Karajan in Rehearsal

A spectacular concert at the site of Beijing’s Forbidden City. The concert features the renowned Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Long Yu, who perform Orff’s Carmina Burana with Aida Garifullina, Toby Spence and Ludovic Tézier, before being joined by Daniil Trifonov for Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 and Mari Samuelsen for Max Richter’s Violin piece "November". Length 114′ (complete repertoire) / 71′ (Carmina Burana & Jasmine Flower Song) / 43′ (Piano Concert & November)

Guiseppe Verdi’s Requiem is still heard mainly in theatre and concert halls. However, the author himself intended this composition to be performed in church, and on special occasions. Conducted by Teodor Currentzis and performed by soloists and musicAeterna choir and orchestra, Verdi’s famous funeral mass returns from the concert stage to Milan’s Church of San Marco, the same place where it was premiered in 1874. The seven parts of the Requiem become steps on the way to comprehending the sacrament of death, the operatic character of orchestral and vocal writing acquires the strictness of the Catholic tradition, and musical images of rage, despair, and rebellion against the inevitable end are crowned with appeasement.

Conductor: Claudio Abbado. Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. 1.Symphony no 1 in C major, Op. 21 2. Symphony no 2 in D major, Op. 36 3. Symphony no 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 "Eroica" 4. Symphony no 4 in B flat major, Op. 60 5. Symphony no 5 in C minor, Op. 67 6. Symphony no 6 in F major, Op. 68 "Pastoral" 7. Symphony no 7 in A major, Op. 92 8. Symphony no 8 in F major, Op. 93 9. Symphony no 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral"

In the ancient theater of Delphi, against the backdrop of the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, musicAeterna, conducted by Teodor Currentzis, performs Ludwig van Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, in conjunction with a new choreography by Sasha Waltz and her company.

Mozart’s Requiem – his final and unfinished masterpiece – is an extraordinary work. Discover the piece at the Salzburg Festival in the hands of conductor Teodor Currentzis, the ensemble musicAeterna, Anna Prohaska (soprano), Katharina Magiera (contralto), Mauro Peter (tenor), and Tareq Nazmi (bass). Few musical works are as steeped in legend as Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K. 626. Commissioned anonymously by the eccentric count Franz von Walsegg, the funereal oeuvre would become Mozart’s last: when he died on December 5, 1791, only the Requiem aeternam and Kyrie movements were fully composed and orchestrated. Completed by other composers (Mozart’s student Franz Xaver Süssmayer in particular) using Mozart’s sketches and notes, the resulting work weaves the emotions we associate with death into a timeless musical exploration of every human being’s destiny, and constitutes a powerful final testament to its creator’s genius.

Like many of John Adams’ operas, Doctor Atomic is based on recent world historical events—here, the effusive Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb,” anxiously awaits the bomb’s first test in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Adams adapted the work into a symphony, comprising its three main acts. In the second half of the program, Adams conducts his 2015 violin concerto, Scheherazade.2, which restages the tale of the One Thousand and One Nights heroine as a strong woman navigating a patriarchial society, incarnated by the solo violin part. The work was composed specifically for Canadian-American virtuoso Leila Josefowicz and co-commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, who perform it to perfection. The evening then closes out with Tromba Lontana, an orchestral fanfare written to mark the 150th anniversary of Texas’s independence from Mexico in 1836.

Mozart - Berliner Philharmoniker - Radek Baborák - Daniel Barenboim

The evocative music of Claude Debussy has been described as the foundation of modern music. But how did the composer come to develop his unique style? On this video, maestro Francois-Xavier Roth and the London Symphony Orchestra present the UK premiere of a previously lost work by the young Debussy, alongside some of his earliest inspirations. Debussy's newly discovered Premiére Suite gives a rare insight into the mind of a young composer on the cusp of innovation. It's a work filled with Romantic and Eastern influences and glimpses of the unexpected harmonies that came to define Debussy's work. Paired alongside the composer's role models - from Wagner's powerful intertwining motifs, the abundant Spanish influences in Lalo's rarely-heard Cello Concerto performed here by Edgar Moreau, and Massenet's majestic Le Cid - Francois-Xavier Roth gives a fresh perspective on the much-loved composer.

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.

In celebration of its 100th anniversary in 1983, the Metropolitan Opera hosts a four-hour performance uniting some of the world's most spellbinding opera singers and conductors. The event includes a ballet from Samson et Dalila and boasts incredible classical performances from Kathleen Battle, Plácido Domingo, Jose Carerras, Leonard Bernstein, Marilyn Horne, Leona Mitchell, Luciano Pavarotti and many more.

