This beautiful production by renowned opera director Michael Hampe was recorded at the exquisite Rococo Theatre in Schwetzingen Palace in May 1990. La scala di seta is one of the five one-act operas - farsa giocosa - in which the young Rossini first…

Twenty-nine of the world’s best young pianists converged in Fort Worth, Texas in May 2009 for a once in a lifetime chance at gold in the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Contest. Emmywinning director Peter Rosen follows these distinctive…

‘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…

The artists list on this DVD reads like a Who’s Who of the best international jazz musicians of all times. It features Art Blakey, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins – musicians whose names have become synonymous with…

In Offenbachs's Secret, Academy Award winning director István Szabó throws new light on the timeless interplay between power, helplessness, courage and conformity in his character studies of two of the most scintillating personalities of France's…

PIERRE BOULEZ: ECLAT | SUR INCISES Directed by Frank Scheffer and Andy Sommer Eclat is a real study of resonance written for fifteen instruments by Pierre Boulez. It is a kind of “concerto for conductor”, the conductor “composes” and controls the…

“The music says it all. Mozart is cool.” So said the self-confessed “opera ignoramus” Doris Dörrie before she grabbed hold of one of the sacred cows of the operatic repertoire and transformed it into a “hippie musical”. Mozart’s Così fan tutte (“Thus…

One of the greatest revolutions in the history of mankind happened around 3000 years ago: the transition from polytheism to monotheism through the prophet Moses. God revealed himself directly to Moses, instructing him in absolute truth. Moses was…

This documentary follows the varied and exciting life of Giuseppe Verdi, Italy’s most admired and best known composer, creator of masterpieces such as Nabucco, Aida and the world most famous Requiem Mass. The program is hosted by Thomas Hampson, the…

Peter Konwitschny’s celebrated and innovative staging of Wagner’s Lohengrin was recorded at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in 2006, where it was revived as an unconventional and spectacular view on the piece. Originally staged in Hamburg in…