Wiener Philharmoniker

Having enjoyed a 50-year musical partnership with the Vienna Philharmonic, Riccardo Muti takes charge of the celebrations for the sixth time in what’s bound to be a uniquely poignant occasion. The concert includes the traditional mix of Austrian classics, featuring music by the Strauss family and ending with the ever-popular By the Beautiful Blue Danube and the foot-stamping Radetzky March. In these uncertain times, the concert looks to send people all over the world a new year's greeting in the spirit of hope, friendship and peace.

Based on Oscar Wilde's lurid play, it is an intense exploration of the Salome story. Its sumptuous vocal and orchestral writing seethes and pulsates as Strauss conjures up the brutality of Herod's corrupt court. Richard Strausss opera at the Salzburg Festival, staged by Romeo Castellucci at the Felsenreitschule, was nothing short of a sensation. Debuting in the title role, Asmik Grigorian propelled herself to international stardom with her mesmerizing singing and acting abilities. The exceptional soprano recently won the International Opera Award as best singer.

Celebrate the triumphant return of the famed Salzburg Festival with this extraordinary production of Richard Strauss’s Elektra, live from the spectacular Felsenreitschule! Lithuanian soprano Aušrinė Stundytė makes her grand debut on the mythical festival stage in the title role, accompanied by the marvelous Ariane Baumgartner and Asmik Grigorian in the roles of Klytaemnestra and Chrysothemis, respectively.

DG presents John Williams in Vienna, the live recordings of the Hollywood legend's Vienna Philharmonic 2020 debut. Saying it's "one of the greatest honors of my life," he received a standing ovation before a single note was played. Sharing the stage with the famous orchestra and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, he performs iconic themes from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and other cinematic landmarks that have earned countless awards: 5 Oscars, 5 Emmys, 25 Grammys & more.

The 2020 Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Concert took place on January 1, 2020, under the baton of Andris Nelsons in the Musikverein in Vienna. Andris Nelsons is Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Gewandhauskapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.

Power struggles among rival families in 14th-century Genoa, a story of tragic love, a young girl gone missing… Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra combines the perfect ingredients for gripping dramatic opera with a strong political message. On the stage of the Salzburg Festival, this sharp critique of power set to music is brought to life by the voices of Luca Salsi, Marina Rebeka, René Pape, Charles Castronovo, and others, who join the exceptional Valery Gergiev for a captivating performance.

Conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker, Andris Nelsons presents a concert night which concentrates every conceivable passion: Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Trumpet Concerto “Nobody knows de trouble I see” performed with “technical perfection” (Kronenzeitung) by “the fantastic Håkan Hardenberger” (Salzburger Nachrichten) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor “Resurrection”. “Nelsons proved to be delicate but hearty when interpreting Mahler.” (Wiener Zeitung). The conductor led the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to “enticingly beautiful sounds” (Die Presse). “High praise goes to the vocal soloists Ekaterina Gubanova, Lucy Crowe and the Bavarian Broadcasting choir.” (Salzburger Nachrichten)

The 2019 New Year's Concert will be conducted for the first time by Christian Thielemann. A native of Berlin, Thielemann has been a regular and welcome guest of the Vienna Philharmonic since 2000, with the result that his first New Year s Concert may be seen as setting an example and providing an appropriate tribute to his previous work with the orchestra. According to the orchestra s chairman, Daniel Froschauer, orchestra and musicians trust each other completely: "The profound musical understanding and trust that have existed from the outset and that have always functioned perfectly have subsequently borne remarkable fruit in the symphonic repertory as well."

The Summer Night Concert of The Vienna Philharmonic is the world's biggest annual classical open-air concert set in the magical Schönbrunn Palace Baroque park in Vienna. The concert will take place on 31 May 2018 and its theme for this year is 'An Italian Night'. The concert is broadcast on TV and radio in more than 60 countries, and thus reaches an audience of millions. The evening’s repertoire is an attractive combination of extremely popular works for orchestra including the William Tell Overture, the March from the opera Aida and the Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana, as well as famous Soprano arias like Vissi d’arte, vissi d‘amore from the Opera Tosca. Valery Gergiev returns to conducts the Summer Night Concert and is joined by star Soprano Anna Netrebko in what promises to be one of the most popular concerts this year!

