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As part of the official Nobel Week, the world’s most renowned artists are gathering each year to pay tribute to the Nobel Laureates. An event of world class stature and performances of highest international standard. Members of the Swedish Royal Family as well as guests of the Nobel Foundation are attending the highly acclaimed event, which gathers internationally renowned artists and conductors each year.

Very special highlight was this year’s soloist Martha Argerich, one of the very charismatic and brilliant pianists, performing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major under Yuri Temirkanov leading the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. The program also includes Prokofiev’s Suite from Romeo and Juliet.

Born in Buenos Aires in 1941, Martha Argerich had her performing debut at the age of eight. Her breakthrough came in 1965, when she won the prestigious Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Working with most of the world’s leading conductors Argerich is passionate about supporting young talents. In 1999 the first International Martha Argerich Piano Contest was held in Buenos Aires, a competition that she founded and of which she is now the chief judge.

Picture format: 1080i Full HD - 16:9

Sound format: PCM Stereo, DTS-HD Master Audio

Region code: All

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Running time: 80 mins

German FSK: 0

The blind up-and-coming Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii - an astonishing virtuoso on his instrument – performs with the Russian conductor Valery Gergiev at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. In 2009 he hit the Top Ten of the Japanese Charts with his first album “début”. He also won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009.

At the White Nights Festival he played works by the Russian composers Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich. Here he plays Tchaikovsky’s famous Piano Concerto No. 1.

As a bonus Nobuyuki Tsujii performs his own Elegy for the Victims of the Tsunami of March 2011, a stirring and moving piece dedicated to his home country Japan.

This performance also includes Shostakovich Symphony No. 14.

Live recording from the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, 8 July 2012.

Picture format Blu-ray: 1080i Full HD 16:9

Sound format Blu-ray: Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM Stereo

Region code: All

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Running time: 110 mins

Note: This Blu-ray Disc (BD) is not compatible with standard DVD players

Shostakovich’s musically brilliant and ingeniously panoramic opera about love, lust, power and oppression is fabulously performed by the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Mariss Jansons in this authoritative production. Stage director Martin Kušej builds on formidable musical strengths to forge a relentless drama that explores with emotional conviction the shadowy, layered boundaries between victims and perpetrators. First-rate protagonist Eva-Maria Westbroek is phenomenal in her gripping interpretation of Katarina, compelling the entire cast, including the choir, to almost unbearable realism in their portrayal of timeless human weaknesses.

‘With one of the finest orchestras in the world conducted by an eminent Shostakovich conductor, supported by superb soloists and a very tasteful stage setting… [Eva-Maria Westbroek’s] portrayal of the heroine is absolutely superb…the passions and emotions raised by the composer are superbly realised… The soloists and chorus are all superb.’ Music Web International

Bonus material:

Illustrated synopsis & cast gallery.

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk - The Tragedy of Katerina Ismailova - A documentary film by Reiner E. Moritz, including interviews with Martin Kušej, Mariss Jansons and leading members of the cast.

Set and Costume Design by David Borovsky.

At first glance, the title of Shostakovich’s opera seems to speak for itself: Katherina, neglected and unhappy in her marriage, commits the most heinous crime just like the Shakespearian Lady Macbeth. But Nikolai Leskov’s short novel, which portrays Katherina as a monster, was only the starting point for Shostakovich to elicit understanding for an oppressed woman whose pursuit for self-determination is suppressed by society. Through combining satiric, grotesque and tragic elements in his music, Shostakovich succeeds in striking the balance between repulsion at Katherina’s immoral acts and sympathy for her. Violence, eroticism and the paralysing boredom of Russian society in the 19th century are the founding elements of this composition.

The choir and orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino conducted by James Conlon accompany tremendous soloists such as Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet, Vladimir Vaneyev and Vsevolod Grivnov in the original language in this live recording.

Following the success of the enlightening first series of Keeping Score, MTT and SFS return with three further programmes that combine one-hour documentaries with live concert performances. The new programmes explore the music and stories behind the music.

Each of the three DVDs in Keeping Score Series 2 features a documentary episode - with MTT guiding us through the composers’ perspectives and influences - coupled with a live concert performance of each work. The programmes are designed to engage and entertain viewers of all levels of musical background. With outstanding production values, they are released on DVD and Blu-Ray HD formats, making SFS the first orchestra to distribute its product on Blu-Ray disc.

