The dramatic story of an inspired violinist, of a loyal man whose self-imposed silence eloquently betrayed unspoken private suffering. This extensive profile features interviews with David Oistrakh's longtime friends and fellow musicians: Yehudi…

The six Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach rank among the undisputed favorites of all baroque fans. They have become a firm fixture in music education and an integral part of our international musical heritage. So what’s their secret? The…

Ludwig van Beethoven’s ninth and last symphony is considered one of the highlights of symphonic music. Through the use of song, Beethoven questions the effect of purely instrumental music, and he exerted a sustained influence on all generations of…

Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 in C minor is the last Symphony the composer completed. When Bruckner sent it in 1897 to Hermann Levi, the conductor who had lead his 7th to great success, he did not understand this very different work at all and…

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…

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…

Schwetzingen is a tiny town near Heidelberg which has a famous palace with magnificent gardens, not unlike those at Versailles. The Schwetzingen Festival is held every Spring in the palace and commissions a small-scale opera for the palace's…

Movies are the resolution of a conflict between light and shadows. Light reveals truth and shadows obscure it, with a broad base of tonality in between. These six Bach sonatas have been recorded in one of Germany’s most beautiful Baroque halls in…

With "Alcina" Wieler shows how modern Händel can be. The production is fascinating, conclusive and full of eroticism. Helene Schneidermann is absolutly overwhelming as Ruggiero's fiancée and the brilliant soprano Catherine Naglestad is more blissful…

Schwetzingen is a tiny town near Heidelberg which has a famous palace with magnificent gardens, not unlike those at Versailles. The Schwetzingen Festival is held every Spring in the palace and commissions a small-scale opera for the palace's…