Over to Madrid this week for a performance recorded and broadcast live on May 9, 2010 at the Auditorio Nacional de Musica Madrid featuring Orchestre Nacional de España, conducted by Josep Pons and featuring Franz Peter Zimmermann, violin – Jane Irwin, Soprano and Willard White, Baritone in music of Bela Bartok.
Two works are featured – opening with the Violin Concerto Number 2 (with Zimmermann, solo) followed by Bluebeard’s Castle with Jane Irwin and Willard White, soprano and baritone solo.
Over the years Franz Peter Zimmermann has built up an impressive discography for BIS Records, Warner Classics, Sony Classical, hänssler CLASSIC, Ondine, Decca, Teldec Classics and ECM Records. He has recorded virtually all major concerto repertoire, ranging from Bach to Ligeti, as well as recital repertoire. Many of these highly acclaimed recordings have received prestigious awards and prizes worldwide. Most recent releases include the Stravinsky violin concerto, coupled with Martinů’s Suite concertante and Bartók’s Rhapsodies nos. 1 and 2 with the Bamberger Symphoniker and Jakub Hrůša (BIS), the complete sonatas and partitas by J.S. Bach (BIS) and the complete sonatas for piano and violin by Beethoven with Martin Helmchen (BIS). He received numerous special prizes and honours, among which the “Premio del Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena” (1990), the “Rheinischer Kulturpreis” (1994), the “Musikpreis” of the city of Duisburg (2002), the “Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse der Bundesrepublik Deutschland” (2008) and the “Paul-Hindemith-Preis der Stadt Hanau” (2010).
As a concert and recital singer Jane Irwin has appeared regularly in Britain, Europe and America. Highlights have included appearances at the Carnegie Hall, New York, the BBC Proms, the Wigmore Hall, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Berlin Festival, the Concertgebouw, Boston Symphony Hall, and the Musikverein, Vienna. She has collaborated with the Deutsche Symphony Orchester, Orchestre de Paris, San Paolo Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Zurich Tonhalle and many more, with such conductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Andrew Davis, Donald Runnicles, Antonio Pappano and Sir Mark Elder. Jane has given recitals at the Chatelet, Paris, London, Edinburgh, Geneva , Aix-en-Provence and Japan.
Operatic appearances have included Ring Cycles at Bayreuth, ROH and Scottish Opera, and other leading roles with Deutsche Oper, Berlin, San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera and the major British companies.
Willard White is one of the best-loved and most versatile opera stars of the last 40 years, Sir Willard White’s illustrious career has taken him to the most prestigious opera houses and concert halls throughout the world, collaborating with conductors, directors and orchestras of the highest calibre. Notable engagements elsewhere: Gorjantchikov From the House of the Dead (Paris Opéra, La Monnaie, Opéra National de Lyon and ROH); Thibaut d’Arc The Maid of Orleans (Theater an der Wien); Créon Médée (Grand Théâtre de Genève); Trinity Moses Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Rome Opera and ROH); Publio La clemenza di Tito (Dutch National Opera); Cadmus The Bassarids (Salzburg Festival); Commendatore Don Giovanni (ROH) and a return to the Berliner Philharmoniker for The Cunning little Vixen under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Sir Willard White was awarded the CBE in 1995 and knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2004.
Josep Pons has been the Music Director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu since 2012, and his latest renewal extends his tenure until 2026.
Over these years, he has conducted around forty titles, with special attention to the great works of the 19th and 20th-century repertoire, such as the Ring Cycle, Tristan and Isolde, Parsifal, or Lohengrin by Wagner, Elektra by Richard Strauss, Wozzeck by Alban Berg, or Pelleas and Melisande by Debussy, as well as other styles such as Mozart’s Da Ponte trilogy or Handel’s Rodelinda, and several premieres.
He is an Honorary Director of the “Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España”, where he was the principal and artistic director from 2003 to 2012. He also held the same positions with the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada (1993-2003). He was the founder of the Orquestra de Cambra Teatre Lliure, where he was the principal conductor from 1985 to 1997, and the JONC (Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya), of which he is the “Founding Director”. In 1992, he was the Executive Musical Director for the ceremonies of the “Barcelona-92” Olympic Games.
Recently, he has been elected Principal and Artistic Director of the “Deutsche Radio Philharmonie” starting from the 2025-26 season.
Enjoy the concert – and come back next week or stop by on Sunday for some rarities.