In 1937 Russia, at the height of Stalin’s purges, the Communist Party strongly denounced Dmitri Shostakovich’s most recent works. Fearing for his life, the young composer wrote a symphony ending with a rousing march. But to many, the triumph rang hollow. Even today, people wonder just what Shostakovich was trying to say. Was the symphony meant to celebrate Stalin’s regime? Or did it contain hidden messages protesting the very system it seemed to support?

The New Year's Concert in Vienna has been a glorious tradition for over six decades. A best-selling classical event year on year, the concert has unique global appeal. It is broadcast on TV and radio to over 50 countries, and is viewed by tens of millions of people all over the world.

The 2009 New Year's Day Concert will be conducted by the Argentinean-Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim for the first time. From 1991-2006 Barenboim was the principal conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and since 1992 has been the General Music Director of the State Opera Unter den Linden in Berlin. Barenboim's debut with the Vienna Philharmonic took place in 1989, and he has since been a regular guest.

In 1999, Barenboim and the late Palestinian academic Edward Säid founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, in which young musicians from the Middle East and Israel perform together. Among the many awards Barenboim has received, was the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in Vienna in 2006. In September 2007 Barenboim was named as United Nations Peace Envoy.

The concert programme for 1st January 2009 will be the customary collection of Viennese delights, with six first time performances.

The first part of the concert is inspired by the conductor’s biography. For example, the waltz Märchen aus dem Orient (Tales from the Orient), alludes to a modern “fairy tale” – the founding of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, a symbol of inter-cultural tolerance. Other first performances in the first half include J. Strauss II’s Schnellpost-Polka (Express Mail Polka) and J. Hellmesberger’s Valse Espagnole (Spanish Waltz).

The second part of the concert makes constant allusions to the life and work of Joseph Haydn, culminating with the final movement of Haydn’s Symphony No.45 - 'Farewell Symphony'. This is the first time a work by Haydn has featured in the New Year’s Concert programme, and it will launch a year of events marking the bicentenary of the death of this great Austrian composerwho died in Vienna in May 1809. Other first appearances in the second half of the concert include J. Strauss I's Zampa-Galopp and J. Strauss II’s Alexandrine's Polka.

Seen by millions on TV worldwide, the Wiener Philharmoniker’s New Year's Concert from Vienna is the best-known classical event in the world

The 2011 concert will be conducted by Austrian-born Franz Welser-Möst - newly installed as the music director of the Vienna State Opera and a favourite with Viennese concertgoers

The New Year's Concert, presented in the glittering Musikverein, features a charming programme that offers perennial favourites alongside some intriguing Strauss premieres. The complete programme will be announced beginning of November

Note: This Blu-ray Disc (BD) is not compatible with standard DVD players. <br>

PLUS:

- Cast interviews with Thomas Allen, Pamela Armstrong, Håkan Hagegård, director Stephen Lawless and conductor Vladimir Jurowski.

- A feature on the building and architecture of Glyndebourne’s new opera house.

- BBC feature on the Waltz.

- Costume design and cast galleries.

PICTURE FORMAT: 1080i

LENGTH: 198 Mins

SOUND: 2.0 & 5.0 PCM AUDIO

SUBTITLES: EN/FR/DE/NL/ES

The Philharmonics, the ensemble founded by members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, fill the Café Sperl with some of the most authentically Viennese sounds imaginable – the Strauss waltzes that Schoenberg, Berg and Webern arranged and performed in May 1921 to raise funds for their pioneering “Society for Private Musical Performances”.

This is music the players have in their blood, and they maintain the echt atmosphere with Godowsky’s tribute to the city, “Alt-Wien” and a clutch of Kreisler gems, rounding the programme off with a new piece by the ensemble’s leader Tibor Kováč, based on traditional Jewish melodies and Mahler themes, “Yiddische Mame”.

BONUS: How Schoenberg came to arrange waltzes by Strauss

Picture Format Blu-ray: Full HD

Sound Formats Blu-ray: DTS HD Master Audio, PCM Stereo

Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

Running Time: 64:20 min

Running Time Bonus: 10:05 min

Disc Format: BD 25

FSK: 0