Mozart: Symphonies 31, 39, 40, 41 / Schubert: Symphony No. 4

The life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach as presented by his wife, Anna.

Having enjoyed a 50-year musical partnership with the Vienna Philharmonic, Riccardo Muti takes charge of the celebrations for the sixth time in what’s bound to be a uniquely poignant occasion. The concert includes the traditional mix of Austrian classics, featuring music by the Strauss family and ending with the ever-popular By the Beautiful Blue Danube and the foot-stamping Radetzky March. In these uncertain times, the concert looks to send people all over the world a new year's greeting in the spirit of hope, friendship and peace.

The story is set at the beginning of the Christian era on a large terrace of Herod’s palace, during the reign of Herod Antipas. At night, on a terrace of the palace, Salome, Herod’s stepdaughter, is gazed at passionately by Narraboth, captain of the guard. Jochanaan, a prophet, is imprisoned in a cistern for having slandered Herod. He proclaims the coming of Jesus, but his message is met with incomprehension by the guards. Salome hears the prophet. She manages to convince the guards to bring Jochanaan out so she can see him. Both fascinated and frightened by his prophecies, Salome falls passionately in love with this man. Richard Strauss’s opera at the 2018 Salzburg Festival, directed by Romeo Castellucci at the Felsenreitschule. In her debut in the title role, Asmik Grigorian distinguished herself with her talents as a singer and actress.

Witty, fun, intoxicating film of Johann Strauss II's popular operetta, based on a stage production from Vienna State Opera; this is a showcase for the entire cast, but most especially Eberhard Wächter as the insufferably boorish Gabriel Eisenstein, and Gundula Janowitz as his long-suffering wife. Open the champagne, have yourself some torte, and enjoy this delectable comedy from Vienna.

A production of Strauss' opera 'Der Rosenkavalier' performed at the Saltzburg Festival in 1984. Includes the Vienna State Opera Choir, the Philharmonic Orchestra with singers Wilma Lipp, Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Agnes Baltsa. Conducted by Herbert Von Karaja

Fierrabras of 1823 is the last of Franz Schubert’s stage works. Rarely performed to this day, this heroic-romantic opera has now been staged for the first time ever at the Salzburg Festival by famous director Peter Stein. Based on an old French 12th-century epic, the plot depicts the military conflict between Christians and Moors at the time of Charlemagne – as a backdrop to stories of love and friendship that prove to be stronger than war and hatred of otherness. The strong cast includes the “marvellously expressive miracle Dorothea Röschmann” (Die Zeit) and “Michael Schade, who exudes his exceptional tenor in Fierrabras’s heroic arias” (Der neue Merker). Under the energetic baton of lngo Metzmacher, the Vienna Philharmonic unfold “the melos, the poetry, the sweetness and the dramatic force of Schubert’s highly refined and atmospheric sound worlds” (Kleine Zeitung) in highly romantic fashion.

For the New Year’s Concert 2018 world-renowned conductor Riccardo Muti returns to conduct the New Year’s Concert for the fifth time. He has conducted the Vienna Philharmonic for over 500 concerts, has a very close connection to the orchestra and is one of the most engaged New Year’s Concert conductors. Italian conductor Muti holds two music directorships: the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. A prolific recording artist, Muti has received dozens of honors, titles, awards and prizes throughout his career.

Live performance, part of Monteverdi cycle staged by Oper Zürich with Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting the Zürich Opera House Monteverdi Ensemble. Staged and directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle

DG presents John Williams in Vienna, the live recordings of the Hollywood legend's Vienna Philharmonic 2020 debut. Saying it's "one of the greatest honors of my life," he received a standing ovation before a single note was played. Sharing the stage with the famous orchestra and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, he performs iconic themes from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and other cinematic landmarks that have earned countless awards: 5 Oscars, 5 Emmys, 25 Grammys & more.

Between 1981 and 1984 Leonard Bernstein recorded nearly all of Brahmss orchestral works with the Wiener Philharmoniker to honor the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth in 1983. For the concertos, Bernstein enlisted the services of some of the finest Brahms interpreters of the time: the violoninst Gidon Kremer, the cellist Mischa Maisky and the pianist Krystian Zimerman. Leonard Bernstein, Krystian Zimerman, and the Wiener Philharmoniker, it's very hard to get a better group of musicians for these masterpieces. Mr. Zimerman and Mr. Wolfgang Herzer's piano cello duets in the third movement of Brahms' second is simply tearful.

The legendary director Ruth Berghaus created this staging of Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz as a gripping theatrical experience for the Zurich Opera in 1993. Its revival in 1999 was a roaring success. With sets by Hartmut Meyer and costumes by Marie-Louise Strandt, Berghaus’ staging avoids the local peasant colour conventionally associated with Weber’s opera. Chorus and orchestra of the Zurich Opera House are conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, universally celebrated for the structural transparency of his interpretations, his intellectual penetration and his emotional understanding of both music and opera plot. And last but not least an all-star cast made this production a highly memorable event: the dramatic soprano Inga Nielsen as Agathe, one of her best roles, the Swedish soprano Malin Hartelius as Ännchen, the sought-after Heldentenor Peter Seiffert, who gives a convincing passionate Max, and many others.

This release contains the celebrated 2006 production of Mozart's Nozze di Figaro that was directed for the stage by Claus Guth at that year's Salzburg Festival. Ildebrando D'Arcangelo takes the title role, and gets support from Anna Netrebko as Sussanna, Bo Skovhus as Il Conte Di Almaviva, and Dorothea Roschmann as La Contessa. Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts the orchestra.

Italian soloist Beatrice Rana performs Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor at Baden-Baden’s Festival Hall with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Canadian maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt directs the Concentus Musicus Wien and Toelzer Knabenchor in Bach's masterwork. Featured soloists are Peter Schreier and Robert Holl. The performance was filmed in 1982 at the Stiftskirche in Waldhause, Austria.

After ten years battling in the Trojan War—and another ten on an epic journey homeward—Ulysses returns to his homeland. Disguised as a beggar, the king of Ithaca must recover his wife, his son, and his people... Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (Venice, 1640), directed here by Klaus-Michael Grüber and conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, achieves a perfect dramatic balance, stirring the imagination and instantly transporting the viewer to a long-ago time. The all-star cast features one of the earliest recorded appearances by the great Jonas Kaufmann, who makes his presence felt as Ulisse's son Telemaco.

Juliane Banse, Cornelia Kallisch, Shawn Mathey, Martin Gantner, Ruben Drole and Alfred Muff star in this acclaimed adaptation of German composer Robert Schumann's opera "Genoveva," produced by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Inspired by the works of Johann Ludwig Tieck and Christian Friedrich Hebbel, Schumann's tale centers on an ill-fated countess who finds her life turned upside down when she's falsely accused of adultery.