For half a century his life has been his music. And on this long and wondrous way the German composer and guitar player Friedemann has come across some deep rivers and some high mountains. Or as he himself puts it: »The music has made me poor and rich, happy and unhappy. It makes me ill and it heals me. It frustrates me, frightens me and gives me hope. Sometimes I hate it. But, it lives within me; it nourishes me and it inspires me to new deeds.«
SACD review: When Friedemann was in the studio with his long term »sound master« Johannes Wohlleben mixing the audio for the DVD of the same title, the video was always running along with the sound track. This is standard practise to make sure that sound and picture are in sync and compatible. But there were certain moments when Friedemann shut his eyes. He wanted to »see the music« rather than the musicians.
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784), considered by many the most talented of J. S. Bach's children, is also the least known of the great master's three composing sons. In contrast to his father's orderly, wholesome and responsible lifestile, Wilhelm Friedemann's was erratic and characterized by excesses. Add to that a puzzling inability to "market" himself, and you will easily understand why this genius ended his life in abject powerty.
The son of the peerless Johann Sebastian, Wilhelm Friedemann was the least famous Bach of his time. Yet he is now regarded by some as the most brilliant of the Bach children, and is occasionally reported to have been his father's favourite. A master of numerous different keyboard instruments, he was not particularly prolific, and of his 100 or so known works, many remained unprinted until the 20th century.
The last great work from the glorious era of the Imperial ballets has never before been performed by the La Scala ballet. Its La Scala premiere marks the most faithful version of Raymonda yet to the original, which met with triumphant success in St. Petersburg in 1898.