Waltz, a revolutionary thing? Historically, it was the first dance having couples clasping each other, men and women hugging, whirling to the rhythm of its music to the point of giddiness and rapture. A dance with a triple time rhythm both simple and…

"There are today magnificent virtuosos, the Yitzhak Perlmans, Vadim Repins,Hilary Hahns, Maxime Vengerovs and the like, but none of them, in my opinion, bears the indisputable mark of that which made the intensely original art of the great violinists…

A portrait of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the world's oldest orchestra never to have been associated with an aristocratic court! Our film recounts the highs and lows of the orchestra's extensive and fluctuating history.

Alfredo Kraus is internationally known as the great master of "belcanto" style. More than just a portrait, the film takes a lively and not uncritical stand on today's operatic world. The programme includes high points from the 1993 season in Milan…

Testing Mozart is a 60 minute film about the "Mozart Effect", the power of Mozart's music to fight disease and increase the mental ability of its listeners. It is common knowledge that cows give more milk and tomatoes grow bigger when played Mozart…

Inspired by the Tea Ceremony, Tan Dun, the contemporary Chinese composer living in New York, wrote the opera “Tea”. Tea is a tragic love-story set against the background of Chanoyu, the Japanese tea ritual. In “Tea”, Tan Dun combines Eastern and…

David Fray’s sparkling talent is such that he is one of the few pianists of the new generation to have signed an exclusive recording contract recently with one of the current majors, Virgin Classics. In January 2008 he recorded a programme entirely…

The life of an orchestra musician is marvelous. Mozart, Schubert and Strauss surround you. All day long you hear beautiful music. What other people pay a lot of money for, you get paid to do. You are gifted, you bring joy into people’s lives…

In August of 2007, Anne-Sophie Mutter performed the world premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina's 2nd violin concerto in Lucerne with conductor Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker. This piece by the Russian composer (born in 1931) is an…

Sir Peter Ustinov traces the life and achievements of Felix Mendelssohn. Sketches and drawings by Mendelssohn, extracts from his fascinating correspondence and music performed by the Gewandhausorchester and the Thomaner-Chor are just a few of the…