The form, rhythm and tone of Rabih Abou-Khalil's music usually follow the pattern of Arabian instrumental music, but for his amazingly cosmopolitan sound Abou-Khalil has created a synthesis of Arabian music with Western classical and jazz idioms.

The principal conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle, performs music by J. S. Bach. Together with the marvelous Berlin orchestra, the conductor takes on Bach's splendid St John's Passion. The solo voice parts are sung by the…

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…

Sir Peter Hall's outstanding Glyndebourne Festival Opera production of "Fidelio" remains remarkably faithful to the way Beethoven intended the opera to be. He managed to inject fresh excitement and suspense into "Fidelio", providing a perfect…

Rossini's popular work - which was first performed in 1816 at the Teatro Argentina in Rome - contains some of opera's most tuneful and recognizable music - from its lively overture to Figaro's Largo al factotum to Rosina's Una voce poco fa. Based on…

ESP 2 is the true legacy of the music of Miles Davis, kept alive by his former sidemen who are now bandleaders in their own right. Together they honor the heritage of the legendary trumpet master.

"Jazz en clave" is a septet especially put together by Chucho Valdés for the Jazz Open Stuttgart 1999, and features artists like Giovanni Hidalgo, Claudio Roditi and Juan Pablo Torres who together with Michel Camilo belong to the best Latin Jazz…

Roman Zaslavsky understands how to contrast the two ingenious opposites Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt side by side, on one recording giving each one his due, thus offering a completely new approach to their music and also to two rather different…

Idamante, son of Idomeneo, falls victim to a promise of human sacrifice made in a moment of despair by Idomeneo to Neptune. The attempts of Idomeneo to evade the fulfillment of his vow result in the ravaging of the island of Crete.

This programme is based upon the folk music of the South coast fishermen and their reminiscences.