Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings

Sir Simon Rattle, the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Rundfunkchor Berlin give an impeccable performance of the powerful biblical oratorio “The Gospel According to the Other Mary” by John Adams, one of the most renowned contemporary composers. The sophisticated score with a libretto by acclaimed theatre director Peter Sellars comes to life thanks to the Berliner Philharmoniker, whose intimate knowledge of Adams’s music stems from the composer himself: He attended the orchestra’s rehearsals. In the role of the Evangelist, Bubeck, Cummings and Medley lead through the narrative. A stunning highlight is Lazarus’s aria, sung by tenor Peter Hoare. But at the heart of the piece are Mary Magdalene and her sister Martha during the last days before Jesus’s death, impressively performed by mezzo-sopranos Kelley O’Connor and Tamara Mumford.

The London Telegraph described pianist Alice Sarah Ott as the “hottest new talent in classical music”. She now makes her debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker performing Ravel’s vibrant, jazz-influenced Piano Concerto in G major. Another artist making his debut is the Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, who shows the music of his homeland from its most passionate side: with Jean Sibelius’s Tchaikovsky-inspired First Symphony, and music by the internationally too little known Uuno Klami.

It is for the memory of Agamemnon that Elektra continues to live – and for the memory of his violent death at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra, her own mother. Elektra’s life revolves completely around the question of how this murder can be avenged. With the issue of crime and punishment comes the desire to personally right past wrongs without causing further injustice – moral dilemmas that remain burningly relevant today.