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…

In 1741 Johann Sebastian Bach published the fourth and last volume of his most extensive keyboard publication, the Clavier-Übung: an aria and thirty variations known universally as the ‘Goldberg’ Variations. This monumental work, which is about…

The Christmas Oratorio is undoubtedly one of Johann Sebastian Bach's most popular works. It consists of six cantatas intended for Christmas Eve, the two Christmas holidays, New Year's Day, the Sunday after New Year's Day and the Feast of the Epiphany…

This festive concert from the Gethsemanekirche in Berlin marks the 60th anniversary of the RIAS Kammerchor. Under the baton of the new chief conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann, the RIAS Kammerchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin are performing…

The essence of Verdi’s Requiem can be found in the words Libera me - “Free me”. The great composer employs every means at his disposal to portray man as prisoner of himself, with both his fear of death and yearning for salvation. Recording Dates: 14…

1970 was the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth and, to mark the occasion, Daniel Barenboim and Christopher Nupen collaborated on a thirteen-part series about the man and his music. Close friends at the time, Barenboim as artist and…

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…

With this festive concert the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of Fabio Luisi celebrates the moving event of the re-opening of the Frauenkirche in Dresden. After the Bombing of Dresden on February 13, 1945, the church burnt out and…