For its 15th anniversary, the Verbier Festival has once again brought together the most prestigious artists in classical music. This series of TV programmes presents the very best of the 28 concerts.

One of the most promising young violinist - Valery Sokolov - and one of the most prestigious chamber orchestras - the Chamber Orchestra of Europe - play under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy at the Cité de la musique in Paris. This concert captures…

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…

The Europa Concert 2008 took place in the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow. The Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle have been heard with works by Stravinsky, Bruch and Beethoven. Soloist is the Russian Violin player Vadim…

The Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Claudio Abbado performed a Russian night at Lucerne. Tchaikovsky’s symphonic poem The Tempest is based on the famous play by Shakespeare and shares many similarities in musical structure with Tchaikowsky’s better…

It was on the spur of the moment that András Schiff and a few of his friends decided to establish the Cappella. The pianist’s quirky humour is reflected in the rather ambiguous name of the ensemble, “Andrea Barca”. Schiff is fond of telling the story…

In time for his 65th birthday in November 2007, Daniel Barenboim has completed a cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos. Recorded live at the prestigious Klavier-Festival Ruhr in May 2007, this recording reflects both a very individual and special…

Gidon Kremer is, and has always been, one of the most headstrong and original artists in the music business and he was once hailed by Herbert von Karajan as the world’s best violinist. He celebrated his 60th birthday in 2007 and he has always kept…

The young musicians of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra and their aspiring conductor Gustavo Dudamel invite the worldwide TV audience to an exceptional concert from the newly opened Concert Hall in Caracas. A rousing choice of Venezuelan and Latin…

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