The New Year’s Concert live from Vienna is one of the world’s most famous and spectacular classical music events. It was be broadcast on TV and radio and reaches over 90 countries around the world with more than 40 million viewers. Broadcast on BBC2, New Year’s Day, 10:15am, Highlights broadcast on BBC2, New Year’s Day, 7pm. The annual New Year's Day Concert in Vienna has been a major event for more than eight decades. The resulting recordings with works from the Strauss dynasty and their contemporaries are among the classical market's most important releases. In 2018, Riccardo Muti returns to conduct the New Year's concert for the 5th time! Muti has conducted the world famous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra more than 500 times, which has created a special relationship and connection with the orchestra, resulting in a fantastic sound.

The New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic in 2017 was the 77th New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic and took place on January 1, 2017 in the Viennese Music Association . Conductor was Gustavo Dudamel for the first time , who was the youngest conductor at the age of 35, who was the conductor of the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic until then.

Summer Night Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic has been the title of the Vienna Philharmonic concert that has been held annually since 2004 in the Schönbrunn Palace Park in Vienna.[1] The concerts take place in the open air, with the stage facing the castle in front of the Neptune Fountain until 2016 and set up in front of the castle in 2017, and start at dusk. With free admission, the Great Parterre serves as a visitor room.

Julie Andrews hosts the annual program with the Vienna Philharmonic, this year conducted by Mariss Jansons, and with the Vienna Boys’ Choir and Vienna State Ballet soloists. Stage and screen legend Julie Andrews returns for the seventh time to host the festive annual New Year’s Day celebration with the Vienna Philharmonic from Vienna’s Musikverein, a beloved annual tradition that also highlights the scenic capital of Austria, Vienna. Maestro Jansons is returning for the third time to conduct the ever-popular concert of melodies by the Strauss Family and their contemporaries.

Fierrabras of 1823 is the last of Franz Schubert’s stage works. Rarely performed to this day, this heroic-romantic opera has now been staged for the first time ever at the Salzburg Festival by famous director Peter Stein. Based on an old French 12th-century epic, the plot depicts the military conflict between Christians and Moors at the time of Charlemagne – as a backdrop to stories of love and friendship that prove to be stronger than war and hatred of otherness. The strong cast includes the “marvellously expressive miracle Dorothea Röschmann” (Die Zeit) and “Michael Schade, who exudes his exceptional tenor in Fierrabras’s heroic arias” (Der neue Merker). Under the energetic baton of lngo Metzmacher, the Vienna Philharmonic unfold “the melos, the poetry, the sweetness and the dramatic force of Schubert’s highly refined and atmospheric sound worlds” (Kleine Zeitung) in highly romantic fashion.

With their “comedy for music” in the spirit of Mozart, Richard Strauss and his inspired librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal created the most popular of all their works and one of the most frequently performed operas of all time. In the guise of a gossamer-light and supremely entertaining high-class comedy, Der Rosenkavalier touches on universal themes such as love, sex, marital fidelity and the changes that human relations undergo over time – and all of it set to music of the most glorious kind imaginable. With its stellar cast under the inspired direction of Harry Kupfer, the 2014 Salzburg Festival’s production of Der Rosenkavalier was one of the most internationally acclaimed interpretations of the work since the start of the new millennium. “A musical feast from beginning to end“ (Wiener Zeitung).

The Count Di Luna believes that his younger brother was murdered years before by a vengeful gypsy but still hopes that he may be alive. When he attempts to court the beautiful Leonora, he is enraged to discover that she has a lover – the troubadour, Manrico. Manrico and the Count duel, and afterwards Manrico reveals to Azucena, the woman he believes to be his mother, that when he had the opportunity to kill the Count he felt something holding him back.

The renowned orchestra presents the world's biggest annual classical open air concert live from their hometown Vienna, Austria on Thursday, May 29th, 2014. The Summer Night Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic is an annual open-air event that takes place in the magical setting of the Schönbrunn Palace Park in Vienna with the palace as a magnificent backdrop. Everyone is invited to come to this unique occasion with free admission. Each year up to 100,000 people can take up the invitation, or enjoy on radio and TV in over 60 countries.

