To celebrate his 80th birthday, Kurt Masur led “his” Gewandhaus Orchestra in a special gala concert in June 2007. For his birthday concert, Masur, currently principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre National de France…

The composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was one of the most notable and popular musicians working in the 20th century. In this live recording, made in the Boston Symphony Hall in 1976 he conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra and…

Claudio Abbado has realised a dream with his new Lucerne Festival Orchestra. The orchestra, an exclusive ensemble of handpicked orchestral musicians, has set new standards in the field of classical music with exceptional soloists such as violinist…

Seldom has the genius of one man so influenced the musical conscience of his age. Leonard Bernstein triumphed as composer, conductor, writer and teacher. The spontaneous joy of his Broadway hits, the bold, spiritual quest of his orchestral works, his…

Introducing Masterpieces of Classical Music is an informative and entertaining guide to some of the most important symphonic works of music history. As well as featuring a complete concert performance, it also includes an insightful documentary, in…

Katia and Marielle Labèque received their first piano tuition at ages three and five and the sisters are famous for their unusual duo precision, their great musicality and the breadth of their repertoire. In this concert they perform with Il Giardino…

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”…

Gioacchino Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle was written in 1863, "the last", the composer called it, of my "péchés de vieillesse" (sins of old age). For its first performance (1864) Rossini arranged the work with only two pianos and harmonium…

Famous violinist Itzhak Perlman and Eugene Ormandy, long-standing conductor of the Philadelphia orchestra recorded this fantastic Russian programme live at the Academy of Music Philadelphia in 1978 and 1979. Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985) was best known…

This DVD brings together two of the major figures of 20th-century music, Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969) and Karl Böhm (1894-1981), in a classical programme of Beethoven and Brahms. The recording of the Beethoven Piano Concerto, filmed in 1967, can…