Only rarely do musicians win fame as great interpreters of everything they touch. However, the Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau was one such virtuoso. Like his great predecessors Liszt and Busoni, Arrau was renowned for reaching to the stylistic core of…

Ten years ago Russia’s Wonder Children documented the struggles and triumphs of four extraordinary piano prodigies. Now, in Competitors, the cameras return to discover how their lives and careers have developed, and whether time has brought the…

What made Claudio Abbado stand out was his unpretentious, noble character, his democratic understanding of music making and his ability to celebrate the live moment on stage. Claudio Abbado empathized with his musicians. In order to be able to…

“It is a very special art of conducting. One must try to embrace the musicians.” (Bernard Haitink) On 6 September 2019, Bernard Haitink bowed before his audience for the last time: after 65 years on the podium, the 90-year-old exceptional conductor…

Denis Matsuev, a virtuoso in the grandest of Russian pianistic tradition, gave this remarkable recital at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The Russian star pianist performs the complete Seasons by Tchaikovsky, one of the most popular classical works…

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…

Christoph Prégardien is one of the most established singers of our time and has especially excelled in his interpretations of German Romantic Lieder. He has won Orphée d'Or of Académie du Disque Lyrique - Prix Georg Solti, Preis der Deutschen…

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…

“Here the crème de la crème of orchestral musicians are to be found sitting alongside one another and performing at such an unprecedentedly high level that it is a joy to listen to them. There is a constant give and take in terms of their breathing…

The Fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 unleashed a wave of democratisation in Central and Eastern Europe that radically transformed the world order. This exclusive DVD box is being released in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Fall…