Daniel Barenboim conducted the Vienna Philharmonic in the 2014 News Year's Concert, an annual celebration that showcases classics by the venerable Strauss family and the light music of other composers. True to tradition, this concert offers selections by Johann Strauss I, his sons Johann Strauss II, Eduard Strauss, and Josef Strauss, as well as the unrelated Richard Strauss, Joseph Hellmesberger, Joseph Lanner, and for the first time on a New Year's concert, the French composer Léo Delibes.

Verdi wrote this five act opera with a French Libretto for the Paris opera. Premiere 1867. Then there are three versions of this opera, the French 1867 version, the revised Italian four Act Don Carlo 1884, plus the Modena version 1886. This version is the 1884 version with Act One reinstated, as well as the original beginning of Act 2. To complicate matters the French opera was simply translated into Italian, and then the changes were made. There is an even newer edition completed in 1980 by Ricordi, and others floating around as well.

Distinguished conductor Lorin Maazel leads the fifth annual Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2013. This year’s gala concert revolves around the works of Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi, both of whom would have celebrated their 200th birthday this year, and features German Canadian tenor soloist Michael Schade.

New Year's Concert

Live performance of Puccini's opera at the Salzburg Festival in Austria. Piotr Beczala stars as Rodolfo with Anna Netrebko as Mimi, Massimo Cavalletti as Marcello and Nino Machaidze as Musetta. Daniele Gatti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna State Opera Chorus and the Salzburg Festival and Theatre Children's Choir.

This recording features the opening concert of the Salzburg Festival in 2010, in which the Festival celebrated its 90th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the Great Festival Hall. Daniel Barenboim conducts the Vienna Philharmonic and Chorus State Opera Vienna with Dorothea Roeschmann, Franz Josef Selig, and Rene Pape in works by Beethoven, Boulez, and Bruckner.

The Christoph Marthaler production of Leoš Janáček's "Věc Makropulos", recorded live at the Salzburger Festspiele on 8 & 30 August 2011. Angela Denoke stars as Emilia Marty, with Raymond Very as Albert Gregor, Peter Hoare as Vitek, Jurgita Adamonyté as Krista, and Johan Reuter as Jaroslav Prus. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker.

This performance of the Richard Strauss opera Frau ohne Schatten, recorded live and in high definition, features vocalists like Stephen Gould, Anne Schwanewilms, Michaela Schuster, and Wolfgang Koch in the leading roles.

Arthaus presents a truly new way of looking at La clemenza di Tito with this famous and star-studded production from the Salzburg Festival 2003. Here Nikolaus Harnoncourt, renowned for his analytical approach to the search for the core of the music, interprets Mozart’s last opera. Martin Kušej, who is acclaimed for his theatre productions directs the production. Nikolaus Harnoncourt identifies with Mozart’s score as both an extremely knowledgeable musician and a conductor who invariably plays an active part in helping to shape the drama. Together with the Vienna Philharmonic, he savours the miracles of Mozart’s late work, bringing out its instrumental colours and effects and at the same time stimulating his singers while proving a solicitous accompanist.

Wiener Philharmoniker, conductor Franz Welser-Most

Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven Symphonies 1-9

The Nikolaus Lehnhoff production of Richard Strauss's "Elektra", recorded live at the Salzburger Festspiele in 2010. Iréne Theorin stars as Elektra, with Eva-Maria Westbroek as Chrysothemis, Waltraud Meier as Klytämnestra, Robert Gambill as Aegisth, and René Pape as Orest. Daniele Gatti conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker.

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's traditional New Year Concert in 2010.

The ever popular New Year's Concert from Vienna returns in another sparkling performance, broadcast live to over 50 countries! Daniel Barenboim makes his New Year's Concert debut and brings with him a number of works that have never been performed at the concert before. The live concert features popular waltzes, gallops and polkas from the Strauss family including The Blue Danube, The Gypsy Baron March, Thunder and Lightening Polka and much more.

Leonard Bernstein conducts three symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony no. 3 in E flat major, op 55 ('Eroica'), Symphony no. 4 in B flat major, op 60 and Symphony no. 5 in C minor, op 67, all performed by Wiener Philharmoniker in Vienna in 1977-8.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphonies Nos. 1, 8 & 9 Performed by Gwyneth Jones · Hanna Schwarz René Kollo · Kurt Moll In Vienna at the Konzertvereinigung With the Wiener Staatsopernchor and the Wiener Philharmoniker Leonard Bernstein, conducting

A striking interpretation of Mozart's opera that became a sensation at the 2008 Salzburg Festival. This is not only a rethinking of the place and time of the opera, but also a deep disclosure of the characters' characters, their ambiguous inner world. A simple, at first glance, plot is turned by the creators of the play into a dynamic psychological thriller.

