Here, a year after her sensational Metropolitan debut as Prokofiev’s Natasha from War and Peace, comes the debut solo recital album of 30-something soprano Anna Netrebko. She hails from southern Russia, and her emergence from the life of a conservatory student has a touch of the Cinderella tale—the bit, that is, about being discovered by Gergiev mopping floors for the Kirov as a part-time job and making her way into the Kirov's ranks.

This recording would be ideal for one with the intent of studying the scores, as it is a rather exact and unbiased read, quite true to Schubert's intended style. The pharsing, choice of tempi and degree of precision are examplary for a work of the era.

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).

Mozart wrote two major masses as a boy: the easy-going Domincus Mass (K 66) and the Waisenhaus Mass in C Minor (K 139 / 47a). The latter was misdated by Köchel; it was thought to be too mature for the mass that Mozart was known to have composed for the imperial orphanage in 1768 (Mozart's trumpet concerto which was premièred at the same event is sadly lost). When the attribution became surer, accusations were made that Leopold had contributed to its composition. Whatever the truth of the matter be, it's miraculous. As evocative as the three-part Kyrie is, the Crucifixus and Agnus Dei could pass muster if tacked on to the torso of the Mass in C Minor, K 427 (the latter is lacking these two sections). Unlike his later missae, the Waisenhaus Mass follows the Neapolitan format where the Gloria and Credo feature extensive arias.

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).

Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969) was internationally recognized and celebrated as an outstanding authority for classical-romantic piano music. Just how well deserved this admiration is, can especially be heard in the Beethoven-concerts and the Diabelli-variations, which are included in this 10-CD-Box and regarded as "trend setting" by critics until today. Early on, Backhaus had become a German pianist of world renown. As a sixteen-year-old he gave his first concert in London

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 Subscription Concert Series of the Wiener Philharmoniker from the Golden Hall of the famous Musikverein are special concerts reserved for subscribers. Due to the exceptional quality of the concerts and the limited offer, the average waiting time for subscribers is more than 10 years. With this series, these very special concerts are made available for the first time audiovisually to a wider audience worldwide. Conductor Herbert Blomstedt, honorary member of the orchestra, is a regular guest at the subscription concerts.

This extraordinarily powerful 1983 production may be the best-sung performance by Luciano Pavarotti on DVD, but when acting values are counted in, Ingvar Wixell manages to outshine the tenor star. Verdi gave the Duke two of Italian opera's most brilliant arias ("Questa o quella" and "La donna e mobile"), but he gave the deformed jester Rigoletto a depth and complexity of character that is reflected in music of great variety and enormous emotional impact: the cruel mockery of the opening scene, the self-doubts inspired by his dialogue with Sparafucile, the paternal anxieties and final despair at his daughter's sad fate, and the burning, self-destructive thirst for revenge. All these motives work their way into music of great dramatic richness, variety, and intensity. Wixell rises to its challenges, not only in the title role but in a cameo appearance as Rigoletto's nemesis Monterone. Location filming provides an atmosphere unavailable in staged productions. (Joe McLellan)

For many years, Willi Boskovsky led the Vienna Philharmonic during the famous New Year's concerts. Violinist and conductor, he had this "Viennese Blood" essential to understand the music of Strauss and know how to mark the dynamics in the most accurate way. Although recorded many years ago (60' and 70') the recording was thoroughly remastered, giving us a fresh sound clarity as if it was recorded during last year's New Year's Concert. The CD includes the most famous waltzes by Johann Strauss (the Blue Danube, Emperor Waltz, Tales of the Vienna Woods…), along with 2 other ones written by his younger brother Joseph (Spharenklange and Dorschwalben aus Ostorreich).

While noted for his interpretations of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Bruckner and Strauss, Bohm is generally not the first conductor I think of when it comes to Beethoven. That said, he has always proven to be a gifted accompanist, and that holds here as well. He and Pollini seem to share a similar vision for this work, and thus both the soloist and orchestral forces work towards the same end goal.

For this all-Mozart twofer from Sony, piano virtuoso Lang Lang, conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and the Vienna Philharmonic present a program of piano concertos, piano sonatas, and several short solo pieces that give a good sampling of the composer's keyboard output. The roster may provoke some cognitive dissonance, though, because Harnoncourt is best known for historically informed period interpretations of Mozart, while Lang Lang and the Vienna Philharmonic are more associated with a conventional, mainstream performance style. One might expect some compromise between the two camps, yet while the orchestra incorporates some aspects of Classical sound into its playing, it remains a modern orchestra of full size, and Harnoncourt doesn't ask for the tone colors and techniques he would demand of his own Concentus Musicus Wien. For the soloist's part, Lang Lang is rather restrained and sensitive to the character of the music, and apart from some showiness in his cadenzas, he shows less of the ebullience and bravura playing he otherwise shows in Liszt or Rachmaninov.