Berlin Wall 20th Anniversary [Afternoon Concert]

Episode

First
Broadcast

Comments

20091109

Part of BBC Radio 3's series of performances marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, featuring German orchestras from both sides of the wall and revolutionary music. Presented by Penny Gore.

On Christmas Day 1989, Leonard Bernstein with soloists and an orchestra made up of musicians from both sides of the Berlin Wall performed Beethoven's 9th Symphony in East Berlin. For the event, Schiller's 'Ode to Joy' - the text sung in the final movement - had one word changed: Freude (Joy) became Freiheit (Freedom).

And after the performance, the symbolic Brandenburg Gate in the heart of the city was reopened for the first time and musicians, audience and crowds alike walked under its great arch. Berlin was once again a single city. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Walker, who took part in the performance, gives her recollections of the event.

Gossec: Symphony No 12 in F

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Francois-Xavier Roth (conductor)

Chopin: Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante

Nikolai Demidenko (piano)

2.35pm

Beethoven: Symphony No 9 in D minor (Choral)

June Anderson (soprano)

Sarah Walker (mezzo-soprano)

Klaus Konig (tenor)

Jan-Hendrik Rootering (bass)

Bavarian Radio Chorus

Members of Berlin Radio Chorus (GDR)

Dresden Philharmonic Children's Chorus

Members of Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Orchestra of the Kirov Theatre, Leningrad, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Orchestre de Paris

Leonard Bernstein (conductor)

Janacek: Piano Sonata 1.X.1905

Nicolai Lugansky (piano)

4.10pm

Prokofiev: Symphony No 5

Berlin Philharmonic

Gustavo Dudamel (conductor).

Music marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, including Beethoven.

20091110

Part of BBC Radio 3's series of performances marking the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, featuring German orchestras from both sides of the wall and revolutionary music. Presented by Penny Gore.

Leipzig, home to Bach and Mendelssohn among others, was one of the key East German centres of popular protest in 1989 in the lead up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra performs a revolutionary symphony by Beethoven - his Eroica - at the time, the longest symphony ever written. It was originally dedicated to Napoleon, who Beethoven saw as the saviour of a rational republican Europe, but when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor, the composer destroyed the dedication.

Berlioz wrote his Grande symphonie funebre et triomphale to celebrate the anniversary of the arrival of another leader of France - Louis Philippe, the so-called Citizen King who came to the French throne after the 1830 Revolution, and he led France until the next series of European revolutions in 1848. Louis-Philippe was the last king to rule in France.

Some other revolutionary leaders were not so lucky: Jan Huss, Taras Bulba and Stepan Razin meet their ends as depicted in music by Dvorak, Janacek and Shostakovich.

Dvorak: Hussite Overture

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Takuo Yuasa (conductor)

Janacek: Taras Bulba

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Ilan Volkov (conductor)

3.00pm

Shostakovich: Execution of Stepan Razin

Alexander Kisselev (bass)

BBC National Chorus of Wales

London Symphony Chorus

Vassily Petrenko (conductor)

Berlioz: Symphonie funebre et triomphale, Op 15

Thierry Fischer (conductor)

4.00pm

Beethoven: Symphony No 3 in E flat (Eroica)

Herbert Blomstedt (conductor).

Music marking of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

20091111

Presented by Penny Gore.

Series of performances marking the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, featuring German orchestras from both sides of the wall and revolutionary music.

The Dresden Staatskapelle is one of the oldest orchestras in the world, founded in 1548, and it has seen plenty of drama in its time, none more so than when it emerged from the former East Germany in 1989. Leading young conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts the orchestra in Brahms's Double Concerto with violinist Julian Rachlin and cellist Mischa Maisky.

Elsewhere, Lenin is the link in Shostakovich's Symphony No 12 (The Year 1917), commemorating the Russian Revolution, and Mussorgsky's Songs and Dance of Death. Mussorgsky was inspired by his friend, the socialist revolutionary Nikolay Chernyshevsky, whose novel What Is to Be Done? had a marked influence on a young Lenin on the road to revolution in Russia.