Leonard Bernstein filmed Piano Concertos 3, 4, and 5 in 1989, but did not live to film the first two. He died in 1990. So Krystian Zimerman, the pianist, paid tribute to Bernstein and rounded out the set in 1991 by both playing and conducting Concertos 1 and 2.

A collector's celebration of Solti's time in Chicago and includes bonus material of Solti rehearsing the Vienna Philharmonic. Included are works by Rossini, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Wagner, Strauss, Kodaly, Bartok, Weiner, Berlioz.

A collector's celebration of Solti's time in Chicago and includes bonus material of Solti rehearsing the Vienna Philharmonic. Included are works by Rossini, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Wagner, Strauss, Kodaly, Bartok, Weiner, Berlioz.

A collector's celebration of Solti's time in Chicago and includes bonus material of Solti rehearsing the Vienna Philharmonic. Included are works by Rossini, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Wagner, Strauss, Kodaly, Bartok, Weiner, Berlioz.

Between 1981 and 1984 Leonard Bernstein recorded nearly all of Brahms' orchestral works with the Wiener Philharmoniker to honour the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth in 1983. For the concertos, Bernstein enlisted the services of some of the finest Brahms interpreters of the time: the violoninst Gidon Kremer, the cellist Mischa Maisky and the pianist Krystian Zimerman. Seeing Bernstein enjoying himself while conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in these lighter, familiar works by Brahms added to the pleasure I got from them. The Academic Festival Overture is especially well done. Some conductors don't seem to get it, but Bernstein did.

Mischa Maisky performs with the Vienna Symphony and Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein in concertos by Haydn and Schumann.

Live performance from Salzburg Festival Opera, August 2007. The story tells of Cellini's love for Teresa, daughter of the Papal Treasurer Balducci. His rival, the Papal Sculptor Fieramosca, overhears Cellini plotting to run away with Teresa during the carnival.

The Wiener Philharmoniker mounts, and Andrea Breth stages, this 2007 production of Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin, starring Peter Mattei, Joseph Kaiser, Anna Samuil and Renée Morloc. The Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor lends added musical accompaniment, under the baton of Daniel Barenboim.

Under the guidance of famed American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, Polish classical pianist Krystian Zimerman and the Vienna Philharmonic deliver a rousing performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concertos nos. 3, 4 and 5. Premiered in 1808, Beethoven's fourth concerto marked the last time the composer would take the stage as a soloist with an orchestra.

Metha performs his 4th New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic. Included are works by Johann Strauss II, Josef Strass, Joseph Hellmesberger, Johann Strauss I, and Eduard Strauss.

Don Giovanni's list of romantic conquests reaches into the hundreds. But his reputation as a lothario puts him in danger as the women he's betrayed -- and their suitors -- begin to seek revenge. A modern-day setting proves the timeless nature of Mozart's popular opera, performed with the Vienna Philharmonic as part of an epic presentation of all 22 of the composer's stage works at the 2006 Salzburg Festival, in honor of his 250th birthday.

This release contains the celebrated 2006 production of Mozart's Nozze di Figaro that was directed for the stage by Claus Guth at that year's Salzburg Festival. Ildebrando D'Arcangelo takes the title role, and gets support from Anna Netrebko as Sussanna, Bo Skovhus as Il Conte Di Almaviva, and Dorothea Roschmann as La Contessa. Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts the orchestra.

The Pierre Audi production of Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte", recorded live at the Salzburger Festpiele in 2006. In honor of the 250th year of the composer's birth, all of Mozart's operas were staged and recorded at Salzburg that year. Christian Gerhaher is Papageno, Genia Kühmeier is Pamina, Paul Groves is Tamino, Diana Damrau is the Königin der Nacht, Irena Bespalovaite is Papagena, and René Pape is Sarastro. Riccardo Muti conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker.

