Monteverdi is generally regarded as the father of European opera. His "Poppea" is a blood and thunder melodrama, set in Nero's Rome and loaded with passion, jealousy, murder and savage ambition.

They started out in 1981 as a New York City street band, playing jazz, gospel and classics. Now they're an internationally acclaimed quartet forming a tighly-knit unit with their own distinctive identity, performing both traditional and experimental…

The ensemble makes its point both with the fantasic playing of the wind instruments as well as the virtuosic precision of Dave Holland's bass.

After the huge success of the famous "Guitar Trio" with Al di Meola, this performance presents two masters of the acoustic guitar in an even more intimate performance, exploring the musical frontiers between Flamenco and Jazz.

Barbara Thompson has long been acknowledged as the first lady of the sax. Together with her band "Paraphernalia" and Jon Hiseman, she ranks among the world's top Jazz-rock ensembles.

Bireli Lagrene plays with Babik Reinhardt in a tribute to Django Reinhardt.

This film is a perfomance of the work recorded in Tokyo during the Deutsche Oper Berlin's 1993 Japan tour in Götz Friedrich's highly respected, much-discussed staging.

Consisting of former members of Frank Zappa's band, this concert pays tribute to the music of the maestro, featuring all the 'hits' of his musical history, from "Chunga's Revenge" to "Easy Meat", performed with breathtaking virtuosity.

The Japanese pianist Aki Takase is a veritable typhoon of power and clarity. Her playing shows what can happen when the European rules of melody, harmony and rhythm come face to face with a distinctly Asian way of thinking!

This particular performance shows world-class piano player Joanne Brackeen with a quite unusual line up, consisting of Pat Metheny's drummer Danny Gottlieb, Lonnie Plaxico of Steve Coleman's Five Elements Band and Donald Harrison, a unique sax player…