FRIEDRICH GULDA AND AGNES BALSTA IN CONCERT

Recorded live from the Philharmonie concert hall during the Munich Klaviersommer, this unusual concert features Friedrich Gulda and singer Agnes Baltsa, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the Joe Zawinul Syndicate.

Baltsa gives a dramatic performance of Mozart’s concert aria K505 “Non temer amato bene”. This is followed by a performance of pieces from Gulda’s work in progress, A Preview of Things To Come – an exciting and energetic combination of classical and contemporary music, including some virtuoso rock guitar solos, African percussion and vocals, and a lyrical song from Baltsa. The work is interspersed with explanation and narrative by Gulda and conducted by him with great panache.

Agnes Baltsa (Aγν? Mπ?λτσα) (born 19 November 1944 in Lefkada) is a leading Greek mezzo-soprano.

She began playing piano at the age of six, before moving to Athens in 1958 to concentrate on singing. She graduated from the Greek National Conservatoire in 1965 and then travelled to Munich to continue studying under a Maria Callas scholarship.

Baltsa made her first appearance in an opera in 1968 as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro at Frankfurt Opera, before going on to appear as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera in 1970. Under the guidance of Herbert von Karajan, she soon became a regular at the prestigious Salzburg Festival. She became Kammersängerin of the Vienna State Opera in 1980.

Her most well known performance is that of Carmen by Georges Bizet, which she has sung a number of times with José Carreras. She has also sung works by Mozart (notably Così fan tutte), Rossini (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, L'italiana in Algeri), Mascagni (Cavalleria Rusticana), Verdi (Aida, La forza del destino, Il trovatore, Don Carlos), Bellini (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) and Donizetti (Il Campanello, Maria Stuarda).

She also starred in the German film Duett in 1992, playing an opera singer.