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Berlin, October 2016 Anna Netrebko, Philippe Jaroussky, German Brass

Red carpet glamour and classical music – a great combination in my humble opinion! The 2016 Echo Klassik Awards Ceremony was held in Berlin this year and Sarah’s Music had an official spot on the red carpet to interview the stars of the classical music world as they shimmied past in their finery.

The Echo Klassiks are awarded by the German Phono-Forum to top classical musicians from newcomers to established world stars. It is a very glamourous event and I was there all day at the rehearsal, backstage, red carpet and then in the press room for the photo calls. I saw a lot of friends and loved every minute of it although it was rather chilly on the red carpet!

Such an honour to have Anna Netrebko and Philippe Jaroussky on the programme and to be able to feature my beloved German Brass- I´m so happy that they won an Echo, well deserved!

Enjoy the red carpet glamour, the great music and the wonderful musicians in the episode, I really did!

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Berlin, October 2016   Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Joan Rafaelle Kim, Minnie Mouse, Harpo Marx

The harp is this year’s Instrument of the Year here in Germany and it’s a perfect opportunity to feature this gorgeous instrument on Sarah´s Music.

I’m lucky to play in the same orchestra as one of the best harp players in the world – Marie-Pierre Langlamet – so she was the obvious choice to tell us more about her lovely instrument.

My wonderful editors, Magda and Kevin, made the little montage for this episode showing the often surprising uses of the harp. Minnie Mouse is one of the most elegant harpists ever, Harpo Marx makes me smile every time and I’d never heard jazz or Latin harp before. And Tulani…wow!

Thanks to Anna Mehlin for organising the string quartet to accompany Marie-Pierre and her student, Joan. This was one of Anna´s last appearances as an Berlin Phil Academist – she has just won a job in the second violin section – congrats Anna! Also thanks to Carlotta, Fridolin and Romy for taking the Harp Challenge (a rest for the Horn Challenge this week). A great result is that Fridolin now wants to be a harpist!

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Bonn, September 2016 – Lucinda Childs, Caitlin Scranton, Sharon Milanese, Matt Pardo

“Dance is music made visible. The Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays.”

— George Balanchine

Words from a famous choreographer and a great reason to include Lucinda Childs Dance Company on Sarah’s Music! We always do a few programmes at the annual Beethovenfest in Bonn, which the Deutsche Welle sponsors.

My mum is a dancer so I already knew of Lucinda Childs and was excited to read that she was coming to Bonn with her dance company to perform “Dance” – a one hour whirlwind piece which includes music by Philip Glass and a black & white film of the dancers from 1979, including Lucinda herself, by the visual artist Sol LeWitt.

This is an incredible work which premiered over 35 years ago but still seems new and innovative today to my ears and eyes. I felt like I was being suspended in space and time at the performance, and the hour flew (literally!) by.

If you get a chance to go and see it live, do it, you’ll love it!

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New York, June 2016 – Wynton Marsalis, JALC Orchestra, Johnny O´NealWynton Marsalis is such a hero of mine! I met him and and his amazing band when they came to Berlin in 2010 to perform the Swing Symphony with my orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic. Classical musicians are not renowned for their jazz skills and many of us felt a bit stiff and out of our depth playing Wynton´s music, but after spending a week with these incredible musicians, we all managed to loosen up and really loved the collaboration. Wynton and his band have such infectious enthusiasm for their music!

 

It was a real privilege to be allowed to spend a day filming behind the scenes at the House of Swing with the guys from Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC).

My favourite part of the day was being able to sit in on JALC´s rehearsal and watching them work close up. Jazz sounds so free and easy and is known for its amazing improvisation but JALC works hard to get everything right, and it was really interesting to see how they rehearse.

If you are ever in New York and can catch a live JALC concert, you really should! The energy in a live JALC concert is quite inspiring. They’re easy to find – at Columbus Circle and Central Park. Then take elevators J, A, Z or Z up to the 5th floor and be prepared to be amazed, also by the view from up there! I always try to go when I am in New York and recommend it wholeheartedly!

A big thanks to Wynton and the JALC for being so welcoming to me and my team, interviewing Wynton was one of my personal Sarah´s Music highlights so far. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did making it and that your foot won’t be able to stop tapping while you watch!

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Bonn, October 2016 – François-Xavier Roth, Les Siècles, Ludwig van Beethoven

Ta ta ta taaaaa! Who doesn’t know this beginning? But how many know what it would have sounded like to audiences in Beethoven’s time?

When I saw that the charismatic Maestro François-Xavier Roth and his orchestra, Les Siècles, were performing Beethoven´s 5th on period instruments at the Beethovenfest in Bonn, I really wanted to find out more about the instruments they would be playing on. I find this orchestra fascinating because, no matter what piece they are playing, they play on instruments used at that period.

The day after the Beethoven 5, they performed Debussy and Stravinsky´s Le Sacre du Printemps from 1913. This meant everyone had to bring at least 2 instruments with them because by then, the instruments were much more developed. It was fascinating to hear Sacre like this – a really different sound than when played on instruments of today.

It was great to interview the Maestro in the house where Beethoven was born. It was a very special moment, so thank you to the Beethovenhaus Bonn for arranging this. I especially loved talking to my Les Siècles Stars – Marion, Bruno, Robin and Antoine- about their instruments. Their passion for what they do was infectious.

The concert was wonderful. Thanks to the balance and transparency of the period instruments, I heard so many different colours in the music and also some things I had never noticed before . It was a very powerful performance. And the Sacre du Printemps the next day really blew me away so if you ever have the chance to hear this orchestra live, do. It´s really very moving to hear how the pieces would have been performed in their day. I loved it!

