Born in Montbrison, France in 1925, Pierre Boulez studied under influential figures such as Olivier Messiaen at the Conservatoire de Paris. Boulez's career began in the late 1940s as music director of the Renaud-Barrault theatre company in Paris, and…

Antonio Pappano has been announced the successor of Bernard Haitink as Music Director of the Royal Opera in London’s Covent Garden. Since 1992, when he was named Music Director of the Théatre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, he has been working with…

The film portrays Bruno Walter (1876-1962), one of the most important conductors of the 20th century. The Italian biographer Michele Selvini speaks about the musician Bruno Walter who formed the musical life of the capitals of Europe and the United…

János Darvas joins the composer György Kurtág during a masterclass for chamber music held at the International Bártok Festival in Szombathely, Hungary. This film is an amazing and somehow intimate document showing György Kurtág’s various methods of…

Throughout his life, Johannes Brahms was uneasy with women. Many of his works have their origins in his unfulfilled passions, but he was never prepared to commit himself to a woman. Several years of intensive research have resulted in this impressive…

The film portrays Igor Stravinsky, one of the most fascinating artistic personalities of the 20th century. Numerous visual and audio documents trace his most important stations in life and work in Russia, Western Europe and America. Stravinsky is…

The film tells the story of classical black singing set against the background of black emancipation in politics and society. We hear the great Afro-American singers talk about their views. Historical and contemporary film extracts.

In 2001, during the Verdi commemorative year, some of the finest singers of our time assembled in Parma to honour the maestro’s memory in a gala of distinguished singing art. From the start, Verdi had the opera composer’s most necessary gift, the…

When renowned jazz pianists of the old and new school meet at a "Solo Piano Summit," audiences are treated to many an interesting musical surprise. The "Solo Piano Summit" brings together a handful of top pianists with different musical backgrounds…

Keith Jarrett is one of the few jazz superstars, whose concerts sell out almost immediately, wherever he plays. But Keith is much more than just a jazz musician. Through an exploration of his life and work, and close encounters with the man himself…