms composed his concert overture during the summer of 1880. With its dark and tumultuous character, it could be regarded as the serious counterpart of his more joyful Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80. Mahler completed his first symphony eight years later, in 1888. Originally a five-movement piece, the composer discarded the second movement ‘Blumine’ some years later, resulting in the final four-movement version we know today. This performance was recorded at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, in 2021.

Acclaimed classical music talent scout Antonio Mormone (1930-2017) lives on as the name-giver of the Premio Internazionale Antonio Mormone (PIAM), awarded to the winner of the Italian music competition of the same name. The first edition of this competition, which was held in various venues in Milan from 2019 to 2021, was dedicated to the piano. As part of this competition, Ying Li (China, 1997) performs Claude Debussy’s Images, book I; Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1; and Franz Liszt’s Paraphrase from Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’. This performance was recorded at Teatro EDI Barrio’s in Milan, in February 2020.

Mikhail Pletnev leads the Russian National Orchestra in a performance of Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major, featuring Lucas Debargue as the soloist. The composer completed this lively three-movement Piano Concerto in 1931. He incorporated several jazz elements in the work, especially in the two outer movements. This performance was recorded at Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia, in 2017, as part of the Ninth RNO Grand Festival.

Chamber music ensemble The Philharmonics pays tribute to the music of Vienna in this March 9, 2011 concert from Vienna's Café Sperl. The ensemble, which consists of musicians from the Vienna Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic, performs arrangements of five popular waltzes by Johann Straus II. Among them are Kaiser-Walzer, Op. 437, and Schatz-Walzer, Op. 418, from the operetta The Gypsy Baron. In May 1921, the likes of Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern wrote these chamber music arrangements to raise funds for their Society for Private Musical Performances. Although both the concert and the auction of the scores were very successful, the Society eventually went under. In addition to these pieces by Strauss, The Philharmonics perform works by Fritz Kreisler, Leopold Godowsky, as well as The Philharmonics's first violinist, Tibor Kováč. The program comes to an end with Godowsky’s tribute to the city: Alt Wien.

Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmonic during the 2008 edition of the Europakonzert, held in the renowned hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. The first edition of the Europakonzert was in 1991, and since then, the founding of the Berlin Philharmonic on May 1st in 1882 is annually celebrated with a concert in a European city of cultural significance. The orchestra opens with an outstanding performance of Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements. Furthermore, Vadim Repin, one of today’s most fascinating artists, features as soloist in Bruch’s Concerto for Violin No. 1, Op, 26. The orchestra concludes with a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, of which the second movement, Allegretto, gained instant popularity after its premiere in 1813 and remains a crowd favorite.

The soloists from the Lucerne Festival Orchestra present Ludwig van Beethoven’s Septet in E-flat major, Op. 20, which is scored for clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and double bass. This 1799 piece achieved great popularity during Beethoven’s lifetime. It was arranged for many various instrumental ensembles, including versions for two guitars, and piano four-hands, but also a trio for clarinet (or violin), cello, and piano, arranged by Beethoven himself. This performance was recorded at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Center (KKL), Switzerland, in 2020.

Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan and the Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris recorded all of Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies in 2014-2015. In this program, Jordan conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93. Beethoven wrote the work in 1812 upon completion of his Symphony No. 7. The composer conducted the February 27, 1814 première at a concert in Vienna that also included a reprise performance of his Symphony No. 7 and his 15-minute orchestral piece Wellington’s Victory, Op. 91. The shortest of Beethoven’s nine symphonies, Symphony No. 8 lacks a truly slow movement. Instead it has a second movement, Allegretto scherzando, that features a steady ‘ticking’ rhythm maintained by the woodwinds throughout the movement. This is thought to be an imitation of the Andante movement of Joseph Haydn’s ‘Clock’ Symphony. Jordan’s performance was recorded at Opéra Bastille in Paris, France, in 2015.

Italian conductor Speranza Scappucci leads the Philharmonia Zürich and the Chorus of the Opernhaus Zürich in a performance of Gaetano Donizetti’s tragic opera ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ (1835). Salvatore Cammarano based his libretto on Sir Walter Scott’s novel ‘The Bride of Lammermoor’ (1819). Set in 17th century Scotland, the opera tells the story of Lucia, who falls in love with Edgardo, her family’s arch enemy. Lucia’s brother Enrico, however, forces her to marry a man she does not love instead, driving the young woman insane. Highpoint of the opera is Lucia’s famous ‘mad scene’, in which the technically demanding aria ‘Il dolce suono’ is heard. In this scene, Lucia’s voice is accompanied by a glass harmonica, adding to its eeriness. Among the soloists are Irina Lungu (Lucia), Massimo Cavalletti (Enrico Ashton), Piotr Beczała (Edgardo di Ravenswood), Andrew Owens (Lord Arturo Bucklaw), Oleg Tsibulko (Raimondo Bidebent), Roswitha Christina Müller (Alisa), and Iain Milne (Normanno). This performance was recorded at the Opernhaus Zürich, Switzerland, in 2021.

In 1996, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra celebrated its 60th anniversary with a gala led by maestros Zubin Mehta and Daniel Barenboim. This musical event features world-renowned soloists, including veteran violinist Isaac Stern, up-and-coming musicians Maxim Vengerov and Gil Shaham, as well as Pinchas Zukerman, Shlomo Mintz, and Itzhak Perlman. The evening begins with a moving speech about the early days of the orchestra. The evening's program continues with Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV1043, Brahms's Symphony No. 2, Halvorsen's Violin, Violoncello and Viola Pass, Mozart's Serenade No. 6, K. 239., Vivaldi's Concerto in B minor for four violins and orchestra, and Weber's Oberon overture.