The cycle Má vlast (My Fatherland) is Smetana’s glorious declaration of his love for his homeland, and who else could be better qualified to conduct this icon of Czech national music than Rafael Kubelik whose career has been interwoven with the Czech…

As a genre, the concerto grosso is virtually unique in its ability to capture the verve and elegance of baroque music. Its most outstanding exponent was Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713), whose principal concerti grossi are brought together in the…

What a courageous concert programme! When Eugene Ormandy conducted “his” Philadelphia Orchestra in this concert recorded live in 1977 he chose music that showed off the orchestra’s hallmark, the “Ormandy sound” - mellow, full toned, opulent…

Ton Koopman is one of the most sought-after experts and interpreters in the field of early music and Viennese Classicism and his achievements as a conductor, organist and harpsichordist are regarded as pioneering. Ton Koopman studied organ…

One of the legendary liaisons of the 20th century between conductor and orchestra is that of Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Solti himself described it as a “love affair” and he influenced the orchestra with the elegance and…

Who would have thought it? An American orchestra performing in North Korea! Hundreds of millions watched this historic New York Philharmonic concert on television in February 2008 and for a few hours the cold war hostilities seemed to be forgotten…

A four DVD Box combines some of the most famous and best loved romantic music, works which, with their lyrical emotion, their colourful sonority and their stunning virtuosity – were, are and always will be essential to our musical heritage. This…

Waltraud Meier is “La Wagnerissima”, the queen of Wagner’s repertoire. In her very personal account “I follow a voice within me”, we enter her world and learn about her motivations, aspirations, and her joyful way of pursuing them. In addition to…

Berlin music lovers know there is no better way of celebrating the New Year than revisiting the most beautiful works in the history of music with the Berlin Philharmoniker. It comes as no surprise that the concerts are always sold out and that people…

Karl Böhm! The Austrian conductor was respected and feared by his musicians as an uncompromising expert orchestral trainer. Seeing his precision and accuracy of interpretation, it comes as no surprise that he earned a PhD in law before turning to…