This Blu-ray sampler with carefully selected concerts accompanies Seiji Ozawa's impressive career over 3 decades. Seiji Ozawa was not only Japan’s best-known conductor but also the founder of the Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto, which in 2015 was renamed the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival. Special feature included in this edition from Matsumoto: on the occasion of Maestro Ozawa’s 80th birthday, Martha Argerich and Matthias Goerne joined the orchestra to perform Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, Op. 80, plus a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ - a deeply emotional moment for the Maestro!

Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic accent the colours, rhythms, and passion of music by leading composers from Argentina in this invigorating evening at the Hollywood Bowl. Master of the Tango Nuevo, Astor Piazzolla’s four tangos feature on stage the dance company Tango Buenos Aires, known worldwide as the most authentic and uncompromising representative of the tango. Alberto Ginastera, one of the most important twentieth century classical composers of the Americas and Piazzolla´s first teacher, is also represented on this brand new release from C Major Entertainment, along with Lalo Schifrin, whom, beside his concert music, is the composer of the famous scores of Mission Impossible and Dirty Harry. His Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra, a world-premiere recording, is composed for Ángel Romero, an iconic master of the classical guitar.

Evgeny Kissin appeared in Salzburg in 2021 with compositions of the late Romantic and classical modern periods in the Großes Festspielhaus. Since his debut in 1987, the pianist has been a welcome guest at this festival, impressing with the maturity and brilliance of his playing. Kissin loves the dialogue with the audience and the direct power of the concert moment.

Music is a crucial element in every Oscar-winning film. In this concert you will be taken on a musical journey through the sounds of the greatest Oscar winners of all time, from classics like Casablanca and Citizen Kane to monumental cinematic works like The Godfather and blockbusters like Forrest Gump - blockbusters with music, that for almost a century have made us shudder, melt and cry in the darkness of the cinema.

The Danish National Symphony Orchestra rolls out the red carpet for a sparkling Hollywood Gala with a musical firework display from the best Hollywood films such as Bodyguard, Titanic, Pirates of the Caribbean, Moulin Rouge, and The Hunger Games. From the greatest dramas about love and jealousy up to the wildest journeys and the world’s fastest cars - spiced with murders and gangsters. The evening also features a special section dedicated to the best music from the most iconic Oscar-winning movies.

Welcome to the world of hidden treasures and symphonic jewels in "Raiders of the Symphony" with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Danish National Concert Choir. The Danish National Symphony Orchestra is in an adventure spirit, and the iconic music from the Indiana Jones films becomes the highlight of the evening.

W.A. Mozart’s timeless masterpiece at the Salzburg Festival is always an event! Especially when Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) receives such a ‘spectacular and virtuosic staging’ (Le Figaro) by director Lydia Steier. Steier introduces the role of the grandfather, a narrator reading the opera like a fairy tale to his three grandchildren, performed by the famous actor Klaus Maria Brandauer (Out of Africa, James Bond). This ‘trick’ in combination with the gigantic moveable sets by stage designer Katharina Schlipf, allows new views on Mozart’s magical opera, with its different worlds. Thanks to conductor Constantinos Carydis, who ‘seems to breath with the music’ (Tagesspiegel), there is a new Mozart to be heard too: Carydis draws ‘precise phrasing and plenty of crisp articulation’ (Financial Times) from ‘the musicians of the great Vienna Philharmonic’ (New York Times).

Hans Neuenfels, the luminary of modern director’s theatre, provides a compelling, multi-layered staging of Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame at Salzburg Festival. In the stark, mostly abstract sets by Christian Schmidt, Neuenfels ‘draws gripping performances from a strong cast’ (The New York Times) including Brandon Jovanovich and Evgenia Muraveva in the title roles of Herman and Lisa and legendary singer Hanna Schwarz as Countess. Mariss Jansons, ‘a compelling director in his element’ (The New York Times) makes his rare appearance as an opera conductor, at the helm of the Wiener Philharmoniker – ‘Another triumph in this hot festival summer!’ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). Mariss Jansons, ‘maybe the best connoisseur of this unjustly neglected opera’ (Süddeutsche Zeitung), turns this Queen of Spades with as much verve as sensitivity into a ‘captivating musical drama’ (Die Zeit).

