Daniel Barenboim conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker in this 1998 performance, live at the Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin. Included are Beethoven's 'Symphony No. 8 F major' and Liszt's 'Les Preludes'. Featured is a rare gem of Romantic music: Schumann’s Concert Piece for four horns, the present recording being the only DVD currently available on the market. Another rarity is an entirely instrumental performance of Richard Wagner's 'The Ride of the Valkyries'.
In 1741 Johann Sebastian Bach published the fourth and last volume of his most extensive keyboard publication, the Clavier-Übung: an aria and thirty variations known universally as the ‘Goldberg’ Variations. This monumental work, which is about eighty minutes long, is unquestionably one of the towering masterpieces of Western music. At times the ‘Goldberg’ Variations anticipate the keyboard writing of nearly a hundred years later. They present the performer with a great challenge, which Daniel Barenboim successfully addresses by using the piano to ‘orchestrate’ the music, creating the illusion of clearly defined instrumental sounds. Recorded at Bavaria Musikstudios Munich, 1992, Directed by Christopher Nupen. Produced by Metropolitan Munich in association with Allegro Films.
Held each year on 1 May, the Berliner Philharmoniker’s European Concert has ever since 1991 been a byword for excellence. In a performance in Prague’s Estates Theatre, one of Europe’s most beautiful historical venues, the orchestra under the celebrated pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim is heard with some of Mozart’s most beloved masterpieces. What is more, the orchestra was seated in a reconstruction of the sets used in this very theatre at the world première of Don Giovanni.
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was founded by Daniel Barenboim and the late Edward Said. It consists of young, highly talented Israeli and Arabian musicians and was founded to increase the dialogue between young people in the Middle East and represent the peaceful collaboration of the two cultures. In standard comparable to the most established orchestras, it combines tonal beauty and transparency with youthful expressiveness, passion and exuberance. This technically brilliant and incredibly enthusiastic orchestra brings out all levels of Beethoven’s 9th symphony and we listen to Beethoven at his very best: exuberant, emotional, lucid, tender, clear, triumphant… simply magnificent!Needless to say, Daniel Barenboim conducts excellently and outstanding singers Angela Denoke, Waltraud Meier, Burkhard Fritz and René Pape contribute tremendously to this unforgettable concert.
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra is one of those success stories that is almost too perfect to be true. The internationally respected orchestra was founded by Daniel Barenboim and the late Palestinian writer and scholar Edward Said with young, highly talented Israeli and Arab musicians. The ensemble works to establish dialogue between the cultures of the Middle East through the experience of playing music together, and has gained cultural and musical respect all over the world.
The founding of the Berliner Philharmoniker on the first of May in 1882, is annually celebrated with a concert in an European city of cultural significance. In 2014 the EUROPAKONZERT took again place in Berlin. The concert was conducted by a man who has been associated with the Berliner Philharmoniker for 50 years: Daniel Barenboim. Otto Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, which received its premiere in Berlin in 1849, is based on William Shakespeare’s comedy of the same name, and its lively overture has long since secured a place on the concert stage. Also inspired by a Shakespearean comedy hero is Edward Elgar’s symphonic study Falstaff. We then turn from comedy to the tragic twists of fate: The Fifth Symphony of Pyotr Tchaikovsky is characterized by a sombre main theme that for the Russian composer symbolizes “a complete resignation before fate, which is the same as the inscrutable predestination of fate”.
2012 is the 150th anniversary of Diepenbrock’s birth in Amsterdam. Also, it is 100 years since he was acclaimed as the most important Dutch composer since Sweelinck. This definitive collection includes his many vocal compositions as well as those for stage, orchestra and Symphonic Songs.
Today Daniel Barenboim is internationally recognized and revered as an orchestral and operatic conductor, pianist, and a musical ambassador and also as a humanitarian. Partnering him is the remarkable conductor Sergiu Celibidache. “He was one of the greatest musicians I ever encountered”, says Barenboim. Sergiu Celibidache has been called a musical giant, a magician, a brilliant lion-tamer and an enfant terrible of classical music. He was a legend in his own lifetime, mesmerizing orchestras audiences and critics with his intensity and brilliance.
The Grammy award-winning pianist Daniel Barenboim, long known for his Mozart interpretations, turns his attention to Mozart’s piano sonatas, a body of work that, while forming the core of the pianist’s repertory, is not often heard in the concert hall. These sonatas showcase Mozart’s genius for the small-scale, and truly shine in Barenboim’s masterful rendering.
In November 2007, Daniel Barenboim completed a cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos. Recorded live at the prestigious Klavier-Festival Ruhr in May 2007, this DVD recording reflects both a very individual and special reading of Beethoven’s music and the artist’s life-long dedication to the composer. Daniel Barenboim is one of the most prolific and high-profile artists performing on international stages today and Beethoven’s masterpieces have been a key part of his repertoire throughout his career, both as conductor and as pianist. Beethoven himself was a keyboard virtuoso of almost awesome abilities who created a sensation wherever he played. It is no wonder, therefore, that the piano was central to Beethoven’s overall output.