With this festive concert the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of Fabio Luisi celebrated the moving reopening of the Frauenkirche in Dresden. After the bombing of Dresden on February 13, 1945, the church burnt out and its dome, the…

“And the Beethoven! They played Beethoven differently from the way Beethoven had been played before!” Said the composer William Schuman, then president of New York’s Juilliard School of Music, who initiated the Juilliard String Quartet as a resident…

EuroArts has released a special edition of all nine Beethoven Symphonies played by the Berlin Philharmonic under former chief conductor Claudio Abbado. This DVD ends the series with symphonies Nos. 4 and 7, recorded live at the Accademia Nazionale di…

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was founded by Daniel Barenboim and the late Edward Said. It consists of young, highly talented Israeli and Arabian musicians and was founded to increase the dialogue between young people in the Middle East and…

Leonard Bernstein’s historical concert in celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has long become almost as legendary as the revolutionary moment that it celebrated. Recorded at the beautiful Schauspielhaus right on Gendarmenmarkt in the…

The outstanding tenors of the 78 era: comprising thirteen episodes, each with a biographical and a musical focus, this two-volume edition features bel canto singers captured on black and white sound film. Backed up with footage, much of which is…

With his sixteen string quartets, Beethoven forged the backbone of this repertoire. The six quartets Opus 18 show the composer’s mastery of the classical form. In contrast, the five middle quartets burst this form, with a very free treatment of the…

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…

Sir Simon Rattle took up his post as chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2002. In doing so, he took over an inheritance which was not only demanding, but which required a delicate balance of tradition and innovation. The Liverpool-born…

Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink and the Berliner Philharmoniker meet at this year’s Easter Festival in Baden-Baden. Haitink is regarded as an authority, especially on the music of Beethoven. In this production he conducts Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6…