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

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

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• 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.

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Britten's Spring Symphony in Sweden - Radio Broadcast

Anne Sofie von Otter, Daniel Harding, Mark Padmore

They're celebrating the Centenary of Benjamin Britten in Sweden, too (and they even imported some Brits to help them out.) Under the direction of Daniel Harding, the Swedish Radio Chorus and Symphony presented Britten's Spring Symphony on May 24th this year.