Ravel in a Thousand Sparkles

A seventeen year old travels from London to the Austrian Alps to attend the legendary Mozart boarding school. There, he discovers a centuries-old forgotten passageway into the fantastic world of Mozart's "The Magic Flute".

To mark Music Day, ten European orchestras will perform some of the finest piano concertos alongside prestigious soloists and under the baton of renowned conductors from various cities across the continent. The programme for this exceptional concert features works by Brahms, Grieg, Chopin, Beethoven, Ravel and Mozart.

How can people play together as one? How can one contribute to something greater than oneself? How can a group cohabitate for decades without falling apart? And what role does the conductor really play? For the first time, cameras and microphones slip among the 80 musicians of the Orchestre de Paris, under the baton of their young prodigy conductor, Klaus Mäkelä. A total immersion to share their experiences, emotion and beauty, at the heart of music in the making.

A Mozart opera at La Scala in Milan.

A journey through the history of the piano: europiano features iconic works, masterfully interpreted by exceptional artists in venues across Europe.

For years, *The Magic Flute* has been one of the most frequently performed operas at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. After an eight-year absence, Mozart’s work is now back on the programme. Clément Cogitore interprets the plot as a modern coming-of-age story: Tamino and Pamina leave the world of childhood behind and enter a reality in which beauty is fragile and truth is uncertain.

The Pygmalion Ensemble, led by conductor and countertenor Raphaël Pichon, is renowned for its refined sound on period instruments. Together with vocal stars Sabine Devieilhe, Lea Desandre, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Julian Prégardien, and Daniel Behle, the ensemble delves into rarely performed works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Prince Tamino promises the Queen of the Night that he will rescue her daughter Pamina from the enchanter Sarastro. He begins his quest, accompanied by the bird-catcher Papageno – but all is not as it seems… Tamino and Papageno discover Sarastro is a wise and kind leader. They undergo three ordeals. By the end they are united with their true loves: Tamino with Pamina, and Papageno with his Papagena.

After marrying the emperor of the south-eastern islands, the daughter of the king of the spirits lost her magical powers without acquiring the shadow that would seal her place in the human world. Under the baton of Klaus Mäkelä, Barrie Kosky transforms Strauss’s most ambitious opera into an allegory of the awakening of consciousness.

The grand closing concert of the 2024 edition of the Nantes classical music festival. The programme includes Dvorak's ‘Slavonic Dance’, Pablo de Sarasate's ‘Bohemian Airs’ and the first movement of Tchaikovsky's ‘Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1’. Also excerpts from works by Chopin, Albéniz, Mascagni, Puccini and Sibelius.

For Franz Liszt, the piano was a unique tool of expression with which he shaped 19th century music like no other composer. His two piano concertos, composed almost simultaneously over the course of many years, broke free from the formal constraints of the genre to create a continuous narrative reminiscent a symphonic poem. Bertrand Chamayou is soloist in an historically informed performance with the Les Siècles orchestra.

Simon-Pierre Bestion celebrates the musical and cultural heritage of Paris' Notre-Dame with the La Tempête ensemble and a host of guests like Sabine Devieilhe and Olivier Latry, among others.

This Salzburg Festival production of Le nozze di Figaro (2020) offers a radical reinterpretation of Mozart's opera, directed by Martin Kušej, who continues his exploration of Mozart’s works following Don Giovanni (2002) and La clemenza di Tito (2003). The turbulent comedy, laden with erotic entanglements, exposes themes of patriarchal dependency, sexual exploitation, betrayal, and emotional emptiness. French conductor Raphaël Pichon, renowned for historically informed performances, conducts his first opera at Salzburg after his debut at the festival in 2018.

Whenever Chamayou and Andsnes perform together, the magic happens. They will reunite in 2024 at the Ruhr Piano Festival. This time, the two collaborators will perform miniatures from the Játékok (Games) cycle by Hungarian composer György Kurtág. These will be paired with, as if in a mirror, deeply moving pieces composed by Schubert shortly before his death, where beauty rubs shoulders with suffering.

Under the baton of charismatic Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Orchestre de Paris performs Olivier Messiaen's most famous work: The ambitious and beguiling Turangalîla-Symphonie.

Every year, Radio France celebrates contemporary music with Présences Festival. The Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Kent Nagano takes over the Philharmonie de Paris to perform works by Thomas Lacôte, Unsuk Chin and Yann Robin. Chapters: -- Jean-Sébastien Bach / Thomas Lacôte - Ricercare a 6, extrait de l'Offrande musicale -- Yann Robin - Requiem Æternam - Monumenta II