Discovering Masterpieces of Classical Music - Dvořák

In their new series EuroArts presents audio-visual concert guides to masterpieces of classical music. The guides allow listeners to experience and enjoy great music from the Baroque to the present day in an entirely new way by offering a combination of documentary material and a complete performance of the featured work. Twenty famous masterpieces by the most important composers are brought closer to the viewer through first class concert broadcasts. The Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and other eminent musical bodies join forces with acclaimed experts, famous soloists and outstanding conductors to highlight the distinctive features of compositions. Examples from the musical scores help the viewer to follow the themes and rhythms and to understand the structure of the work. Each introductory feature is clearly and informatively designed. New filmed material documenting the birthplaces of the composers and locations of composition is combined with historic film material, works of art and original manuscripts and autograph scores. Thus the viewer goes on a journey back to the time and place of composition and is informed about the life of the composer while receiving a complete introduction to the work. Each film in the series features a half hour introductory feature and a full concert performance! Recorded live at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo in 2002, the series starts off with the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado presenting Antonín Dvořák’s popular Symphony No. 9 which bears the title “From the New World”. "Thunderous applause filled the hall. The cry ‘Dvorak! Dvorak!’ came up from the crowd” (New York Herald, 1893). This uproar was caused by one of the most important works in music history, the New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorak. Dvorak’s American biographer, Michael Beckerman, introduces audiences to the work and analyzes the national style of themes and motifs on the piano.