The essence of Verdi’s Requiem can be found in the words Libera me - “Free me”. The great composer employs every means at his disposal to portray man as prisoner of himself, with both his fear of death and yearning for salvation. Recording Dates: 14…

Lutoslawski’s delicate lament serves as prelude to Berlioz’s Requiem, a superlative work requiring an impressive cast of two orchestras and choirs, here under the direction of Pablo Heras-Casado. An event not to be forgotten! The concert was recorded…

Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) is considered today one of the founding fathers of the 17th century German school, whose influence on composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, his spiritual son, cannot be overestimated. Not only was he an indisputable…

In the ensemble’s Advent concerts at the Marktkirche, the Knabenchor Hannover sets out under the baton of Jörg Breiding in search of the dynamics and tensions that build up in the weeks between the First Sunday of Advent and Christmas Day – the…

Johann Sebastian Bach's most famous Christmas work was recorded live at the Salle Henry Le Bœuf in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Who would have thought, three centuries ago, that these cantatas, written by Bach for the services from…

What a strange idea Mondonville had! Based on a cruel fable by La Fontaine with a tragic ending, he wrote a charming opera libretto with a happy ending, and composed a delightful pastoral. In the prologue, Dame Clémence Isaure, the mythical founder…

On Wednesday, October 16th, Dmitri Hvorostovsky's birthday, the Festival officially opens with a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem.

Compelling love duets, escalating conflicts and arias bursting with virtuosity and emotion. In his three Tudor Queens operas, bel canto master Gaetano Donizetti composed at the top of his game. In this concert, an international cast takes you on an…

Orchestras once played Bach as well as Bruckner. Only specialised ensembles showed that note and performance signs have changed their meaning quite a bit over the centuries. So far, so theoretical: in practice, Handel's "Il Trionfo" awaits us, a…

This Vivaldi concert was recorded on the occasion of Julien Chauvin‘s CD release „Il Teatro“. The concert is an opportunity to confront the theatricality of Vivaldi‘s instrumental music with the virtuosity of his operatic arias. Always seeking to…