The re-release in Blu-ray Disc will be available from May 2013. “Together with conductor Claudio Abbado, the cream of young European musicians who make up this outstanding orchestra infused the symphony with a luminosity that glowed with an inner…

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…

The many passionate, fiery or lyrical vocal pieces of Spanish zarzuelas have continued to thrive in concerts and recitals all over the world. One of the most renowned and ardent supporters of zarzuela melodies is Plácido Domingo. Belying his 66 years…

The Waldbühne Concert given by the Berliner Philharmoniker marks the end of the 2009/10 season. More recently visitors to the orchestra’s Waldbühne concerts have been regaled by some of the greatest opera singers of our age, including such operatic…

Tchaikowsky’s “Merchant of Venice” offers proof of David Pountney’s eye for buried gems of the opera literature. The tried and trusted team behind Keith Warner and an elite cast make the posthumous premiere at 2013’s Bregenz Festival “a restitution…

Annette Dasch started her brilliant career as a winner of prestigious international singing competitions and is nowadays one of the most-sought-after singers. She is also noted for developing her own musical programmes. The star soprano gave an…

Philippe Herreweghe, principal conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, has devoted himself for over ten years to fresh and invigorating readings of the (pre-)Romantic repertoire. Together with the Collegium Vocale Gent, founded in 1970 by…

Antonín Dvorák’s next to last opera draws its substance from the underwater wonderland of little mermaids, Undines and Melusines: Rusalka, a water nymph, wishes to become human in order to be loved by the young prince. Despite being warned against it…

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, a symbol of tolerance and understanding between people, opens with Jörg Widman’s Con brio and are then joined by the legendary Martha Argerich for Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. The extraordinary concert is…

Claudio Abbado once remarked that, “With Beethoven, you never stop learning“ and indeed: the 75-year-old Milanese maestro has constantly reworked the symphonies of the master from Bonn (1770-1827). With this box containing all nine Beethoven…