Herbert Blomstedt appears with the Gewandhaus Orchestra for the last time as the Gewandhaus Music Director in this recording. After seven successful years in Leipzig, the maestro performs a work in the Thomas Church that is especially dear to him…

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…

Since its founding over 500 years ago the Wiener Sängerknaben, a.k.a. Vienna Boys' Choir, has been a fixed attraction in musical life. A number of important musicians have been connected with the famous choir. Joseph Haydn, and Franz Schubert for…

On 9 October in 1989, 70,000 people staged a peaceful demonstration calling for more freedom and democracy in the GDR. Thanks to the claim “Peaceful Revolution”, initiated by Kurt Masur as one of six prominent citizens of Leipzig, everything…

Johann Sebastian Bach's most famous Christmas work was recorded live at the Salle Henry Le Bœuf in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Who would have thought, three centuries ago, that these cantatas, written by Bach for the services from…

The Nobel Prize Concert 2008 offers fantastic performers: Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Monteverdi Choir, together with Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and the Scandinavian singers Miah Persson, soprano, Ann Hallenberg, alto, Helge Rönning, tenor, and…

Philippe Herreweghe, principal conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, has devoted himself for over ten years to fresh and invigorating readings of the (pre-) Romantic repertoire. Together with the Collegium Vocale, founded in 1970 by Herreweghe…

In the ensemble’s Advent concerts at the Marktkirche, the Knabenchor Hannover sets out under the baton of Jörg Breiding in search of the dynamics and tensions that build up in the weeks between the First Sunday of Advent and Christmas Day – the…

The Collegium Vocale Gent has made a reputation as one of the most prestigious choirs in the world. Founded by conductor, Philippe Herreweghe, they have a lively musical approach striving to find an authentic sound. The Collegium Vocale Gent has made…

Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) is considered today one of the founding fathers of the 17th century German school, whose influence on composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, his spiritual son, cannot be overestimated. Not only was he an indisputable…