Surely Bach’s French Suites, which he composed during his years at Cöthen (1717–1723), are among the finest inducements to practise that any teacher has ever made to a pupil. In this case Bach wrote them for his young wife, Anna Magdalena. The over…

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…

This stunning new production of Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea clothes the characters in modern dress and emphasizes the moral ambiguity of the original text. Challengin the usual operatic conventions, the controversial stage director Ole…

Vera Nemirova’s challenging production of Berg’s operatic masterpiece Lulu won critical acclaim when first seen at the Salzburg Festival in 2010. It was successfully repeated in 2011, when the production was filmed for DVD. Supporting Nemirova’s…

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…

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is a cultural ambassador for Israel, and is regarded as one of the best orchestras in the world. Recorded in the Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv in March 2010, this concert sees the Israel Philharmonic conducted in this…

The blind up-and-coming Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, an astonishing genius on his instrument, is playing for the first time ever under the Russian conductor Valery Gergiev at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. During the White Nights…

This DVD and Blu-ray Disc will be released in June. Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s opera Die Soldaten (The Soldiers) was praised as the highlight of the Salzburg Festival 2012. In Salzburg’s Felsenreitschule, the Wiener Philharmoniker performed the opera…