There are elements of Eurotrash in this outdoor Aix-en-Provence summer opera production. Nevertheless, the splendid singing and acting transform the story, normally treated as farce, into something considerably more serious. As many other critics have noted, the young lovers have not yet sorted everything out as this performance ends. Act One begins with the principal characters running around in the outdoor theater -- while the audience takes it in as if they had been advised to sit back and enjoy the novelty. Very likely they were also asked to refrain from applauding at the end of arias and ensemble pieces, in which the three-hour opera abounds.

Filmed on tour at Berlin's Philharmonie, this account of the valedictory Ninth Symphony is an intense interpretation, expressing Bernstein's conviction that modern man had at last caught up with the message encoded in Mahler's last completed work. Having made his famous 1966 studio recording of "Das Lied von der Erde" in Vienna, Bernstein re-recorded this in Israel with the same searing subjectivity. René Kollo draws on the voice of a great Wagner tenor, while Christa Ludwig, the greatest exponent of the contralto songs at the time, is unbearably poignant in the final movement's fusion of elation and sadness.

Wiener Philharmonic Karl Bohm Claudio Abbado

Violetta, a courtesan much wooed by Parisian society, organizes a grand party that is attended, amongst others, by the young Alfredo Germont. He confesses his feelings to Violetta, who is already suffering from consumption. She vacillates between genuine affection and a realistic assessment of her situation as a "fallen woman", which precludes any lasting relationship with a man. The Willy Decker production of La Traviata, recorded live at the Salzburger Festspiele in August, 2005. Anna Netrebko stars as Violetta Valéry, with Rolando Villazón as Alfredo Germont and Thomas Hampson as Giorgio Germont. Carlo Rizzi conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker.

This 2004 production of Richard Strauss's three-act comic opera Der Rosenkavalier (1911) emerged from the efforts of the Grosses Festspielhaus Salzburg. It stars Adrianne Pieczonka as Feldmarschallin, Franz Hawlata as Baron Ochs, Angelika Kirchschlager as Octavian and Franz Grundheber as Faninal. The Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor and the Wiener Philharmoniker lend added musical support, with Rupert Huber serving as chorus master of the former and Semyon Bychkov conducting the latter.

One of music's most sought-after conductors guides you through an outstanding concert of works. Internationally acclaimed as an inspired interpreter of Russian music, Valery Gergiev draws exceptional performances from the orchestra to produce a colorful, vibrant and virtuoso evening of music. Acclaimed Classical Works by Prokofiev (Symphonie Classique, Op. 25), Schnittke (Viola Concerto) and Stravinsky (Firebird). Filmed Live at the 2000 Salzburg Festival

This installment of the Herbert von Karajan: His Legacy series showcases the acclaimed conductor leading the Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra in a 1984 performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 5 in E Minor, op. 64. One of the most legendary figures in 20th-century classical music, the Austrian-born von Karajan helmed the Berlin Philharmonic for more than 30 years, from 1955 to 1989.

Vienna Philharmonic, conductor: Seiji Ozawa

This New Years Concert from 2002 features the "Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra" under the conduction of Seiji Ozwa.

This installment of the Herbert von Karajan: His Legacy series showcases the acclaimed conductor leading the Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra in a 1984 performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 4 in F Minor, op. 36. One of the most legendary figures in 20th-century classical music, the Austrian-born von Karajan helmed the Berlin Philharmonic for more than 30 years, from 1955 to 1989.

The Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Herbert Von Karajan, plays the music of Antonin Dvorak - Symphony No. 9 in E Minor.

You will find this Requiem the finest on video. It certainly outshines Bohm's dated approach, and Bernstein's lethargically slow performance. (No disrespect to them, I enjoy them but this is better :) It also gives us a superb opportunity to view Solti at work, and I wonder why don't have more of his performances on video. One may also enjoy seeing (and hearing) Rene Pape at only 27 years old, likewise Cecilia Bartoli in her young prime.

This recording of Karajan's 1987 New Year's Day Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic and the ballet of the Vienna State Opera at the Großer Musikvereinsaal in Vienna features the music of Josef Strauss and Johann Strauss, Jr. With an emphasis on the polka music of these celebrated composers, this exciting concert features acclaimed soprano diva Kathleen Battle performing "Frühlingsstimmen, Op.410", a waltz by Johann Strauss, Jr.

