Maurice Béjart’s compelling staging of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony has been enchanting audiences worldwide since its inception and its idea of universal brotherhood remains highly topical. “Alle Menschen werden Brüder” (All men will be brothers) is…

This ballet, choreographed by James Kudelka, and set to Vivaldi’s celebrated score, describes the four seasons in a man’s life – from the exuberance of youth in “Spring” to the resignation and compassion of old age in “Winter”. Kudelka created the…

A spectacular ice fantasia featuring the olympic skating champions Paul and Isabelle Duchesnay and former world champion Brian Orser. Set to the music of the symphonic masterpiece by Gustav Holst, this dazzling production incorporates solo and…

Celebrating Strauss brings into focus the greatest interpreters of Richard Strauss’s compositions. These jewels of music broadcasting have been salvaged from various archives and been made accessible for home viewing audiences uniting appealing and…

The Víctor Ullate Ballet brings to its repertoire a new version of this important,internationally performed classic. Choreographer and artistic director Eduardo Lao emphasizes the comic spirit of Coppélia while keeping the original score written by…

This unique documentary explores what happens when the artist Gottfried Helnwein takes on the role of Production Designer for the never-before-seen opera The Dreaming Child written by Israel’s most famous playwright, Hanoch Levin. Helnwein became…

The programme which Martin Helmchen devised for his recital at the 2011 Verbier Festival is like a statement of probity: a carefully constructed selection of works by three composers, Bach, Liszt and Beethoven. The chosen compositions place demands…

Discover Larry Weinstein’s award-winning film “Shostakovich Against Stalin – The War Symphonies”. Described by Shostakovich as his “tombstones for the victims of Stalin”, Symphonies 4 to 9 represented the composer’s weapons against tyranny and remain…

The Classic Archive collection presents two unreleased performances filmed by BBC television in 1977: celebrated pianist Martha Argerich plays Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. and the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1. Both pieces are technically…

In 2005, Iranian composer Nader Mashayekhi was asked to lead the Tehran Symphony Orchestra. He knew the weak position of Western classical and contemporary music in Iran would make this a difficult task. But he took on the challenge, and after having…