0:00:02 > 0:00:05MUSIC: Te Deum: Marche En Rondeau (Prelude) by Charpentier
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Hello, and a warm welcome to the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna
0:00:36 > 0:00:38for this year's Summer Night Concert,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40given by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
0:00:40 > 0:00:44led by the German conductor Christoph Eschenbach.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Fairy tale and myth weave their magical way
0:00:48 > 0:00:49through all of tonight's music,
0:00:49 > 0:00:53with favourites by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55even film music by John Williams.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59But first a Carnival Overture by Dvorak -
0:00:59 > 0:01:01a musical portrait of a carnival in full flow.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Everywhere is the clamour of instruments
0:01:03 > 0:01:05mingled with shouts of joy.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46APPLAUSE
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Dvorak's Carnival Overture. The Vienna Philharmonic,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, setting us off to a rousing start.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55As well as conducting,
0:10:55 > 0:10:57Christoph Eschenbach is a virtuoso pianist,
0:10:57 > 0:10:59and one of his regular musical partners
0:10:59 > 0:11:01is the American soprano Renee Fleming,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04and she's going to sing for us next.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07The fairy tale of Armida was written in Italy
0:11:07 > 0:11:10at the end of the 16th century, and has since inspired composers
0:11:10 > 0:11:13such as Handel, Gluck and Rossini.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16But it's an aria from Dvorak's opera Za Stihlou Gazelou
0:11:16 > 0:11:21that's since become a firm favourite of the concert platform.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25The sorceress Armida is out hunting and glimpses a handsome knight.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27He is an enemy of her country,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30but she confides her love and her desire to win him.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55SHE SINGS IN CZECH
0:16:23 > 0:16:25APPLAUSE
0:16:28 > 0:16:33Za Stihlou Gazelou from Dvorak's rarely performed opera Armida.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37Next, I think, one of the most beautiful arias in opera -
0:16:37 > 0:16:39Rusalka's Song To The Moon.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Here Renee Fleming is the water nymph - Rusalka -
0:16:42 > 0:16:45yearning for the human prince who frequents the lake
0:16:45 > 0:16:46in which she lives.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49She appeals to the moon to reveal her love to him.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56SHE SINGS IN CZECH
0:23:44 > 0:23:46APPLAUSE
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Song To The Moon from Dvorak's opera Rusalka.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54It's an aria that's become a signature piece for Renee Fleming,
0:23:54 > 0:23:56who's loved it since her student days.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58She says it always brings her luck.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05The folk tale of Little Briar Rose is as old as the hills.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06It's appeared in many guises,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08but it's probably most familiar to us
0:24:08 > 0:24:11as Tchaikovsky's ballet The Sleeping Beauty.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15We're going to hear now the famous Adagio and Waltz from Act I.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17It's the Princess Aurora's 16th birthday,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20and she's introduced to four foreign princes seeking her hand.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59APPLAUSE
0:36:18 > 0:36:20APPLAUSE
0:36:20 > 0:36:21Just irresistible -
0:36:21 > 0:36:24the Adagio and Waltz from Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27The Vienna Philharmonic with Christoph Eschenbach
0:36:27 > 0:36:31playing to some 100,000 people spread out around the gardens
0:36:31 > 0:36:33of the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35Some Rachmaninoff now -
0:36:35 > 0:36:37two folk songs sung by Renee Fleming.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40First, Sing Not To Me Beautiful Maiden,
0:36:40 > 0:36:42a setting of a poem by Alexander Pushkin
0:36:42 > 0:36:45that Rachmaninoff composed in 1892.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48He appeals to a maiden to stop singing songs from his country,
0:36:48 > 0:36:51Georgia, which remind him of the trouble-free life he once loved.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48SHE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
0:42:19 > 0:42:21APPLAUSE
0:42:21 > 0:42:25Rachmaninoff's Sing Not To Me Beautiful Maiden.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27Next, Renee Fleming throws off the melancholy
0:42:27 > 0:42:30with Rachmaninoff's song Spring Waters,
0:42:30 > 0:42:32in which she greets the sudden coming of spring
0:42:32 > 0:42:34after the long night of winter.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48SHE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
0:44:43 > 0:44:46APPLAUSE
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Spring Waters, Rachmaninoff's passionate vision
0:44:49 > 0:44:51of the forthcoming Russian spring.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54Renee Fleming and the Vienna Philharmonic,
0:44:54 > 0:44:56conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.
