This festive concert from the Gethsemanekirche in Berlin marks the 60th anniversary of the RIAS Kammerchor. Under the baton of the new chief conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann, the RIAS Kammerchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin are performing…

A rococo beauty who ultimately drags everything into the abyss, Puccini’s Manon Lescaut is never fully satisfied. She becomes addicted to the admiring glances she receives from others, and the luxury and diamonds in which she bathes don’t warm her…

For the Easter Festival 2017 in Baden-Baden, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker draw their inspiration from Tosca, the most well-known and also most brilliant of all the Puccini operas. And that is deservedly so, since Tosca is not…

The essence of Verdi’s Requiem can be found in the words Libera me - “Free me”. The great composer employs every means at his disposal to portray man as prisoner of himself, with both his fear of death and yearning for salvation. Recording Dates: 14…

Arrigo Boito's only finished and preserved opera, Mefistofele, recorded in Baden-Baden was praised by critics and loved by the audience - a very rare concurrence. And this could hardly have come as a surprise, since it was no other than Erwin Schrott…

1970 was the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth and, to mark the occasion, Daniel Barenboim and Christopher Nupen collaborated on a thirteen-part series about the man and his music. Close friends at the time, Barenboim as artist and…

“… it goes without saying that Franz Liszt cannot be a quiet piano player for quiet state burghers and cosy sleepyheads". This is how Heinrich Heine assesses Franz Liszt's public position. The Sonata in B minor, written in 1852/53 and considered one…

Daniel Barenboim plays Franz Liszt: Wagner and Verdi Opera transcriptions

In Franz Liszt's own words, his Wagner transcriptions were "modest propaganda at the thirsty piano for the noble genius of Wagner". Liszt's importance for his future son-in-law Richard Wagner can hardly be overestimated. In his influential position…

Barenboim plays Liszt (Wanderjahre Italien)