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…

Gidon Kremer is not only one of the leading violinists in the world, but also – thanks to his unquenchable curiosity and search for new impulses – one of the most fascinating musical personalities of our time. His repertoire ranges from Bach to the…

Mozart is the most pervasively dramatic composer in history. The spirit of opera informs very nearly his every work. Themes are characters; characters interact; they change. András Schiff’s alertness to the dialogue in Mozart is reflected both in his…

This film is a docufiction on the great Toscanini directed by well-known film-maker Larry Weinstein who pushes the boundaries of conventional documentary storytelling by borrowing tools from fiction films, including dramatic reconstructions and…

A versatile and highly respected conductor, Christoph von Dohnányi has pursued a remarkable career both in Europe and the United States. His work has always been characterized by the greatest artistic integrity and uncompromisingly high standards…

At the Salzburg “Mozartwoche” in 2000, the Hagen Quartett excelled in Beethoven’s very last String Quartet, first performed only after the composer’s death, a highly demanding and very complex work. For Mozart’s famous Clarinet Quintet, written for…

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…

Nikolai Lugansky, already a major artist, has been hailed by his former teacher Tatiana Nikolajeva as the “next” in a line of great Russian pianists. He has been described as “a pianistic phenomenon of exceptional class” by the Netherlands’ NRC…

If there is one genre of music which baritone Thomas Hampson is exceptionally passionate about, it is the lied. To Hampson, song and singing are "the diary of our existence" and he has invested a great amount of time, work and love to luring this…

Eugene Ormandy’s unbroken forty-two-year association with the Philadelphia Orchestra was unique in history. Famous for its rich and powerful "Philly Sound”, the orchestra was described by Rachmaninov as “the greatest virtuoso orchestra in the world”…