Iván Fischer

Take Mozart's darkest opera, add the artistry of Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra and bring them all together in the breathtaking surroundings of Palladio's Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. Those were the basic ingredients for this production of Don Giovanni at the 2025 Vicenza Opera Festival, but it's safe to say that the reality exceeded expectation. After a lifetime's engagement with Mozart, Iván Fischer has developed a very personal approach to stage direction; and with a cast that includes André Schuen in the title role and Maria Bengtsson as Donna Anna this is in every sense a landmark staging.

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It was during one of the rare happy periods of his life that Schumann composed his third symphony and a palpable joy can be heard in this masterpiece. In contrast Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 is, like many of the composer's minor-key pieces, imbued with a profound melancholy. Accomplished pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja is soloist with the Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by its founder Iván Fischer. Programme: Sergei Prokofiev Overture on Hebrew Themes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor KV 491 Robert Schumann Symphony No. 3 in E flat major "Rhenish"

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Understanding how the musical world was impacted by the World War I.

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Music is not "just" music. It can have immense power in good or evil. This documentary by Maria Stodtmeier and Isa Willinger highlights interesting and very current themes about the links between music and politics.

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Iván Fischer makes his DNO debut. He conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Pierre Audi, artistic director of DNO and the Holland Festival, directs his first new DNO production since Saint François d'Assise (2008). For Parsifal Audi once again joins forces with the British sculptor Anish Kapoor (décor). Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester previously sang the role of Amfortas at the Opéra National de Paris and the Bayreuther Festspiele. Kurt Rydl (Titurel/Klingsor) made previous DNO appearances as Hagen/Hunding in Der Ring des Nibelungen and as Heinrich in Lohengrin. Kurt Rydl has been an honorary member of the Wiener Staatsoper since 1999. Falk Struckmann has frequently sung the role of Amfortas, but now makes his first DNO appearance in his role debut as Gurnemanz. The title role is sung by Christopher Ventris, who previously appeared at DNO as Steuermann in Der fliegende Holländer. Petra Lang (Kundry) previously sang Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde and Venus in Tannhäuser at DNO.

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