0:44:58 > 0:45:03And some very nice flowers she's getting there too.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07Now in 1812, the Brothers Grimm wrote a collection of fairy tales.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11One of the darkest stories has to be that of Hansel and Gretel,
0:45:11 > 0:45:13which the composer Engelbert Humperdinck
0:45:13 > 0:45:15later turned into a successful opera.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18Some of the songs have become nursery rhymes in their own right.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20This is the Prologue.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52APPLAUSE
0:53:54 > 0:53:56Beautiful.
0:53:56 > 0:54:01Humperdinck's Prologue to his opera Hansel And Gretel.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04On now to the no less mystical universe of Harry Potter
0:54:04 > 0:54:06and Hedwig's Theme,
0:54:06 > 0:54:08composed for the films by John Williams
0:54:08 > 0:54:11and named after Harry Potter's snowy white owl.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14Now this is really difficult music to play.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17It's packed with fast and fiendish passages
0:54:17 > 0:54:19that are a real challenge for the musicians to pull off,
0:54:19 > 0:54:23but when they do it is truly magical.
0:59:32 > 0:59:35CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:59:35 > 0:59:37Hedwig's Theme by John Williams -
0:59:37 > 0:59:40a modern classic that really epitomises the spirit
0:59:40 > 0:59:42of Harry Potter's wizarding world.
0:59:49 > 0:59:53The Firebird is a potent figure in Russian fairy tale,
0:59:53 > 0:59:55bringing good or bad luck to whoever catches it.
0:59:55 > 0:59:59It's a story that Stravinsky famously set to music in 1910
0:59:59 > 1:00:01for the Ballet Russes in Paris.
1:00:01 > 1:00:03The Vienna Philharmonic are now going to play
1:00:03 > 1:00:04three scenes from the ballet -
1:00:04 > 1:00:09the Berceuse, the Grand Finale and first The Infernal Dance.
1:12:05 > 1:12:08APPLAUSE
1:12:08 > 1:12:12The transcendent finale of Stravinsky's Firebird.
1:12:12 > 1:12:14Christoph Eschenbach and the Vienna Philharmonic
1:12:14 > 1:12:17in the gardens of the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.
1:12:17 > 1:12:20The Firebird was a huge success for Stravinsky.
1:12:20 > 1:12:24On hearing it, the impresario Diaghilev is reported to have said,
1:12:24 > 1:12:28"Mark him well - he is a man on the eve of celebrity."
1:12:28 > 1:12:31And indeed, within three years, Stravinsky had gone on
1:12:31 > 1:12:34to compose Petrushka and The Rite Of Spring.
1:12:34 > 1:12:37Well, that was the official end of this evening's concert,
1:12:37 > 1:12:39but I don't expect the crowds here
1:12:39 > 1:12:41will let the orchestra go that easily, and...
1:12:41 > 1:12:43Well, let's see. Here we go.
1:16:39 > 1:16:42APPLAUSE
1:16:42 > 1:16:44Dance Of The Comedians by Smetana,
1:16:44 > 1:16:47from his comic opera The Bartered Bride.
1:16:47 > 1:16:49Players of the Vienna Philharmonic showing off
1:16:49 > 1:16:52their extraordinary virtuosity under Christoph Eschenbach
1:16:52 > 1:16:54here at the Schonbrunn Palace.
1:16:55 > 1:16:57But there's time for one last encore, I think.
1:16:57 > 1:17:00What else would you expect from the home of the waltz
1:17:00 > 1:17:03than something by Johann Strauss Jr?
1:17:03 > 1:17:06This is Wiener Blut, Vienna's Blood.
1:26:54 > 1:26:57CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:27:05 > 1:27:08Ah, you can't beat it. That had them dancing in the aisles,
1:27:08 > 1:27:12the waltz Wiener Blut by Johann Strauss Jr
1:27:12 > 1:27:14performed by the Vienna Philharmonic
1:27:14 > 1:27:17and conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.
1:27:21 > 1:27:24Sadly that brings to an end this Summer Night Concert
1:27:24 > 1:27:27of fairy tales and myth from these stunning gardens
1:27:27 > 1:27:29at the Schonbrunn Palace.
1:27:29 > 1:27:30I do hope you've enjoyed it.
1:27:30 > 1:27:33From me, Katie Derham, it is auf Wiedersehen.
1:27:33 > 1:27:34Goodbye.
1:27:37 > 1:27:41APPLAUSE CONTINUES
1:28:22 > 1:28:24CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:28:51 > 1:28:55MUSIC: Te Deum: Marche En Rondeau (Prelude) by Charpentier