Wien Concert 2020

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the greatest media event in classical music, Sony Classical released in 2015 a complete edition of all the works ever played at the Wiener Philharmoniker’s New Year’s Concerts. Performed in the “Golden Hall” of the Musikverein between 1941 and 2015, the iconic live performances were issued for the first time in a single box set of 23 CDs. Now, in 2020, this edition will be available as a 26-CD extended version, with all the new repertoire from the last five years compiled on three additional CDs.

Craig Taborn’s Avenging Angel album was widely praised for the fresh ideas it brought to the solo piano idiom. “It reflects Mr Taborn’s galactically-broad interests,” said the New York Times, “along with his multifaceted technique,” while the Guardian saluted Craig’s “genius (there is no other word for it)" and his “world of whispered, wide-spaced figures, ringing overtones, evaporating echoes and glowering contrapuntal cascades”. Over the last decade Taborn has continued to refine and develop his approach, reaching new high ground with Shadow Plays, a stunning live recital from Vienna’s Konzerthaus. In this fully improvised concert, recorded in March 2020, Craig explores sounds and silences, swirling colours, densities and forms, creating new music in the moment with both poetic imagination and an iron grip on his spontaneously generated material.

Since its foundation in 2008, the Kammerorchester Wien – Berlin has enjoyed storied success. Comprised of leading members of the Wiener and Berliner Philharmoniker, the ensemble combines the unbridled sound beauty of both top orchestras in their agile, chamber music-like playing. The cornerstone for this ensemble was laid by Sir Simon Rattle with his wish to conduct a joint concert with both the Wiener and Berliner Philharmoniker for his 50th birthday: the playing was so inspiring that the desire for continuing this shared experience immediately arose. The orchestra celebrated its US debut in 2019 with the concerts there with Anne-Sophie Mutter the crowning conclusion of a spectacular tour that saw enthusiastic audiences in 25 venues, such as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Vienna Musikverein, as well as in Athens, Madrid, Lucerne, and Berlin. Deutsche Grammophon now presents the Kammerorchester Wien – Berlin’s first recording on the Yellow Label which includes a premiere recording on DG of Schnittke’s Concerto For Piano And String Orchestra, Op. 136, alongside works by Shostakovich and Lutosławski.

Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna is once again this year the beautiful backdrop for a classical music concert in a class of its own. Every year, the famous summer night concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra takes place there. This year, the orchestra is conducted by Valery Gergiev, who has been working with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for many years. For the first time this year, the German world star Jonas Kaufmann will be the star guest at the Summer Night Concert. The programme is still secret, but as every year it will be a particularly beautiful mixture of classical hits and special works by Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Emmerich Kálmán, Maurice Jarre, Aram Khachaturian and Giacomo Puccini.

Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna is once again this year the beautiful backdrop for a classical music concert in a class of its own. Every year, the famous summer night concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra takes place there. This year, the orchestra is conducted by Valery Gergiev, who has been working with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for many years. For the first time this year, the German world star Jonas Kaufmann will be the star guest at the Summer Night Concert. The programme is still secret, but as every year it will be a particularly beautiful mixture of classical hits and special works by Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Emmerich Kálmán, Maurice Jarre, Aram Khachaturian and Giacomo Puccini.