A soprano’s perspective: Anna Prohaska’s favourites This playlist was created by soprano Anna Prohaska, a singer who has close artistic ties with the Berliner Philharmoniker. The selection focuses on music drama works by Bach, Wagner, Debussy and Bartók under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle. It also includes orchestral songs by Gustav Mahler, Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto and works of English Baroque music. And in a performance conducted by Claudio Abbado, Prohaska herself sings the Mozart aria “Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio”.
Johann Sebastian Bach St Matthew Passion , BWV 244 Sir Simon Rattle Berliner Philharmoniker Mark Padmore Tenor (Evangelist) Christian Gerhaher Bass (Jesus) Camilla Tilling Soprano Magdalena Kožená Mezzo-Soprano (Musician) Topi Lehtipuu Tenor (Arias) Thomas Quasthoff Baritone (Arias) Rundfunkchor Berlin Simon Halsey Chorus Master Knaben des Staats- und Domchors Berlin Kai-Uwe Jirka Chorus Master Peter Sellars Staging Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart “Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio” – “Ah conte, partite”, aria for soprano and orchestra, K. 418 Claudio Abbado Berliner Philharmoniker Anna Prohaska Soprano Richard Wagner Die Walküre : Act 1 (concert performance) Sir Simon Rattle Berliner Philharmoniker Christian Elsner Tenor (Siegmund) Mikhail Petrenko Bass (Hunding) Terje Stensvold Bass (Wotan) Eva-Maria Westbroek Soprano (Sieglinde) Evelyn Herlitzius Soprano (Brünnhilde) Lilli Paasikivi Mezzo-Soprano (Fricka) Susan Foster Soprano (Helmwige) Joanna Porackova Soprano (Gerhilde) Anna Gabler Soprano (Ortlinde) Julianne Young Mezzo-Soprano (Waltraute) Heike Grötzinger Mezzo-Soprano (Siegrune) Anette Bod Mezzo-Soprano (Rossweisse) Eva Vogel Mezzo-Soprano (Grimgerde) Andrea Baker Mezzo-Soprano (Schwertleite) Claude Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande (semi-staged performance) Sir Simon Rattle Berliner Philharmoniker Magdalena Kožená Mezzo-Soprano (Mélisande) Bernarda Fink Contralto (Geneviève) Christian Gerhaher Baritone (Pelléas) Franz-Josef Selig Bass Baritone (Arkel) Gerald Finley Bass Baritone (Golaud) Elias Mädler Boy Soprano, Soloist of the Tölzer Knabenchor (Yniold) Jörg Schneider Bass (Doctor) Sascha Glintenkamp Bass-Baritone (Shepherd) Rundfunkchor Berlin Nicolas Fink Chorus Master Peter Sellars Staging Gustav Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen Sir Simon Rattle Berliner Philharmoniker Christian Gerhaher Baritone Béla Bartók Bluebeard’s Castle , Sz 48 (concert performance) Sir Simon Rattle Berliner Philharmoniker Rinat Shaham Mezzo-Soprano Gábor Bretz Bass Ulrich Noethen Speaker Sergei Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet , op. 64: excerpts Claudio Abbado Berliner Philharmoniker Alban Berg Concerto for Violin and Orchestra “To the Memory of an Angel” Claudio Abbado Berliner Philharmoniker Isabelle Faust Violin