At her wedding reception, the beautiful but depressed Justine spots a red star in the sky. It is the planet Melancholia, which is on a collision course with Earth. The bridegroom Michael tries to calm her down with his love, her mother Gaby poisons…

The Verbier Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary with arguably the most phenomenal gathering of soloists in classical music. This all-star program is devised in three parts focusing on strings, piano and orchestra. This exuberant reunion of…

What a strange idea Mondonville had! Based on a cruel fable by La Fontaine with a tragic ending, he wrote a charming opera libretto with a happy ending, and composed a delightful pastoral. In the prologue, Dame Clémence Isaure, the mythical founder…

Giacomo Puccini honours his own code by bringing all those elements together in a single work, Il trittico, which is made up of three one-act operas. Finding the right librettos was not easy, but one month after the end of the First World War, his…

In this recording pianist András Schiff, violinist Yuuko Shiokawa and cellist Miklos Perenyi come together to perform Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2. The renowned musicians shine through their outstanding interplay and musicality and are sure to delight…

Zubin Mehta stands close to the Münchner Philharmoniker since decades and was named the first “Honorary Conductor” in the history of the orchestra in 2004. Under his baton numerous legendary concerts took place, of which some fortunately have been…

When painter Gustav Klimt coated his famous paintings with gold leaf, Richard Strauss musically reveled in the opulence that was so typical of Vienna at the time. No fewer than five powerful Wagnerian voices are needed for his "Die Frau ohne Schatten…

After over four decades together, the Emerson String Quartet disbands in the Fall of 2023 and plays in concert halls across the US and Europe for the very last time. We accompany the Quartet in Prague for a performance with music by the German…

Following the success of King Arthur, which was presented at major European festivals, Vox Luminis is discovering Henry Purcell's "The Fairy Queen", a semi-opera in five acts written for the Dorset Garden in 1692. The dramatic plot of the work is…

The Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) died before he could complete his final opera Turandot. Fortunately, his lesser-known colleague Franco Alfano managed to use the maestro's notes to complete the opera in time for its April 26, 1926…