Verdi first presented his Messa da Requiem in the Church of San Marco. It was his emotional response to the death of the Italian national poet Alessandro Manzoni. He poured his entire dramatic skill, the fruit of thirty years of theatrical work, into…

Alfred Brendel is arguably the most outstanding modern exponent of Schubert's piano music currently before the public. He is capable of bringing not only the verve of this music but also its poetic intensity and intellectual depth to life with a…

Conducting Mahler : The film documents the interpretations of Gustav Mahler's compositions by conductors Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle, who detail the special relationship they have with Mahler's…

The Kuijken Ensemble, made up of the three Belgian Kuijken brothers on flute, violin and viola da gamba and the harpsichordist Robert Kohnen count among the most distinguished of all present-day early-music specialists. They have long since branched…

We live in a “renaissance of the piano”, as the New York Times so surprisingly put it in summer 2005. A new generation is reviving the piano’s popularity as pianists with a passion for virtuosity and a willingness to expand their repertoire take to…

LEGATO is a DVD series dedicated to presenting some of the most fascinating of today’s younger generation pianists - their development, their ideas and, of course, their music. Each DVD in this series presents an artist and explores an aspect of the…

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…

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…

In the historic Weimar Herder Church Sir John Eliot Gardiner finds the perfect setting for his recording of the Bach Christmas Oratorio. Against the backdrop of the dramatic altar and Lucas Granach paintings, the Monteverdi Choir and the English…

As their personal tribute to Mozart in his anniversary year 2006, Gil & Orli Shaham performed a selection of violin sonatas by the Austrian master in the Palais Daun-Kinsky in Vienna. Brimming with energy and bravery, tempered only by a deep…