Repertoire Modest Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain; Antonín Dvořák: Song to the Moon from “Rusalka”, Op. 114; Aram Chatschaturjan: Adagio from “Spartacus”; Richard Strauss: Final Scene from “Capriccio”, Op. 85; Richard Wagner: Overture to “Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen”; E. W. Korngold: Mariettas Lied from “Die tote Stadt”; Richard Strauss: Zueignung, Op. 10 No. 1; Sir Edward Elgar: Salut d’amour; Giacomo Puccini: Donde lieta uscì from “La bohème”; Tu che di gel sei cinta from “Turandot”; Ruggero Leoncavallo: Musette svaria sulla bocca viva from “La bohème”; Mimì Pinson, la biondinetta from “La bohème”; Piotr Tchaikovsky: “Romeo and Juliet” (Fantasy Overture)

The Waldbühne in Berlin, one of the most appealing outdoor amphitheatres on the European continent, is the home of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s summer concerts. With audiences of more than 20,000, these are some of the most popular classical music concerts in the world. Riccardo Chailly is famous for having one of the broadest and most eclectic repertoires. Here, under his baton, the orchestra presents perennial favourites by Shostakovich, Rota and Respighi. Live recording from the Waldbühne, Berlin, 23 August 2011, directed by Kasten Henning, produced by Jan Bremme. TV Producer: Dorothea Diekmann, RBB. Repertoire Dmitry Shostakovich: Suite No. 2 for Jazz Orchestra (Suite for Variety Orchestra), Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk Suite – Allegretto; Nino Rota: ‘La Strada’ Ballet Suite; Ottorino Respighi: Fountains of Rome • Pines of Rome • Danza gueresca ‘Belkis’; Paul Lincke: Berliner Luft

Beginning with the First Symphony, Bernstein reveals Mahler's position at the hinge of modernism, while emphasizing his emotional extremism. The uplifting Second "Resurrection" Symphony, with which Bernstein had an especially long and close association, is recorded here in a historic performance from 1973, set in the Romanesque splendor of Ely Cathedral. In the Third, Bernstein encompasses the symphony's spiritual panorama like no other conductor, with the Vienna Philharmonic players alive to every nuance.

In the 1960s Karl Böhm (1894–1981) had made his mark as interpreter of Mozart with the the Berlin Philharmonic. Yet his recordings with the Vienna Symphony demonstrate a mutual sympathy and deep love for this timeless music. The musicians are razor-sharp in attack, harmony, and release. Böhm's style is minimalist: a firm downbeat, a ruffled hand here and there, a slight sway, no mugging. Occasionally, when quite excited, he gives a little hop but immediately pulls himself on a tight leash.

There are only a couple of DVD recordings of Mozart's Symphony No. 40. Fortunately, this one by Karl Bohm, recorded live in Vienna's Musikvereinssaal, is excellent, as are the other Mozart symphonies on this DVD. Since this disc offers three of the big six last symphonies of Mozart, Nos. 35 (Haffner), 40, and 41 (Jupiter), plus two more, it is an outstanding value. Despite the age of the recordings (1973-74), both the sound and the video are quite good.

Daniel Barenboim is an expert in exploiting the impact of cyclical performances of composers works: This time he focuses his sharp intellect on all six of Anton Bruckners mature symphonies. Der Tagesspiegel described Barenboim's performance of the works with the Staatskapelle Berlin on six nearly consecutive evenings in June 2010 as a superhuman accomplishment and went on to praise how: His Bruckner is conceived and performed very theatrically, like an opera without words. Bruckners famous Romantic Symphony No. 4 forms the prelude to a spectacular DVD series from Accentus Music and Unitel Classica, exploring Bruckners symphonic cosmos.

Between 1981 and 1984 Leonard Bernstein recorded nearly all of Brahmss orchestral works with the Wiener Philharmoniker to honor the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth in 1983. For the concertos, Bernstein enlisted the services of some of the finest Brahms interpreters of the time: the violoninst Gidon Kremer, the cellist Mischa Maisky and the pianist Krystian Zimerman. Leonard Bernstein, Krystian Zimerman, and the Wiener Philharmoniker, it's very hard to get a better group of musicians for these masterpieces. Mr. Zimerman and Mr. Wolfgang Herzer's piano cello duets in the third movement of Brahms' second is simply tearful.

With nearly 450 years of tradition, the Staatskapelle Berlin is one of the oldest orchestras in the world. Daniel Barenboim has served as its music director since 1992, and in 2000 the orchestra appointed him Chief Conductor for Life. Having already performed important cycles such as Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann together, Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle turned their focus toward Anton Bruckner's last six Symphonies, performed in the Philharmonie Berlin in the course of only one week in June 2010. This music is more serious and more significant than one had thought, the Berliner Zeitung summarized in its review of Daniel Barenboims celebrated Bruckner cycle with the Staatskapelle Berlin. Bruckners unfinished Symphony No. 9 brought to an end, in a poignant manner, the work of one of the greatest symphonic composers of the Classic-Romantic era.

This is one of the most important recordings of the 20th century, both for its content (considered by many the greatest cello music of all time) and for the intense devotion, careful preparation, and towering technical skill that went into the project. It was a brilliant idea to make a video as well as an audio recording. Cellists will welcome the chance to study Rostropovich's bowing and fingering techniques, close up and at leisure. And music-lovers will welcome the visuals of the recording location, a French church whose architecture, statues, and flickering candles complement the music.

Live 1973 concert performances by celebrated Polish-American virtuoso concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra under conductor Bernard Haitink. Filmed in August 1973 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the performances include Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto, in C minor, op. 37; and Brahms's First Piano Concerto, in D minor, op. 15. These are followed by four short pieces for solo piano, by Schubert, Brahms, and Chopin. The 2008 DVD release by Deutsche Grammophon also includes a short documentary, "Rubinstein at 90", an interview with Robert MacNeil, filmed at Rubinstein's home in Paris in 1977.