The Surprise Symphony is the best known of the over 100 symphonies by Haydn. Its second movement is the most popular and gave the symphony its name: legend has it that the sudden beat of the timpani was meant to rouse members of the audience who had…

In the eyes of his contemporaries, Johannes Brahms’s violin concerto was so different from everything that had come before that, after the premiere, a critic stated that it wasn’t a concerto, but a “symphony with violin obligato”. In an interview…

Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor, commonly known as the Unfinished, was started in 1822 but left with only two movements complete even though Schubert would live for another six years. Since Schubert's death at the age of 31, the Unfinished…

Debussy’s “La Mer” is a masterpiece of suggestion and subtlety in its rich depiction of the ocean. Several authors have claimed that “La Mer” sounds like nothing before it. As a specialist in French Impressionism, the British pianist and writer Paul…

This recording captures a spontaneous piano duo in the Munich Philharmonie, which clearly illustrates the common background of these two pianists in the Vienna of the 1940s and '50s.

The most famous vocalist worldwide had a much acclaimed solo performance at the Münchner Klaviersommer 1988 at the Philharmonie. The set closed with a duet on the theme of „Round Midnight“ together with Herbie Hancock.

The starting point of Shchedrin's composition is the tune from Chopin's Prelude in C minor No.28 Op.20. Recorded in the Kongressaal in Munich, it is performed by Rodion Shchedrin himself, Nicolas Economou, Paul Gulda and the American jazz pianist…