Joyce DiDonato with the Berlin Philharmonic

In the BPO Live Lounge this weekend:

...and in concert on April 11:

And I love watching Sara Willis' video blog. She makes everyone demonstrate their ability (or lack thereof) to play the french horn!

Hanging out with the amazing @JoyceDiDonato LIVE online on saturday, join us! http://t.co/emUIdLQbyV @BerlinPhil pic.twitter.com/RUsaQlknlA

— Sarah Willis (@sarahwillis) March 26, 2015

Schumann Faust Scenes on Ö1 Radio (Röschmann, Gerhaher, Pisaroni)

Christian Gerhaher and Daniel Harding

Broadcast last night on Ö1 Radio, this will be in the 7 Tage Ö1  archive for about six more days. 

Robert Schumann: 

Szenen aus Goethe's Faust

Part 1

Ouvertüre
Nr.1 Szene im Garten
Nr.2 Gretchen vor dem Bild der Mater dolorosa
Nr.3 Szene im Dom

Part 2

Nr.4 Sonnenaufgang
Nr.5 Mitternacht
Nr.6 Fausts Tod

Dorothea Röschmann (Gretchen)
Anna Prohaska (Marthe; Sorge; Soprano Soli)
Andrew Staples (Ariel; Tenor Soli)
Christian Gerhaher (Faust)
Luca Pisaroni (Mephisto)
Elisabeth von Magnus (Mangel; Mezzosopran Soli)
Wiebke Lehmkuhl (Schuld; Alt Soli)
Franz-Josef Selig (Bass Soli)

Rundfunkchor Berlin
Knaben des Staats- und Domchors Berlin
Berliner Philharmoniker
Leitung: Daniel Harding

Monday Mahler with Christian Gerhaher (and a Little Mozart, too)

Too good to be true? Yes. Yes it is. The Berliner Philharmoniker never gives anything away, and so they fade out before the end of the song! But it's still worth posting and watching/listening. Plus it was time to turn the spotlight away from Matthias Goerne—briefly—to remind us how amazing Herr Gerhaher is.

I had to give up my annual Digital Concert Hall subscription, but there are programs that are worth paying a few bucks to see, one-at-a-time. (Including the Schumann Faust concert!) Or pay for a month, then stay home and watch non-stop to get the most for your Euro.

Meanwhile, today’s post was going to be my debrief of Saturday’s La Clemenza di Tito from Munich, but I am still mulling it over. I've had two good conversations with My Dad about it, and I am working on conclusions. 

Digital Concert Hall's (Free) Tribute to Claudio Abbado

The good folks at the Berliner Philharmoniker's Digital Concert Hall have complied a series of 17 concerts in tribute to Claudio Abbado's years with the orchestra (1991 – 2002).  And for a limited time only, you can view these programs free of charge! The Berliners don’t often give anything away, so take advantage of this opportunity while it lasts.

Aus der Inbox – Schumann’s Faust on Digital Concert Hall On Sunday – Roschmann, Pisaroni, Gerhaher, et al.

BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER
DANIEL HARDING

Dorothea Röschmann, Anna Prohaska, Andrew Staples, Christian Gerhaher, Luca Pisaroni

GET YOUR TICKET NOW

• Sunday, Dec. 15, 2 PM Eastern US

• Robert Schumann
  Scenes from Goethe's Faust

  Dorothea Röschmann Soprano (Gretchen, Una Poenitentium),Anna Prohaska Soprano (Marthe, Care, Angel, Soprano solos),Andrew Staples Tenor (Ariel, Pater Exstaticus, Tenor solos),Christian Gerhaher Baritone (Faust, Pater Seraphicus, Dr. Marianus), Luca Pisaroni Bass-Baritone (Mephistopheles), Franz-Josef Selig Bass-Baritone (Pater profundus, Bass solos), Wiebke Lehmkuhl Contralto (Guilt, Mater Gloriosa, Maria Aegyptiaca, Contralto solos), Rundfunkchor Berlin, Robin Gritton Chorus Master, Boys of the Staats- und Domchor Berlin, Kai-Uwe Jirka Chorus Master

Over time how many composers have had a try at Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust – and have failed more or less honourably! Robert Schumann is generally named as one of them. After all, with Scenes from Goethe’s Faust he wrote a work between 1844 and 1853 that until the present has led a shadowy existence in the concert business. But wait! Did Schumann truly shipwreck in compositional terms in grappling with the German tragedy – for that reason alone? Or was his music quite simply not (yet) understood – then or now – by his contemporaries and by ensuing ages?

