Episodes
| Episode | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | 20080707 | Presented by Louise Fryer. Series of programmes marking the centenary in 2008 of the birth of the great Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan. Including rare radio archive recordings of Karajan conducting 'his' orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, as well as the Vienna Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Plus recent concert performances by some of today's leading conductors - especially those associated with the Berlin Philharmonic and with the BBC orchestras. Including: Strauss: Don Juan Herbert von Karajan (conductor) Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 4 Maurizio Pollini (piano) Claudio Abbado (conductor) Berlioz: Te Deum Marius Brenciu (tenor) Iveta Apkalna (organ) Berlin Radio Chorus (chorus master - Simon Halsey) Bavarian Radio Chorus (chorus master - Robert Blank) Boys of the Berlin State and Cathedral Choir Berlin Radio Children's Chorus Berlin Girls' Chorus Berlin Sing-Akademie Girls' Chorus Beethoven: Symphony No 9 Elisabeth Grummer (soprano) Marga Hoffgen (contralto) Ernst Haefliger (tenor) Gottlob Frick (bass) St Hedwig's Cathedral Chorus Herbert von Karajan (conductor). Herbert von Karajan conducts works by Strauss, Berlioz and Beethoven. |
| 02 | 20080708 | Presented by Louise Fryer. Including a complete performance from the 2007 Orange Festival in the south of France of Verdi's Il trovatore, starring Roberto Alagna. Herbert Von Karajan features in a radio archive recording of a Stravinsky ballet, alongside Simon Rattle conducting the Austrian maestro's old orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, in a dance from a Prokofiev opera. Prokofiev: March (The Love for Three Oranges) Simon Rattle (conductor) Stravinsky: Jeu de cartes Philharmonia Orchestra Herbert von Karajan (conductor) Verdi: Il trovatore Roberto Alagna (tenor) Susan Neves (soprano) Mzia Nioradze (mezzo-soprano) Marie-Paule Dotti (soprano) Seng-Hyoun Ko (baritone) Arutjun Kotchinian (bass) Sebastien Gueze (tenor) David Bizic (bass) Jean-Francois Borras (tenor) Regional Opera Choruses French National Orchestra Gianandrea Noseda (conductor). Herbert von Karajan conducts Stravinsky's Jeu de cartes. Plus Verdi's Il trovatore. |
| 03 | 20080709 | Presented by Louise Fryer. Series of programmes marking the centenary in 2008 of the birth of the great Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan. Including a rare chance to hear him conducting music of his own time with Henze's Antifone, from 1962, sandwiched between two tragic works - Berlioz's Requiem and Josef Suk's Asrael Symphony. Berlioz: Grande messe des morts (Requiem) Joseph Kaiser (tenor) Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus Berlin Philharmonic Donald Runnicles (conductor) Henze: Antifone Herbert von Karajan (conductor) Dvorak: Biblical Songs (excerpts) Peter Mikulas (bass) Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Jiri Belohlavek (conductor) Suk: Asrael Symphony Jiri Belohlavek (conductor). Von Karajan conducts Henze's Antifone. Plus Berlioz: Requiem and Suk: Asrael Symphony. |
| 04 | 20080710 | Presented by Louise Fryer. Series of programmes marking the centenary in 2008 of the birth of the great Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan. Featuring Karajan's performance of Richard Strauss' Elektra, an opera he never recorded commercially, plus performances by Mariss Jansons, one of today's leading conductors, who was given great support as a young man by Karajan. Wagner: Siegfried's Funeral March (Gotterdammerung) Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Mariss Jansons (conductor) Caplet: Tout est lumiere Atsuko Suzuki (soprano) Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra Brahms: Piano Concerto No 1 Daniel Barenboim (piano) Strauss: Elektra Astrid Varnay (mezzo-soprano) Martha Modl (soprano) Hildegard Hillebrecht (soprano) Eberhard Waechter (baritone) James King (tenor) Vienna State Opera Chorus Vienna Philharmonic Herbert von Karajan (conductor). With Herbert Von Karajan conducting Strauss' Elektra, plus the work of Mariss Jansons. |
| 05 | 20080711 | Presented by Louise Fryer. Series of programmes marking the 2008 centenary of the birth of the great Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan. In a performance recorded at a Bach Festival in Vienna in 1950, Karajan conducts movements from Bach's B minor Mass, with the great British contralto Kathleen Ferrier. Plus an all-Beethoven concert under Bernard Haitink and a Bruckner Symphony conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Beethoven: Egmont Overture Beethoven: Triple Concerto Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin) Christian Poltera (cello) Lars Vogt (piano) Beethoven: Symphony No 5 Chamber Orchestra of Europe Bernard Haitink (conductor) Bach: Mass in B minor (excerpts) Kathleen Ferrier (contralto) Grand Chorus of the 'Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wiener Symphoniker Vienna Symphony Orchestra Herbert von Karajan (conductor) Bruckner: Symphony No 9 Berlin Staatskapelle Daniel Barenboim (conductor). In a recording from 1950, Herbert von Karajan conducts movements from Bach's B minor Mass. |