Accentus Music

Franz Schubert's "Winterreise" is considered the pinnacle of German art song. Hans Zender (1936 - 2019) arranged the cycle in 1993, and his version for tenor and small orchestra brings to light emotions that pulsate beneath the surface in Schubert. Similar to Hans Zender, the choreographer Christian Spuck is also concerned with a journey into the interior of the human being.

Barbara Hannigan is a renowned soprano and exceptionally talented artist and musician from Canada, who recently has begun an international career as conductor. Making its North American premiere, Taking Risks shows Hannigan preparing to conduct her first opera, Stravinsky’s masterpiece The Rake’s Progress. From auditions to opening night, we follow the journey of a dedicated, passionate, and perceptive woman, taking a behind-the-scenes look at her creative process, with many moments of excitement and magic.

Follows Joana Mallwitz during two pivotal years – when she gives birth to her son and her career accelerates significantly. But whether she’s at home, at rehearsals, or in the spotlight, the German conductor strives to prove that perfection at work is just as important as finding the right rhythm in life.

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Mahler’s birth and just one month short of his own 85th birthday, composer-conductor Pierre Boulez marked his forty-five-year collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra by directing this very special Mahler-only concert at Ohio’s splendid Severance Hall. Following the Adagio from the unfinished Tenth Symphony, he presented Twelve Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn with soloists Magdalena Kožená and Christian Gerhaher, both much-sought-after opera and concert singers on the world’s leading stages.

Composed in 1824, Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" will celebrate its bicentennial in 2024. With its famous finale based on Schiller's poem "An die Freude" (Ode to Joy), this colossal work is now one of the symbols of European unity. How was this symphony created? And how has it survived two centuries of history?

Sleeping Beauty was premiered in St. Petersburg with Tchaikovsky’s immortal music in 1890. In his version for the Ballett Zurich, Christian Spuck revives the classic in his own artistic style. With a great deal of humor, he addresses the complex process of growing up, relating themes such as generational conflicts with one’s parents, the difficulties of becoming a mature adult, and, last but not least, love and sexuality. Whenever possible, he frees the characters from their traditional role cliches. Petipa’s original version becomes a model that Christian Spuck occasionally cites yet repeatedly questions and counteracts with irony and occasionally irritating moments.

The Triple Concerto is one of Beethoven's less frequently performed works - probably also because it requires three soloists and makes considerable demands on them. ARTE presents the Concerto for Violin, Violoncello, Piano and Orchestra in C major at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, performed by an excellent trio of soloists. It is accompanied by the Gewandhaus Orchestra under the direction of Herbert Blomstedt.

Midori, in her search for authenticity,visits the places where Bach's compositions originated. Exploring the castle of Köthen, where Bach wrote the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin,she fills the historical rooms with the sound of these masterpieces. Music and space merge exclusively in the acoustic offered by the location, which supports the breathtaking polyphonyand the detailed richness of the works as well as the technical brilliance and perfectionof Midori's subtly shaped performance. recorded at the Castle Köthen, August 2016

"The greatest mix of colors that ever existed" was Gustav Mahler's description of the third movement of his Fourth Symphony. Ricardo Chailly and the Gewandhaus Orchestra transformed the entire Fourth Symphony into this kaleiodoscope of sound. The unmistakable timbre of the orchestra has become synonymous withwith late Romantic repertoire and Mahler-esque style - it was described by Der Tagesspiegel as "uncommonly present, even in the thread-fine piannissimo, compact, concentrated, satin:' Recorded live at the Gewandhaus zu Lepzig. 26/27 April 2012

Joshua Bell lights up the stage with this dazzling performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, the centerpiece of the Nobel Prize Concert in honour of the 2010 Nobel Prize Laureates. Part of the official Nobel Week, this tribute concert opens with music by Beethoven that urgently evokes the spirit of freedom from tyranny. And closing the evening is a glowing account by Sakari Oramo and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic of Sibelius’s monument to orchestral majesty, the titanic Fifth Symphony.

The famous Thomanerchor Leipzig - a traditional specialist in Bach's choral music - is joined by the superb Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and excellent soloists to perform one of Bach's most acclaimed pieces of religious choral music, the Mass in B Minor.