Vladimir Ashkenazy has had a particular affection for the music of Rachmaninoff throughout his professional life, and his performances have long had the ring both of authenticity and of deep commitment. This is not surprising in a Russian-born and…

Vladimir Ashkenazy closed the 1984/85 season in London with a recital at the Royal Festival Hall that was regarded by many of those present as a new peak in his musicmaking. If that perception is correct, it is a remarkable achievement in a career…

This recording of Janacek’s String Quartet No. 1 is set in the intimate atmosphere of Villa Tugendhat, one of the prototypes of modern architecture in Europe. The work, inspired by Leo Tolstoy‘s novella The Kreutzer Sonata, uses a principle of…

Together with Hans Haffmans, Dutch radio and television presenter, Bernard Haitink is reflecting on his long career and his life and he is looking forward to the future. The film turns out to be a very moving portrait of a man who can’t enjoy his…

Bertrand Chamayou, an international pianist, is also a child of the country. Here he meets the orchestra's musical director, Tugan Sokhiev, for a first concert under his direction. It's a bit like a new school year, but with new rules and new…

John Cage's Sonatas and Interludes revolve around the principle of "prepared piano". This concept, coined by the American composer, is to hinder the piano through various objects (screws, rubber and other elastic) placed in its crate and also between…

Much like Rachmaninoff, who struggled to be taken seriously as he stuck to his post-romantic compositional style, in this documentary, Igudesman - also an immigrant and a prolific composer - tries to be honest about the innate insecurities of…

The film "Carl Nielsen – Between heaven and earth" is intended to draw a psychological portrait of Nielsen’s life; a portrait of the composer in the turbulent times at the turn of the 20th century and the First World War. Who was this son of a…

In his late years, Sergiu Celibidache (1912-1996) focused his attention on one particular composer: Anton Bruckner. In March 1991 he rehearsed Bruckner´s Ninth in unusually long and intense sessions with the Munich Philharmonics. Using unpublished…

In the “country of melodrama”- Italy - exists a very exclusive club consisting of only 27 persons, each of whom is named after one of Verdi’s operas. The club will not accept any more members than those 27, but a little boy strives to become one of…