The Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler is arguably the best known Mahler symphony. The musical canvas and emotional scope of the work are huge. Herbert von Karajan said once that when you hear Mahler's Fifth, “you forget that time has passed. A great…

Alfred Brendel is arguably the most outstanding exponent of Schubert's piano music currently before the public, a man capable of bringing to vibrant life not only the verve of this music but also its poetic intensity and intellectual depth. In this…

In time for his 65th birthday in November 2007, Daniel Barenboim has completed a cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos. Recorded live at the prestigious Klavier-Festival Ruhr in May 2007, this recording reflects both a very individual and special…

In time for his 65th birthday in November 2007, Daniel Barenboim has completed a cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos. Recorded live at the prestigious Klavier-Festival Ruhr in May 2007, this recording reflects both a very individual and special…

Robert Schumann’s famous piano concerto is not a traditional virtuoso showpiece but a cooperative venture between the soloist and the orchestra. This new relationship transported the piano concerto into the realm of symphonic music. The German…

No composer before Mahler had ever devoted himself exclusively to two genres so apparently incompatible as the intimate lied and the grandiose symphony. Thus it is fascinating in “Das Lied von der Erde” to see him combining, at this late stage of his…

For several years now, Gustavo Dudamel and the young musicians from the Venezuelan youth orchestra "Simón Bolívar" have been causing a furor on the international music scene. More than anything else, it is they who have earned the Venezuelan…

We live in the “renaissance of the piano”, as the New York Times put it in summer. A new generation has made the piano popular again: pianists with a passion for virtuosity and a willingness to expand their repertoire. In addition to the usual…

In time for his 65th birthday in November 2007, Daniel Barenboim has completed a cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos. Recorded live at the prestigious Klavier-Festival Ruhr in May 2007, this recording reflects both a very individual and special…

Alfred Brendel is arguably the most outstanding exponent of Schubert's piano music currently before the public, a man capable of bringing to vibrant life not only the verve of this music but also its poetic intensity and intellectual depth. In this…