Under the direction of Herbert Von Karajan, the Vienna Philharmonic performs Austrian composer Antonym Dvorak's Symphony No. 9. Dvorak's work was influenced by both European and American folk music, and in his later years by African-American and American Indian music. A favorite for soundtracks, this symphony is instantly recognizable to many. The video includes liner notes and biographies of the performers.

Between 1981 and 1984 Leonard Bernstein recorded nearly all of Brahmss orchestral works with the Wiener Philharmoniker to honor the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth in 1983. For the concertos, Bernstein enlisted the services of some of the finest Brahms interpreters of the time: the violoninst Gidon Kremer, the cellist Mischa Maisky and the pianist Krystian Zimerman. Leonard Bernstein, Krystian Zimerman, and the Wiener Philharmoniker, it's very hard to get a better group of musicians for these masterpieces. Mr. Zimerman and Mr. Wolfgang Herzer's piano cello duets in the third movement of Brahms' second is simply tearful.

A production of Strauss' opera 'Der Rosenkavalier' performed at the Saltzburg Festival in 1984. Includes the Vienna State Opera Choir, the Philharmonic Orchestra with singers Wilma Lipp, Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Agnes Baltsa. Conducted by Herbert Von Karaja

Here is the most convincing presentation of Brahms' symphonies that I personally have ever experienced. There is no explaining a gift like Leonard Bernstein, a true legend and one of the truly great ones of the 20th century (and a great Brahms conductor!). I have followed his career and recordings both at the NY Philharmonic and at Vienna (other places too). His brilliance and incandescence are revelatory in these Brahms performances. His view of a thorough-going romantic Brahms expressing his passionate control of an inner rage in classical form is convincing. He and this great Vienna orchestra give a consistent statement of it. And, of course, Bernstein's introductory comments are without peer.

Gidon Kremer performs the complete Mozart Violin Concertos plus the Sinfonia concertante with violist Kim Kashkashian. Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts the VIenna Philharmonic. The works were filmed in Vienna between 1983 and 1987.

Rigoletto is a jester in the court of the Duke of Mantua. He has a hunch-back and he's rather unattractive, but he's good at his job of humiliating the courtiers for the amusement of the Duke. The courtiers, of course, are not amused. The Duke is a ladies man who feels his life would be meaningless if he couldn't chase every skirt he sees. In fact, we learn as the opera begins that he's recently been noticing a young lady every Sunday on her way to church, and he's vowed to have his way with her. What nobody realizes is that the girl is the jester's beloved daughter, Gilda, and that Gilda has seen the Duke every Sunday and is smitten with him. Suddenly Count Monterone appears at court, furious that the Duke has seduced his daughter. Rigoletto ridicules Monterone, the Duke laughs, and Monterone casts an awful curse on both of them. Later, the courtiers discover that Rigoletto is secretly living with Gilda...

Pollini plays flawlessly, with the greatest finesse and sensitivity, very much in tune with each composer's personal style. His performances are exemplary in every respect. The video and audio are quite acceptable, given their 1970s vintage. Böhm and Abbado are at home in this repertoire, and the Wiener Philharmoniker in excellent form, notwithstanding a few strange noises coming from the horns.

Excellent Bernstein performance. Interesting version for String Orchestra. Interesting video details to introduce your friends to classic orchestral music (lets them to understand the sound of each instrument the music comes from).

There are only a couple of DVD recordings of Mozart's Symphony No. 40. Fortunately, this one by Karl Bohm, recorded live in Vienna's Musikvereinssaal, is excellent, as are the other Mozart symphonies on this DVD. Since this disc offers three of the big six last symphonies of Mozart, Nos. 35 (Haffner), 40, and 41 (Jupiter), plus two more, it is an outstanding value. Despite the age of the recordings (1973-74), both the sound and the video are quite good.

In the 1960s Karl Böhm (1894–1981) had made his mark as interpreter of Mozart with the the Berlin Philharmonic. Yet his recordings with the Vienna Symphony demonstrate a mutual sympathy and deep love for this timeless music. The musicians are razor-sharp in attack, harmony, and release. Böhm's style is minimalist: a firm downbeat, a ruffled hand here and there, a slight sway, no mugging. Occasionally, when quite excited, he gives a little hop but immediately pulls himself on a tight leash.