Verdi: Overture (Nabucco)

BBC Philharmonic

Edward Downes (conductor)

Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death

Sergei Leiferkus (baritone)

Orchestre National de France

Kurt Masur (conductor)

2.30pm

Shostakovich: Symphony No 12 in D minor (The Year 1917)

Vassily Sinaisky (conductor)

Chopin: Barcarolle in F sharp minor

Nicolai Demidenko (piano)

3.20pm

Brahms: Double Concerto

Julian Rachlin (violin)

Mischa Maisky (cello)

Dresden Staaskapelle

Yannick Nezet-Seguin (conductor).

Penny Gore presents music by Verdi, Mussorgsky, Shostakovich, Chopin and Brahms.

04 LAST

20091113

Series of performances marking the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, featuring German orchestras from both sides of the wall and revolutionary music.

The Berlin Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel perform works by Rachmaninov and Stravinsky. Conductor Kurt Masur reflects on how close protesters in the East German city of Leipzig came to tragedy and conducts Beethoven's incidental music to Goethe's play Egmont. Beethoven depicts in music Goethe's libertarian hero Count Egmont, his faith in his fellow man and his resolute opposition to tyranny.

The link stays literary with Liszt's tone poem Tasso - Lamento e Trionfo. Torquato Tasso was a 16th-century Italian poet and the subject of works by both Goethe and Lord Byron, who, in turn, is the inspiration behind Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony.

Rachmaninov: The Isle of the Dead

Gustavo Dudamel (conductor)

Stravinsky: Violin Concerto

Viktoria Mullova (violin)

2.50pm

Beethoven: Egmont - incidental music

Melanie Diener (soprano)

Orchestra National de France

Kurt Masur (conductor)

Liszt: Tasso - Lamento e Trionfo

BBC Philharmonic

Gianandrea Noseda (conductor)

3.50pm

Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony

Orchestre National de France

Penny Gore presents music by Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Beethoven, Liszt and Tchaikovsky.