And, dear Antoine, you really got me with the Contra Challenge!! Je vais prendre ma revanche!

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Berlin, September 2016 – John Wilson, John Mills, Mike Lovatt, Matt Skelton

Somewhere over the Rainbow, Singing in the Rain, The Man I Love… call me sentimental, but I just LOVE the music from the classic MGM musicals! Berliners were in for a treat in the Philharmonie as John Wilson brought his orchestra over from London to celebrate this movie music at the Musikfest. It was a huge success and the standing ovation after the concert went on and on!

I had a wonderful day with John and the orchestra – the orchestra is made up of some of the top players in London and I knew lots of them so it was a nice reunion.

In fact, my orchestra flew back that morning from London after playing at the annual BBC Proms and the John Wilson Orchestra happened to be on the same plane so there was lots of loud talking and laughing going on for the whole flight.

And with so many musicians on board and so many instruments, there was quite a fight for the overhead bins!

I am now a total John Wilson Orchestra fan – as is my “Boss” at the Berlin Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle. (have a look at the outtakes to see what he thinks)

Thanks to John for being so welcoming and to the inimitable Tom Croxon, the orchestra manager, who made this programme possible. Just one more thing to say: John, if you ever need an extra horn… I volunteer!

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2015 – 2016 – Peter Sellars, Peter Gelb, Iván Fischer, Simon Halsey, 21C Media Group

Revisit with me these 5 inspiring people, all whom are so passionate about music and are able to communicate it in a way which makes me want to listen.

They were all featured on episodes of Sarah´s Music.

Re-watch the episodes and enjoy again the wonderful auras of these musical communicators!

Starring Peter Sellars, Iván Fischer, Simon Halsey, Peter Gelb and the 21C Media Group, I feel so lucky to have been able to meet and feature them all on Sarah´s Music!

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Santa Barbara, August 2016 – Marilyn Horne, Scott Reed, Horn Fellows of the Music Academy of the West

Summertime! We may still be working at Sarah’s Music but we are managing to do it in lovely places.

And the Music Academy of the West, located in Santa Barbara, California is a very lovely place. Sadly we only had 2 days there but filming in and around Santa Barbara definitely made me feel all Hollywood-y. The palm trees, the beach, the glamorous people.

Speaking of glamorous people, the management team of the Music Academy of the West is wonderful. From the very passionate President and CEO Scott Reed to VP of Marketing and Communications, Ana Papakhian (who set everything up for us and made it all very easy) to VP of Artistic Planning Pat Posey (who doubled as cool chauffeur and yes, that really is his car…), we were looked after very well indeed.

It was truly inspiring to see the talented young Fellows of the Academy interacting with their Compeers. The Music Academy’s ‘Compeers’ system of getting the local residents involved with their students is such a good idea! And not only do the lucky Fellows learn from this creative interaction but they also receive the best tuition from internationally reknowned teachers and conductors. And the icing on the cake is that they also get to live the California lifestyle for a month – eating healthily, doing yoga, being taken out on their Compeers boats. Wow. I wish I had known about the Music Academy of the West when I was a student!

My own icing on the cake for this sunny episode, apart from the impromptu horn concert on the beach, was the honour to interview the legendary singer Marilyn Horne! Did she take the Horn(e) Challenge? Watch the episode and find out!

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This catchy song is from one of my favourite films – the 1960s musical The Music Man, and I couldn´t resist using it as the soundtrack to this episode of Sarah´s Music. But we (yes, WE) weren´t 76, we were 384 trombone players attempting to break the world record for a trombone flash mob! Well… ‘we’ were 379 real trombone players and at least 5 stowaways…

I was determined to join in, although I can only play a few notes on the trombone, and as I sidled into the flashmob I bumped into the French horn section of the New York Philharmonic – all with trombones in their hands – who had the same idea as me and who were determined to join in the fun!

Phil Meyers, the principal horn, seemed transfixed by the trombone player in front of him. When we asked him why, he said he was trying to copy the slide positions…Do check out the International Trombone Festival´s video (here in the Outtakes) of the whole thing and I especially love the aerial shots where you can see just how many of us were out there.

Of course, I am not giving away whether we beat the world record or not – you will have to watch this episode to find out. But it was so much fun to film and also wonderful to spend time with Joe Alessi, principal trombone of the New York Philharmonic and a total trombone legend.

From the live Trombone Hangout which was watched by over 2000 people live around the world, to visiting all the trombone rooms to listening to Joe´s rehearsal of the Bolcom concerto, we had a wonderful day. It almost made me want to switch instruments. Almost…

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The Bronx, New York, June 2016 – Damien Sneed, Pastor Chantel Wright, Chorale le Chateau, Sound of Victory

Gospel! What a day we had! The power of gospel music moved not just me but all of my team– although our ears were really pounding at the end of it. The energy was impressive and it was wonderful to see how deeply the congregation felt and shared their faith through their singing and dancing.

I loved collaborating with the multi-talented Damian Sneed for this episode. He was a such a huge help, especially since I had no idea how to even start planning the programme. And we were grateful that he not only invited us to his event but also let us have full run of the church. Speaking of which, we could hardly believe our eyes as we first saw the exterior of the Cathedral at Greater Faith. Who would have expected such a vibrant and huge church to be there, tucked between a takeaway and a nail bar. (I really don’t recommend the takeaway, by the way…)

Everyone at the Gathering was so friendly and welcoming and I felt honoured that Damien’s choir, Chorale le Chateau, all travelled up to the Bronx to sing “Everyone has his place” especially for us. Wonderful choir, inspiring interviews, fantastic day. Amen!