For Mahlerites, his symphonies are much more than musical performances--they can be an emotional or spiritual journey through the struggles, fears, and triumphs of life. This Sixth Symphony is a 1976 performance in the Vienna Musikvereinssaal with PCM stereo and DTS 5.1. The 2 dvd set also includes the 4th and 5th symphonies, which are performed as magnificently as the Sixth.

"Four Ways to Say Farewell" is a personal introduction to Mahler and his Ninth Symphony, during which Leonard Bernstein is seen and heard rehearsing the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Filmed in 1971, this rehearsal was directed by Humphrey Burton,

Leonard Bernstein made these recordings during his wonderfully productive collaboration with the Wiener Philharmoniker in the mid-1970s when he was at the peak of his career. Humphrey Burton's direction is, as always, very fine, giving the viewer/listener both the larger picture and highlighting individual soloists, players or groups of musicians and, of course, the maestro. The video and audio tracks show their age, but are quite acceptable even for today's standards. Bernstein's Seventh is everything one could desire: dark and spooky, highly sensual, but also structurally strong and assertive where needed. Bernstein's reading does not gloss over breakdowns in tonality and the foreshadowing of later musical developments.

This filmed version of Strauss' shocker features Teresa Stratas as opera's most depraved teenager, and she's as perfect a Salome as one would ever hope to see or hear. Stratas inhabits the role, exploring the character's sensuousness as she vainly woos Jochanaan, her venomous hatred when she's rejected, the crazed look in her eyes when she demands his head--on a silver platter, no less. Such complete identification with a role, especially of a character so malignant helps make this 1974 Salome stand out among the many fine DVDs of the opera.

Beginning with the First Symphony, Bernstein reveals Mahler's position at the hinge of modernism, while emphasizing his emotional extremism. The uplifting Second "Resurrection" Symphony, with which Bernstein had an especially long and close association, is recorded here in a historic performance from 1973, set in the Romanesque splendor of Ely Cathedral. In the Third, Bernstein encompasses the symphony's spiritual panorama like no other conductor, with the Vienna Philharmonic players alive to every nuance.

Witty, fun, intoxicating film of Johann Strauss II's popular operetta, based on a stage production from Vienna State Opera; this is a showcase for the entire cast, but most especially Eberhard Wächter as the insufferably boorish Gabriel Eisenstein, and Gundula Janowitz as his long-suffering wife. Open the champagne, have yourself some torte, and enjoy this delectable comedy from Vienna.

Wiener Philharmoniker and Wiener Philharmonia Chor Conducted by Karl Böhm Directed by Vaclav Kaslik

In Vienna's Musikverein, Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic celebrates Ludwig Van Beethoven's 200th birthday with a joyful performance of his Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major. Maestro Bernstein conducts the orchestra from the keyboard in this historic concert.

To play Beethoven's music is to give oneself over completely to the child-spirit which lived in that grim, awkward, violent man. Without that utter submission it is impossible to play the Adagio of the Ninth. Or, Heaven knows, the first movement. And the Finale? Most of all! It is simply unplayable unless we go all the way with him, as he cries out "Brüder!" - Leonard Bernstein

The legendary soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf stars in this acclaimed film of Richard Strauss' delightful opera, Der Rosenkavalier. This Salzburg Festival production of Strauss' great work toured the world, and this filmed version was hailed by The New York Times as "Superb." Schwarzkopf performs her signature role as Princess von Werdenberg, an aging beauty involved with a younger man, Octavian. But when Octavian agrees to assist Baron Ochs by delivering the Baron's proposal of marriage to the beautiful young Sophie, the messenger and bride-to-be fall in love with each other!

On the 100-year anniversary of the death of Joseph Anton Bruckner, Pierre Boulez conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker in their interpretation of Bruckner's "Symphony No. 8." A complex masterpiece, the composition is considered one of the last great Romantic symphonies. Classical music lovers will delight at Boulez's beautiful rendition of the strongly emotional piece that remains true to Bruckner's original intentions.

Great presentation of the legendary american conductor Leonard Bernstein, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Christa Ludwig (contralto solo), the Vienna State Opera Chorus and the Vienna Boys Choir playing the Symphony No. 3 of Gustav Mahler, in 1973.