Brahms: Complete Symphonies

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” – Lucerne Festival(de)

“It would be hard to find anything greater, more significant or more moving anywhere in musical life today: total harmony of mind and heart, poetry and outcry, fear and consolation, knowing and feeling,” declared the Berne paper ‘Der Bund’ after this stunning performance of Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony in August 2003 by the newly founded Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Claudio Abbado had formed this ensemble from famous instrumentalists, celebrated chamber-musicians and experienced soloists from the world’s best orchestras, and the event was sold out months in advance. The ‘Neue Zürcher Zeitung’ reported: “Once again the applause at the end was unequalled; the immense final chord … broke a tension that had lasted over 90 minutes without relaxing for a moment.”

André Rieu - 70 Years Young(nl)

70 Years Young is André Rieu’s ultimate concert featuring musical highlights chosen by the maestro himself from his illustrious career so far. This unique commemorative celebration will take you on an unbelievable journey around the world to André Rieu’s most amazing concert locations, including Schönbrunn Vienna, Radio City Music Hall New York and the Coronation Concert in Amsterdam.

Great Russian Composers(en)

These biographical drama documentaries explore the lives and careers of Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov and Chaliapin.

Four Minutes(de)

Jenny is young. Her life is over. She killed someone. And she would do it again. When an 80-year-old piano teacher discovers the girl’s secret, her brutality and her dreams, she decides to transform her pupil into the musical wunderkind she once was.

André Rieu - Magic Of the Violin(nl)

André Rieu - Magic of The Violin

Summer Night Concert: 2014 - Vienna Philharmonic(en)

The renowned orchestra presents the world's biggest annual classical open air concert live from their hometown Vienna, Austria on Thursday, May 29th, 2014. The Summer Night Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic is an annual open-air event that takes place in the magical setting of the Schönbrunn Palace Park in Vienna with the palace as a magnificent backdrop. Everyone is invited to come to this unique occasion with free admission. Each year up to 100,000 people can take up the invitation, or enjoy on radio and TV in over 60 countries.

DORA - Escape into Music(de)

The pianist Kyra Steckeweh and the filmmaker Tim van Beveren search for traces where Countess Dora Pejačević (1885-1923) lived and worked. Their documentary is a journey through time to a half brilliant, half broken Europe.

Aida - Arena di Verona(it)

The grand scale and magnificent acoustics of the Roman arena in Verona are ideally suited to the pageantry of Verdi's Egyptian opera, presented here in a staging that is true to the original 1913 production, framed by obelisks and sphinxes and filled with chorus and dancers. Chinese soprano Hui He has won international acclaim for her portrayal of the eponymous slave girl whose forbidden love for the war hero Radamés (Marco Berti, the experienced Verdi tenor) brings death to them both.

House of Ricordi(it)

The film covers a hundred years in the lives of the Ricordi family, the Milan publishing house of the title, and the various composers and other historic personalities, whose careers intersected with the growth of the Ricordi house. It beautifully draws the parallel between the great music of the composers, the historic and social upheavals of their times, as well as the "smaller stories" of the successive generations of Ricordi.

Ghosts and Whispers(en)

An unbroken sequence of fragments, last thoughts, elegies and absences by Schubert, Mozart, Wagner, Janáček, Stravinsky, Jacquet de la Guerre and Schumann, inter-leaved with movements from John Woolrich's Pianobooks. The programme is performed alongside images from the Quay Brothers.

Bernstein Brahms Symphonies(en)

Here is the most convincing presentation of Brahms' symphonies that I personally have ever experienced. There is no explaining a gift like Leonard Bernstein, a true legend and one of the truly great ones of the 20th century (and a great Brahms conductor!). I have followed his career and recordings both at the NY Philharmonic and at Vienna (other places too). His brilliance and incandescence are revelatory in these Brahms performances. His view of a thorough-going romantic Brahms expressing his passionate control of an inner rage in classical form is convincing. He and this great Vienna orchestra give a consistent statement of it. And, of course, Bernstein's introductory comments are without peer.

Allegro non troppo(it)

The film is a parody of Disney's Fantasia, though possibly more of a challenge to Fantasia than parody status would imply. In the context of this film, "Allegro non Troppo" means Not So Fast!, an interjection meaning "slow down" or "think before you act" and refers to the film's pessimistic view of Western progress (as opposed to the optimism of Disney's original).

