Orchestras once played Bach as well as Bruckner. Only specialised ensembles showed that note and performance signs have changed their meaning quite a bit over the centuries. So far, so theoretical: in practice, Handel's "Il Trionfo" awaits us, a…

When painter Gustav Klimt coated his famous paintings with gold leaf, Richard Strauss musically reveled in the opulence that was so typical of Vienna at the time. No fewer than five powerful Wagnerian voices are needed for his "Die Frau ohne Schatten…

The Verbier Festival Orchestra, under the baton of one of the greatest Mahlerians of our time, Michael Tilson Thomas, perform the Austrian composer’s Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, an ode to nature. This concert, the climax of the 2016 Verbier Festival…

Since their first performance together in the 2010 Paris production of Werther, they’ve often appeared side-by-side in various stage productions. And as in this concert, the works of Verdi have played a key role. When they appeared as rivals in “La…

This performance of Bach's monumental Mass in B minor is recorded live at Thomaskirche Leipzig. The masterpiece is a dazzling example of the exuberance of the late German baroque and it is produced for the first time with the new Thomaskantor Andreas…

A young call centre agent falls in love with a petty criminal street dancer. She is Orpheus. He is Eurydice. She expresses herself through singing, he articulates himself through his dance. For her great love, she descends into the underworld, faces…

Following the success of King Arthur, which was presented at major European festivals, Vox Luminis is discovering Henry Purcell's "The Fairy Queen", a semi-opera in five acts written for the Dorset Garden in 1692. The dramatic plot of the work is…

On the menu: cancan, frills and great music carried by the magnificent voices of young and talented opera singers! They are accompanied by the Orchestra of the Rouen Opera, conducted by Didier Benetti, as well as by the Moulin Rouge Dancers. Through…

Collegium Vocale Gent presents "Il quarto libro de madrigalia a cinque voici" of Monteverdi, recorded during the Crete Senesi Festival 2021 in the beautiful Tuscany. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) wrote his first book of madrigals in 1587 when he was…

The Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) died before he could complete his final opera Turandot. Fortunately, his lesser-known colleague Franco Alfano managed to use the maestro's notes to complete the opera in time for its April 26, 1926…