When Bach was in the service of Prince Leopold in Coethen, he had his own orchestra and was contracted to compose a great deal of instrumental music. This gave him an opportunity to try new techniques and to develop his own instrumental style. The…

Katia and Marielle Labèque received their first piano tuition at ages three and five and the sisters are famous for their unusual duo precision, their great musicality and the breadth of their repertoire. In this concert they perform with Il Giardino…

In this live recording from the Palazzo di Congressi Lugano in November 2005, Sir Neville Marriner conducts the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in a performance of an all-Mozart programme. On the advent of the Mozart Anniversary Year in 2006, this…

The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual summer concert at the Waldbühne in Berlin is legendary. The Millenium concert, recorded live on 25 June 2000, gathered more than 22.000 people in one of the most appealing outdoor amphitheatres in Europe for…

Claudio Abbado, who first conducted his new Lucerne Festival Orchestra in the summer of 2003, realised a dream with this exclusive ensemble. Handpicked orchestral musicians and exceptional soloists such as violinist Kolja Blacher, flutist Emmanuel…

Recorded live in the Museum Quarter in Vienna in January 2006, this concert was inspired by the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose 250th birthday made this year a celebratory Mozart Anniversary all over the world. With artists like singer Dee…

The famous Thomanerchor Leipzig – a traditional specialist in Bach’s choral music – is joined by the superb Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and excellent soloists to perform one of Bach's most acclaimed pieces of religious choral music, the “Mass in B…

As their personal tribute to Mozart in his anniversary year 2006, Gil & Orli Shaham performed a selection of violin sonatas by the Austrian master in the Palais Daun-Kinsky in Vienna. Brimming with energy and bravery, tempered only by a deep…

As part of the Mozart celebrations for the composer’s 250th birthday in 2006, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Manfred Honeck, perform W.A. Mozart’s most famous work related to or composed in Prague. The young clarinetist Sharon…

Bach meets Jazz! International musicians from the world of jazz and classical music assembled in the market place in Leipzig to celebrate the great master. The line up of performers could hardly be surpassed - it includes world-famous musicians from…