On the eve of its 300th birthday, St. Petersburg, Russia's fabled "window to Europe", celebrates this anniversary presenting a gala of distinguished musical art featuring Anna Netrebko, Dimitri Hvorostovsky, Mischa Maisky and many others. Yuri…

A film by Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier. Venezuela's unique system of music education takes children from violent slums and turns some of them into world-class musicians. "El Sistema" shows how Venezuelan visionary Jose Antonio Abreu has changed…

This Claudio Abbado recording captures a very special night at the 2007 Lucerne Festival with the massive 3rd symphony by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). Ever since its debut in 2003, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra has been enthusiastically received by…

The Berliner Philharmoniker’s annual European Concerts are intended to recall the date on which the orchestra was founded, 1 May 1882, with a performance being given on this day in a different town or city of particular cultural and historical…

On the tenth anniversary of the European Concerts – held annually since 1991 to commemorate the day on which the orchestra was founded – Mariss Jansons and the Berliner Philharmoniker in Istanbul are received with rapturous ovation. Berlioz’s…

The internationally renowned pianist Joaquín Achúcarro has been described as ‘the consummate artist’ and ‘the leading pianist from Spain’; he has won plaudits and prizes around the world. In 2000 he was named ‘Artist for Peace’ by UNESCO in…

For twenty years the Berliner Philharmoniker has celebrated its 1882 founding with a concert at a major European venue, and the 2011 event takes place at the magnificent Teatro Real in Madrid. The renowned orchestra, under the baton of Sir Simon…

The Waldbühne in Berlin, one of the most appealing outdoor amphitheatres on the European continent, is the home of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s summer concerts. With audiences of more than 20,000, these are some of the most popular classical music…

They are one-of-a-kind and they are known all over the world: the 12 Cellisten der Berliner Philharmoniker (the Twelve Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic). Their concerts offer the audience the chance to experience the ensemble’s instrumental…

Sviatoslav Richter (1915–1997), one of the greatest pianists of all time, breaks his lifelong silence and allows himself to be interviewed for this autobiographical fi lm. We see his life on an epic scale as he evokes his wild childhood, his…