Performer: Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble

The Canadian director's aesthetic is a perfect fit for Gluck's work. Dazzling performances by Gaëlle Arquez and Stéphane Degout. Great musical direction by Thomas Hengelbrock.

The Balthasar-Neumann-Chor and Ensemble performed a deeply moving, if slightly uneven, St John Passion, setting off the Oslo Church Music Festival.

Having received excellent reviews for his Mahler, Verdi, Wagner and Shostakovich, Pablo Heras-Casado decided to programme a composer he has loved since his youth: Claudio Monteverdi. 

Almost 40 years after its première, Pina Bausch's daring reinterpretation of the myth of Orpheus still captivates audiences worldwide. This tanzoper is one of the most accomplished attempts to create a contemporary tragedy, an enthralling reflection on human boundaries and the acceptance of death.

Two years after her untimely death, the world is still celebrating of one of the most influential figures of contemporary dance – Pina Bausch.

In 2008, conductor Thomas Hengelbrock rediscovered Niobe, Regina di Tebe, written in 1687 by the Venetian-born, German-based composer Agostino Steffani. Although now little remembered, Steffani was a world-famous composer in his day and a man of many talents who became a diplomat and bishop as well as being a musician.

With a huge programme including many of the biggest names in classical music, one might easily drown in the Palau de la Música’s new season. We chart its waters...

The founder of the choir talks about the extensive research of their repertoire which reaches from the Renaissance to contemporary works.