Broadcast date on ARTE: 24/04/2022 at 00:50 am

The “Catalogue d’oiseaux” (“Catalogue of Birds”) is one of the most important works by Olivier Messiaen. He composed the 13 piano pieces between 1956 and 1958. What at first sounds more like an ornithological reference work cannot be estimated highly enough in its importance as an unusual and brilliant piano work. So far, there have been no film recordings of the “Catalogue of Birds” with the most important Messiaen interpreter Pierre-Laurent Aimard for television. ARTE is now closing this gap.

Pierre-Laurent Aimard is the leading interpreter of Olivier Messiaen’s piano works. As a student of Messiaen’s second wife Yvonne Loriod at the Conservatoire de Paris, he had a very early musical as well as personal relationship with Olivier Messiaen. He won the Messiaen Competition at the age of 16. In the Ensemble Intercontemporain of Pierre Boulez, one of Messiaen’s students, he was the first solo pianist. He was awarded the Echo Klassik Prize for his recording “Hommage à Messiaen.”

In this production from Berlin’s St. Canisius Church on December 17, 2021, Pierre-Laurent Aimard performs the following pieces from Messiaen’s “Catalogue d’oiseaux”:

“Le traquet stapazin” (“The Black-eared Wheatear”).
“Le courlis cendré” (“The Eurasian Curlew”)
“L’alouette calandrelle (“The Calendared Lark”)
“L’alouette lulu” (“The woodlark”)
“Le merle bleu” (“The Blue Rock Thrush”)

The concert can be viewed from April 24, 2022, online in the ARTE media library.

The Klezmer-King celebrates his 85th birthday with top guests from the music and acting scene and music from classical to pop – and of course Klezmer.

Together with Anne-Sophie Mutter, Giora Feidman plays the movie soundtrack to “Schindler’s List”, piano world star Lang Lang congratulates via video call from his home in China and plays a short duet with the birthday boy.

Further stars from the current pop music charts also join the ranks of congratulants: Tim Bendzko, Gil Ofarim and Cassandra Steen have rearranged a few of their best hits specifically for this birthday show. Actor and singer Axel Prahl, accompanied by his Inselorchester, presents his birthday serenade with proper power and drive.

Joined by the mandolin star Avi Avital, Giora Feidman takes a musical excursion to the Baroque era – and eventually together with the four virtuosos of Salut Salon dives into the infectious tango sounds of his native Argentina.

Hannes Jaenicke presents an equally entertaining and emotional concert matinée from the “Glass Courtyard“ from the Jewish Museum Berlin – and the celebrity guests have a lot of surprises in store for the jubilarian.

And so the tour of the Jewish Museum that Iris Berben and the jubilarian take also becomes an expedition through 1700 years of Jewish life in Germany – yet another historic birthday in 2021.

With:

Giora Feidman & Klezmer Virtuos

Iris Berben
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Lang Lang
Tim Bendzko
Axel Prahl & Das Inselorchester
Salut Salon
Gil Ofarim
Cassandra Steen
Avi Avital

Presented by: Hannes Jaenicke

Directed by: Andreas Morell

We join soprano Aida Garifullina during a milestone in her career, on the stage of one of the world’s most beautiful opera houses: the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Accompanied by the musicians of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires under the direction of Argentinian conductor Carlos Vieu, she slips into the roles of Norma, Juliette, Rusalka, the Snow Maiden – and into tailor-made haute couture robes to match. In Buenos Aires, Aida Garifullina plunges into a completely new world, and for the first time in her life she sings and dances the tango.

In Argentina, Aida Garifullina will be coming up against a critical audience that she must first win over. Alongside well-known arias such as “Je veux vivre” from Romeo and Juliet by Charles Gounod and “O mio babbino caro” by Giacomo Puccini, Aida has many surprises in store for the audience, including the aria “Procession of Tsar Berendey” from Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov’s opera The Snow Maiden, which is largely unknown in Argentina. Aida is committed to introducing this aria from the Russian composer to her new audience, whom she hopes to infuse with her own enthusiasm. And she succeeds.

The second surprise is in fact a premiere: Aida has never before sung the role of Mimì from “La Bohème” by Giacomo Puccini on a large stage and accompanied by an orchestra. In the Teatro Colón, Aida rehearses the great aria “Si, mi chiamano Mimì” for the first time. In the end, the soprano puts all her heart and soul into the performance. As an encore, she sings the popular “Por una cabeza” by the tango composer Carlos Gardel and lyricist Alfredo Le Pera. Everyone in Buenos Aires knows the melody and the lyrics to this song, and the singer soon has the audience singing along.

Aida Garifullina is in Argentina for the first time and is keen to get a taste of the tango scene. She visits a milonga and is shown some steps by a professional dancer. “I immediately had a hundred questions for him. OK, which steps? What do I need to do here? And should I look at you here? – Please Aida, just relax and breathe. And trust me. I said: OK, I trust you.”

A few hours later, Aida swaps her high heels for brand new tango shoes, which she is wearing when she steps onto the stage. They are a perfect match for the sublime dresses from the Russian Humariff collection, which were designed exclusively for the singer. On the occasion of her performance at the Teatro Colón, Aida combines these dresses with jewellery from the Santino jewellers in Buenos Aires – fireworks for the eyes and ears.