Berlin, 6.12.2024. On January 1, 2025, Maestro Riccardo Muti will conduct the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic for the seventh time in the world-famous Golden Hall of the Vienna Music Club. Worldwide, there are only a few concerts that are expected with such great excitement as the New Year concert from Vienna. This year, it is broadcast to over 90 countries and reaches an audience of millions of people.

The unrivalled Bayreuth Centenary Ring by Boulez/Chéreau sent ripples through art and society even before the curtain was lifted. Leaflets were distributed, signatures were collected and musicians left the orchestra pit in disgust, all because of disagreements over the bold new interpretation of Wagner's Ring Cycle by conductor Pierre Boulez. The festival hired 31-year-old film and theatre director Patrice Chéreau, a relative unknown. Chéreau's submitted concept for the multi-part, many hours long Ring Cycle had fitted on a single typewritten page. Once hired, he had just four months to prepare the monumental dramatic work.

The unrivalled Bayreuth Centenary Ring by Boulez/Chéreau sent ripples through art and society even before the curtain was lifted. Leaflets were distributed, signatures were collected and musicians left the orchestra pit in disgust, all because of disagreements over the bold new interpretation of Wagner's Ring Cycle by conductor Pierre Boulez. The festival hired 31-year-old film and theatre director Patrice Chéreau, a relative unknown. Chéreau's submitted concept for the multi-part, many hours long Ring Cycle had fitted on a single typewritten page. Once hired, he had just four months to prepare the monumental dramatic work.

The unrivalled Bayreuth Centenary Ring by Boulez/Chéreau sent ripples through art and society even before the curtain was lifted. Leaflets were distributed, signatures were collected and musicians left the orchestra pit in disgust, all because of disagreements over the bold new interpretation of Wagner's Ring Cycle by conductor Pierre Boulez. The festival hired 31-year-old film and theatre director Patrice Chéreau, a relative unknown. Chéreau's submitted concept for the multi-part, many hours long Ring Cycle had fitted on a single typewritten page.

The unrivalled Bayreuth Centenary Ring by Boulez/Chéreau sent ripples through art and society even before the curtain was lifted. Leaflets were distributed, signatures were collected and musicians left the orchestra pit in disgust, all because of disagreements over the bold new interpretation of Wagner's Ring Cycle by conductor Pierre Boulez. The festival hired 31-year-old film and theatre director Patrice Chéreau, a relative unknown.

Der Freischütz was first performed at the Königliches Schauspielhaus Berlin, on 18 June 1821, and enjoyed a tremendous success, heralding the breakthrough for German Romantic opera and its victory over the Italian bel canto. Richard Wagner was to continue the new musical-dramatic concept of Der Freischütz in his works. The opera soon became popular and was widely admired, including by Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Wagner, Heinrich Heine and Hector Berlioz, who composed a recitative piece for a Paris performance in 1841. This recording is of Peter Konwitschny’s highly respected new production at the Hamburg Staatsoper in 1999, which benefited from the musical direction of Ingo Metzmacher.

Like music lovers the world over, John Nelson believes Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B Minor is a pinnacle of Western music. For years, he has cherished the dream of performing this masterwork in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris whose renown has grown constantly since he began conducting with them eight years ago. In addition to John Nelson and his Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Mass in B minor brings together the Maîtrise de Notre-Dame choir conducted by Nicole Corti as well as internationally recognized soloists Ruth Ziesak (soprano), Joyce DiDonato (mezzo), Daniel Taylor (alto), Paul Agnew (tenor) and Dietrich Henschel (baritone).