Bizet’s passionate tale of the self-willed gypsy woman Carmen is certainly one of the most popular works in the history of opera. It shows how a cigar factory worker in Seville enchants and bewitches the men around her. Melodies like Carmen’s…

The little guy with his mustache, his bowler hat and his bamboo cane is world-famous. But, who is the man behind this figure? Mario Schröder wondered the same thing when choreographing “Chaplin”. His rise to fame makes Chaplin a person of public…

When Korean composer Unsuk Chin’s opera was first performed by the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, it caused a sensation among music critics worldwide. Based on Lewis Carroll’s famous and fascinatingly enigmatic novel Alice in Wonderland, it is a…

The Choir & Orchestra of the J.S. Bach Foundation is in the process of performing the complete vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), a remarkable undertaking that will take about 25 years in total. The cantata "Jesu, nun sei gepreiset"…

Il matrimonio segreto is Cimarosa's most famous opera buffa and it is one of the few comic operas to have maintained its place in the repertoire until today. At its first performance in 1792, Austrian emperor Leopold II is reputed to have liked this…

”Classic Archive“ is a new series featuring music DVDs of legendary artists, thus offering – at a sensational mid-range price - a unique view of our classical music heritage. Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997), who, without exaggeration, can easily be…

“I cannot begin even to describe what I have learnt with these musicians. Maybe they have learnt a little something from me, but that is nothing compared to what I have learnt from them, and the generations that came before.” (Zubin Mehta about the…

Wagner’s Meistersinger is a festive opera in its own right, but at the unforgettable performances of the work at the Vienna State Opera in January 2008 the festive spirit literally leapt out into the audience as well. Vienna’s dailies exploded with…

“Once again Loy has created the happiest of marriages between a role and it's interpreter, and Edita Gruberova faces up to the manifold demands of this difficult part with uncompromising assurance, relying on her phenomenal technique, her radiant top…

This amazing DVD-Box was released for Christmas 2010 in a limited edition. The awe-inspiring surroundings of the 1st-century Roman quarry at St Margarethen in eastern Austria provide the perfect backdrop for these thrilling live performances of opera…