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 'Symphony No. 41 in C Major'(en)

Packed with intricate melodies, harmonies, and instrumentation, Johannes Vogel conducts the Synchron Stage Orchestra to perform Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 in C Major K. 551 in this elegant live concert stream. Captured in Vienna’s state-of-the-art Synchron Stage recording facility, experience the thrills and swells of a 40-piece ensemble - 30 string, 5 woodwind, 4 brass, and 1 percussion - comprised of talented musicians from renowned Viennese orchestras. Mozart completed Symphony No. 41 in C Major on 10 August 1788 – the final of three masterpieces he wrote that summer. Labelled ‘Jupiter Symphony’ by music critics, Symphony No. 41 is an example of divine perfection, brimming with the beautiful complexity, emotion, and excitement that represents the possibilities of humankind.

Antonin Dvořák's 'Symphony No. 9 in E Minor'(en)

Packed with intricate melodies, harmonies, and instrumentation, Johannes Vogel conducts the Synchron Stage Orchestra to perform Antonin Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E Minor Op.95 (also known as ‘New World Symphony’) in this joyful live concert stream. Captured in Vienna’s state-of-the-art Synchron Stage recording facility, experience the thrills and swells of a 60-piece ensemble – 40 string, 9 woodwind, 9 brass, and 2 percussion – comprised of talented musicians from renowned Viennese orchestras. While serving as the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America, Antonín Dvořák composed New World Symphony (a title inspired by his travels in the United States) and debuted the masterpiece in New York City on 16 December 1893. The symphony has since become one of the most famous works in classical music, filled with hope and happiness as well as uplifting instrumentals that makes it a pleasure to listen to come rain or shine.

Johannes Brahms' 'Symphony No. 4 in E Minor'(en)

Packed with intricate melodies, harmonies, and instrumentation, Johannes Vogel conducts the Synchron Stage Orchestra to perform Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E Minor Op.98 in this enthralling live concert stream. Captured in Vienna’s state-of-the-art Synchron Stage recording facility, experience the thrills and swells of a 60-piece ensemble – 40 string, 9 woodwind, 9 brass, and 2 percussion – comprised of talented musicians from renowned Viennese orchestras. With origins that date back to 1884 in Mürzzuschlag and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Symphony No. 4 was introduced to the public on 25 October 1885 in Meiningen, Germany. In this modern-day performance, Brahms' fourth and final symphony continues to pulse with positive energy and swirls with trance-like melodies that’ll please classical fans far and wide.

Janine Jansen spielt Tschaikowskys Violinkonzert(de)

Deception(en)

After marrying her long lost love, a pianist finds the relationship threatened by a wealthy composer who is besotted with her.

The Nutcracker(en)

The young Clara creeps downstairs on Christmas Eve to play with her favourite present – a Nutcracker. But the mysterious magician Drosselmeyer is waiting to sweep her off on a magical adventure. After defeating the Mouse King, the Nutcracker and Clara travel through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets, where the Sugar Plum Fairy treats them to a wonderful display of dances. Back home, Clara thinks she must have been dreaming – but doesn’t she recognize Drosselmeyer’s nephew?

André Rieu - Maastricht 2014 (10th Anniversary Concert)(nl)

The King of the Waltz stages a spectacular anniversary concert in the Netherlands' most romantic city square. Hugely popular Dutch violinist and composer Andre Rieu regularly features alongside top rock and pop bands

Leonard Bernstein: The Gift of Music(en)

Leonard Bernstein narrated by legendary screen star Lauren Bacall. The movie also relies extensively on Bernstein's own words to provide the counterpoint to the abundant visual material. Highlights include excerpts of Bernstein conducting masterworks by Beethoven and Mahler, as well as of the maestro with the New York Philharmonic in Moscow in 1959 before an audience which included composer Dmitri Shostakovich and the dissident poet Boris Pasternak. It also contains never-before-seen footage, such as outtakes from televised concerts and interviews. Among these special treats: the dashing 28-year-old maestro representing the U.S. at the 1947 Prague Spring Festival – possibly the earliest extant film of Leonard Bernstein.