Episodes

Episode	First Broadcast	Comments
01	20091109	Part of BBC Radio 3's series of performances marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, featuring German orchestras from both sides of the wall and revolutionary music. Presented by Penny Gore. On Christmas Day 1989, Leonard Bernstein with soloists and an orchestra made up of musicians from both sides of the Berlin Wall performed Beethoven's 9th Symphony in East Berlin. For the event, Schiller's 'Ode to Joy' - the text sung in the final movement - had one word changed: Freude (Joy) became Freiheit (Freedom). And after the performance, the symbolic Brandenburg Gate in the heart of the city was reopened for the first time and musicians, audience and crowds alike walked under its great arch. Berlin was once again a single city. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Walker, who took part in the performance, gives her recollections of the event. Gossec: Symphony No 12 in F BBC National Orchestra of Wales Francois-Xavier Roth (conductor) Chopin: Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante Nikolai Demidenko (piano) 2.35pm Beethoven: Symphony No 9 in D minor (Choral) June Anderson (soprano) Sarah Walker (mezzo-soprano) Klaus Konig (tenor) Jan-Hendrik Rootering (bass) Bavarian Radio Chorus Members of Berlin Radio Chorus (GDR) Dresden Philharmonic Children's Chorus Members of Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Orchestra of the Kirov Theatre, Leningrad, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Orchestre de Paris Leonard Bernstein (conductor) Janacek: Piano Sonata 1.X.1905 Nicolai Lugansky (piano) 4.10pm Prokofiev: Symphony No 5 Berlin Philharmonic Gustavo Dudamel (conductor). Music marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, including Beethoven.
02	20091110	Part of BBC Radio 3's series of performances marking the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, featuring German orchestras from both sides of the wall and revolutionary music. Presented by Penny Gore. Leipzig, home to Bach and Mendelssohn among others, was one of the key East German centres of popular protest in 1989 in the lead up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra performs a revolutionary symphony by Beethoven - his Eroica - at the time, the longest symphony ever written. It was originally dedicated to Napoleon, who Beethoven saw as the saviour of a rational republican Europe, but when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor, the composer destroyed the dedication. Berlioz wrote his Grande symphonie funebre et triomphale to celebrate the anniversary of the arrival of another leader of France - Louis Philippe, the so-called Citizen King who came to the French throne after the 1830 Revolution, and he led France until the next series of European revolutions in 1848. Louis-Philippe was the last king to rule in France. Some other revolutionary leaders were not so lucky: Jan Huss, Taras Bulba and Stepan Razin meet their ends as depicted in music by Dvorak, Janacek and Shostakovich. Dvorak: Hussite Overture BBC National Orchestra of Wales Takuo Yuasa (conductor) Janacek: Taras Bulba BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Ilan Volkov (conductor) 3.00pm Shostakovich: Execution of Stepan Razin Alexander Kisselev (bass) BBC National Chorus of Wales London Symphony Chorus Vassily Petrenko (conductor) Berlioz: Symphonie funebre et triomphale, Op 15 Thierry Fischer (conductor) 4.00pm Beethoven: Symphony No 3 in E flat (Eroica) Herbert Blomstedt (conductor). Music marking of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
03	20091111	Presented by Penny Gore. Series of performances marking the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, featuring German orchestras from both sides of the wall and revolutionary music. The Dresden Staatskapelle is one of the oldest orchestras in the world, founded in 1548, and it has seen plenty of drama in its time, none more so than when it emerged from the former East Germany in 1989. Leading young conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts the orchestra in Brahms's Double Concerto with violinist Julian Rachlin and cellist Mischa Maisky. Elsewhere, Lenin is the link in Shostakovich's Symphony No 12 (The Year 1917), commemorating the Russian Revolution, and Mussorgsky's Songs and Dance of Death. Mussorgsky was inspired by his friend, the socialist revolutionary Nikolay Chernyshevsky, whose novel What Is to Be Done? had a marked influence on a young Lenin on the road to revolution in Russia. Verdi: Overture (Nabucco) BBC Philharmonic Edward Downes (conductor) Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death Sergei Leiferkus (baritone) Orchestre National de France Kurt Masur (conductor) 2.30pm Shostakovich: Symphony No 12 in D minor (The Year 1917) Vassily Sinaisky (conductor) Chopin: Barcarolle in F sharp minor Nicolai Demidenko (piano) 3.20pm Brahms: Double Concerto Julian Rachlin (violin) Mischa Maisky (cello) Dresden Staaskapelle Yannick Nezet-Seguin (conductor). Penny Gore presents music by Verdi, Mussorgsky, Shostakovich, Chopin and Brahms.
04 LAST	20091113	Series of performances marking the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, featuring German orchestras from both sides of the wall and revolutionary music. The Berlin Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel perform works by Rachmaninov and Stravinsky. Conductor Kurt Masur reflects on how close protesters in the East German city of Leipzig came to tragedy and conducts Beethoven's incidental music to Goethe's play Egmont. Beethoven depicts in music Goethe's libertarian hero Count Egmont, his faith in his fellow man and his resolute opposition to tyranny. The link stays literary with Liszt's tone poem Tasso - Lamento e Trionfo. Torquato Tasso was a 16th-century Italian poet and the subject of works by both Goethe and Lord Byron, who, in turn, is the inspiration behind Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony. Rachmaninov: The Isle of the Dead Gustavo Dudamel (conductor) Stravinsky: Violin Concerto Viktoria Mullova (violin) 2.50pm Beethoven: Egmont - incidental music Melanie Diener (soprano) Orchestra National de France Kurt Masur (conductor) Liszt: Tasso - Lamento e Trionfo BBC Philharmonic Gianandrea Noseda (conductor) 3.50pm Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony Orchestre National de France Penny Gore presents music by Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Beethoven, Liszt and Tchaikovsky.