For the conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who originally was to lead the three concerts in the Berlin Philharmonie, Schumann’sFaust Scenes “are among the greatest music that there is.” Unfortunately, the conductor has had to cancel his guest appearance with the Philharmoniker. We are grateful to Daniel Harding, who recently performed Mahler’s Tenth Symphony with the orchestra, who has agreed to stand in for him.

Christian Gerhaher, Dorothea Röschmann and Luca Pisaroni will slip into the roles of Faust, Gretchen and Mephistopheles. Besides additional high-caliber soloists, the Rundfunkchor Berlin can also be experienced in the performances of Schumann’s composition, which oscillates between incidental music, cantata and secular oratorio. These are optimal prerequisites to (re-)discover – in Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s words – “the enigmatic, transcendental, ambiguous” in Schumann’s Faust music.

Go here to sign in, sign up, and watch and listen!

Ravel: L’Enfant et les Sortilèges – Digital Concert Hall

There's also an audio version available

Something cool that one might overlook when visiting the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Digital Concert Hall is the amount of opera (in concert) they present. This spring they reprised their Baden-Baden Zauberflote; and in the recent past they’ve presented Salome and Porgy and Bess. Some of the works are “semi-staged” while others are more “concerty.”

2012 Lieder Recitals from Schwetzingen Still Available

So, I was over at Dorothea Röschmann – an appreciation, checking out a notice about the Berlin Philharmonic's November 2013 concert of Schumann’s scenes from Faust*. The rest of the vocal cast is compelling too, and includes Martina Janková, Werner Güra, Christian Gerhaher, and Luca Pisaroni. 

On that same page, there is a link to the (still active) archive recording of DR’s wonderful 2012 Schwetzingen SWR Festspiele Lieder recital. (Earwormopera published the sung texts) In fact, most all of the 2012 Schwetzingen programs are still available from Südwestrundfunk SW2. The site says the recordings are available for a year, which means they’ll be disappearing soon (to be replaced by the 2013 programs, no doubt.)

Recognition, Magic, and Loneliness (A Stream of Consciousness Post)

ArteLiveWeb_de ‏@ArteLiveWeb_de17 Apr

"This Zauberflöte is a great way to spend an afternoon or evening" says @Rob_Mus - What do you think? http://regieornotregie.blogspot.de/2013/04/die-zauberflote-aus-baden-baden-2013_8.html … /cc @BerlinPhil

I won't quit my day job; but it is nice to know that they noticed.

More Digital Concert Hall – Mahler from von Otter, Kaufmann, and Abbado

I've extolled the Berliner Philharmoniker's Digital Concert Hall in other posts. It's a pay site; I'd rather be able to get these concerts on DVDs, but this service is so worth it! And this concert is one reason why:

Here is something to be thankful for: Anne Sofie von Otter and Jonas Kaufmann on stage with Claudio Abbado at the helm. What more could a fanboy ask for? This is a near-perfect performance of Das Lied von der Erde. We already know that ASvO loves singing Mahler, and JK has the perfect voice for it too. They are both consummate singer/actors, slash actor/singers. And Maestro Abbado achieves so much with relatively few podium dramatics. I love the visual feedback Maestro Abbado gives his singers. He clearly loves the human voice. Watch especially for the look he gives JK after the fifth song.

BPO Digital Concert Hall – Part 2: The One that's not about Opera or Regie

I talked about the Berliner Philharmoniker's Digital Concert Hall (DCH) in the last post, and I want to share two more gems that I found recently on the site. DCH is a subscription service of the Berliner Philharmoniker that provides access to live broadcasts in addition to an abundance of archived concerts.

You have to pay to see the concerts, but a lot of specials, interviews, and extras are free. I came across the site through Anne Sofie von Otter's (ASvO) Facebook page.  

BPO Digital Concert Hall – Part 1: The One that's about the new Carmen Recording

I just discovered the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall (DCH): yet another reason to spend time in front of my computer. I came across the site through Anne Sofie von Otter's Facebook page. I will say more about ASvO and DCH in a later post, since this post is supposed to be about the new Carmen recording. 

You have probably already read about the new recording of Carmen conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, and starring Mrs. Rattle Magdelena Kožená, Jonas Kaufmann, and Genia Kühmeier (a soprano to watch... and listen to, of course!) It's already been reviewed, previewed, and otherwise discussed at blogs such as Likely Impossibilities, Music Web International, Parterre Box, and I Hear Voices.