Deutsche Welle Festival Concerts

DW Radio and PRX present 13 episodes of Deutsche Welle Festival Concerts.
Currently, you enjoy access to the 26 concerts dated October 2020 to March 2021. A new season will start in October this year with our new host Cristina Burack. You can take over and carry the entire series or use the programs individually as needed.

Each of the shows is an hour and 58 minutes in length. The recordings present the best of German festivals as well as of selected classical music concerts. The musicians themselves are on hand to give their insights into the events and the music.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted cultural life in Germany: Many festivals could take place only virtually or with very few visitors. In spite of these restrictions, we look forward to presenting you with new episodes of Deutsche Welle Festival Concerts (DWFC).

As part of a pilot project to open concerts back up again, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of conductor Kirill Petrenko presented Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet” and Sergei Rachmaninov’s Symphony Number 2 in E-minor.

This year’s theme of the famous Bach Festival is “Salvation.” Renowned Bach choirs will perform in accordance with the Bach Festival Motto "Bach’s Messiah” in various cantatas and oratorios.

The Mozart Festival in Würzburg was celebrating its 100th anniversary this summer. Renaud Capucon and Gerard Causse played on the violin and viola respectively – both performing on original instruments from Mozart’s private collection. The musicians performed alongside the Camerata Orchestra, Salzburg and under the direction of German composer, conductor and clarinettist Jörg Widmann. The program also includes Mozart’s Organ Fantasia K. 608 and his famous Jupiter Symphony.

The Beethoven Festival in Bonn continues to be the focus of the DW Festival Concert programs. The birthplace of the German composer made up for pandemic-related cancelations last year, which coincided with Beethoven’s 250th year of birth. From August 20 onwards, leading European orchestras such as Le Concert des Nations under Jordi Saval made their appearances in Bonn. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Herbert Blomstedt and the Chamber Orchestra of Basel with soloist Caroline Widmann and Silvain Cambreling as conductor were also part of the program.

The programs from the fall quarter of 2020 and the winter quarter of 2021 are still available. Among others, you will find Bach’s “St. John’s Passion,” from Bach’s city, Leipzig, and a unique adaptation of Beethoven’s “Pastoral Symphony,” performed by musicians playing at a safe distance from one another in the composer's hometown, Bonn.
And we also take you to the medieval basilica of Knechtsteden near Cologne for a mix of wild and crazy folia pieces and otherworldly Gregorian chant.

Stations may subscribe to the full series via PRX SubAuto, or may download individual episodes, including those from the past season where the rights window is still open. Hide full description

DW Radio and PRX present 13 episodes of Deutsche Welle Festival Concerts.Currently, you enjoy access to the 26 concerts dated October 2020 to March 2021. A new season will start in October this year with our new host Cristina Burack. You can take over and carry the entire series or use the programs individually as needed.Each of the shows is an hour and 58 minutes in length. The recordings present the best of German festivals as well as of selected classical music concerts. The musicians themselves are on hand to give their insights into the events and the music.The COVID-19 pandemic impacted cultural life in Germany: Many festivals could take place only virtually or with very few visitors. In spite of these restrictions, we look forward to presenting you with new episodes of Deutsche... Show full description