Figaro 2021

Here is the Rossini volume of our series dedicated to Maria Callas! It includes the most exciting pages of the little known Armida live from Firenze, Il turco in Italia with Gianandrea Gavazzeni where she performs the main role of Fiorilla, and the famous 1957 version of Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Alceo Galliera. Her partners include Luigi Alva, Tito Gobbi or Nicolai Gedda.

Bernard Johann Herman Haitink built a reputation as one of the finest conductors of the 20th Century with a wide repertory and meticulous yet warm and exciting performances. He studied violin at Amsterdam Conservatory, and began his musical career as a violinist in the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. He took conducting studies with Felix Hupka when he was at conservatory and then two Netherlands Radio Union conducting courses with Ferdinand Leitner. He was named second conductor with the Radio Union, leading four different orchestras or ensembles. He was promoted to principal conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic itself, at the age of 27. After his good showing when called as a last-minute replacement at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in Cherubini's Requiem in 1956, the Concertgebouw Orchestra frequently engaged him as a guest conductor. After Eduard van Beinum died, two conductors were named principal conductor of the Concertgebouw: Haitink (at thirty-two the youngest principal conductor ever) and the veteran Eugen Jochum. Two years later, Jochum left, leaving Haitink in sole charge. He became the principal conductor and then artistic director of the LPO, retaining that position until 1979. He recorded frequently with both orchestras, taking care not to favor one over the other out of concern for the musicians' feelings. An example of this occurred when he was planning a recording of Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, which has one of the most prominent of solo violin parts for a concertmaster.

Julien Chauvin and Le Concert de la Loge join Alpha and launch a new cycle devoted to Mozart. This project is a natural continuation of Julien Chauvin’s work of rediscovery focusing on the interpretation of the music of Haydn and his contemporaries in Paris in the late eighteenth century.