The finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen is renowned for his interpretations of contemporary music and has given countless premières of new works. He has led critically acclaimed festivals of music by Berlioz, Ligeti, Schoenberg…

The setting of the opera Cavalleria Rusticana by the Italian composer Pietro Mascagni (based on the novella of the same name by Giovanni Verga), is regarded as the birth of a new style in Italian opera, "verismo", which gained great popularity…

The Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnaval des animaux) is a humorous musical suite by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The work, about 25 minutes in duration, was written for private performance by two pianos and chamber ensemble; Saint-Saëns…

The mythological figure of Prometheus symbolizes the creativity of man – and Claudio Abbado took this symbol as the Leitmotif of this very unique concert recording: An exploration of the Prometheus myth through the works of four composers…

Violinist, composer and conductor, living through two world wars, caught between east and west, capitalism and communism: The remarkable and glittering life of German artist Paul Dessau is more than a good story – it cries out for the medium of film…

One of today’s most sought-after performers, the Argentine pianist Nelson Goerner brings his love of Beethoven and Chopin to the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and presents very personal interpretations of two important sonatas and two études. His…

World famous bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi prepares for a staging of Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni at Bolgogna’s historic Teatro Comunale, working alongside conductor Riccardo Chailly and stage director Luca Ronconi as well as a distinguished cast of…

‘My Favourite Opera – Barbara Hendricks’ intertwines three related strands: firstly the distinguished soprano Barbara Hendricks discusses her international career as a singer; secondly we follow the preparation for the 1990 production of Donizetti’s…

‘My Favourite Opera – Katia Ricciarelli’, which will be released in May 2013, portraits the Italian star soprano Katia Ricciarelli. Katia Ricciarelli is best known for her roles in Rossini, Verdi and Puccini Operas but also appeared as Desdemona in…

Max Lorenz was at the height of his career as a heldentenor in 1941. As a homosexual with a Jewish wife in Nazi Germany, he would have faced deportation. However, as Hitler’s favourite tenor and a symbol of his times, he was protected by Hitler and…