What a strange idea Mondonville had! Based on a cruel fable by La Fontaine with a tragic ending, he wrote a charming opera libretto with a happy ending, and composed a delightful pastoral. In the prologue, Dame Clémence Isaure, the mythical founder…

The “Bolero”, originally composed as a ballet, is Maurice Ravel's most successful work at all. The world famous melody of the “Bolero” has been featured in popular music, motion pictures and even video games. Pianist and writer Paul Roberts vividly…

On Wednesday, October 16th, Dmitri Hvorostovsky's birthday, the Festival officially opens with a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem.

Compelling love duets, escalating conflicts and arias bursting with virtuosity and emotion. In his three Tudor Queens operas, bel canto master Gaetano Donizetti composed at the top of his game. In this concert, an international cast takes you on an…

A Scandinavian Kite Festival is coupled with the heart-felt music of Swedish composer, Björn J. Lindh.

This live recording, from the Munich Philharmonie, features a programme of orchestral works and operatic arias by composers including Beethoven, Berg, Prokofiev, Giordano, Rossini and Verdi. Gustav Kuhn conducts the European Community Youth Orchestra…

This recording captures a spontaneous piano duo in the Munich Philharmonie, which clearly illustrates the common background of these two pianists in the Vienna of the 1940s and '50s.

Orchestras once played Bach as well as Bruckner. Only specialised ensembles showed that note and performance signs have changed their meaning quite a bit over the centuries. So far, so theoretical: in practice, Handel's "Il Trionfo" awaits us, a…

Stravinsky found the inspiration for his work in sources ranging from Greek Orthodox liturgy to his beloved Verdi.

A charming improvisational performance on the pipe organ. Gunnar Idenstam, visually accompanied by a ballerina, under the influence of Spanish rhythms. An extraordinary performance by an extraordinary artist.