In 1972, when Vladimir Ashkenazy was at a new peak both in his playing and in his career, we planned with him to shoot two recitals for television, one Chopin and one Beethoven. For quite some time he had been extremely reluctant to perform in…

In 1972, when Vladimir Ashkenazy was at a new peak both in his playing and in his career, we planned with him to shoot two recitals for television, one Chopin and one Beethoven. For quite some time, Ashkenazy had been extremely reluctant to perform…

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…

Daniel Barenboim plays Franz Liszt: Wagner and Verdi Opera transcriptions.

31 July is the anniversary of Franz Liszt's death. A series of programmes produced by Bavarian Television with Daniel Barenboim sheds light on the much wrinkled activity of the piano virtuoso, composer, music teacher and theorist, conductor and…

The Czech composer based his libretto on the play "Le Voyage de Thésée" by his friend and trusted source of inspiration, Georges Neveux. Martinu is said to have written the opera for Maria Callas. In this production, the role is sung by the…

A parable on the laws of art - Based on Ilse Aichinger's short story A man wakes up. He is bound. The bonds leave him room to move. He performs in a circus. A woman tries to match his movements in the bonds; she fails to seduce him. The bound man…

A Christmas television special from Prague. The programme features a Thanksgiving service in the beautiful Baroque Church of St. Jacob and carol singing in the medieval Old Town Square.

This live recording captures the memorable occasion when these two famous jazz pianists met for the first time in the Kongressaal during the Munich Klaviersommer 1983. On two pianos, they play an exciting version of Round Midnight.