In this live recording from the magnificent baroque library of the monastery at Polling, near Munich, the highly-acclaimed American LaSalle Quartet plays Berg’s String Quartet Op. 3, and a rondo and Six Bagatelles Op. 9 by Webern. An illuminating commentary by violinist Walter Levin on the Bagatelles is included in the programme.
Dvorák: The Wood Dove / Janácek: Taras Bulba
This concert, recorded live from the Smetana Hall in Prague features The Wood Dove Op. 110 by Antonín Dvorák and Taras Bulba by Leoš Janácek. Neumann conducts the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mass No. 1 (Missa Sancta)
This performance of Weber’s Missa Sancta No. 1 in E flat was recorded live from the baroque monastery at Waldsassen in Bavaria.
Julian Bream Plays Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez
This live recording, from St. John’s Smith Square in London, features the celebrated classical guitarist Julian Bream playing Rodrigo’s haunting Concierto de Aranjuez, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, conducted by Charles Groves. This piece is a lasting tribute to Spain and to the instrument that has personified and illuminated so beautifully her musical culture.
Kreutzer Sonata – String Quartet No. 1
In the last ten years of his life, Leoš Janácek enjoyed a glorious burst of creativity. His inspiration was partly derived from his unconsummated love for a young married woman – Kamill Stoesslova – whom he met in 1917 and to whom he wrote over six hundred letters. The title of Intimate Pages that was given to String Quartet No. 2 refers to these love letters. This recording, featuring the international-acclaimed Czech Panocha Quartet, was made at the University in Prague.
String Quartet in F major
This live recording of the celebrated American string quartet comes from the library of the monastery at Polling, near Munich, which boasts an exquisite baroque interior. They play Ravel’s String Quartet in F.
Romeo and Juliet Suite
Sir Georg Solti conducts the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra in a performance of extracts from Prokofiev’s music for the ballet Romeo and Juliet, recorded live from the Herkulessaal, Munich.
Requiem
Mozart’s last work, the Requiem Mass in D minor K626, receives a strong performance from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under Mozart specialist Sir Colin Davis in a classic recording made in 1984.
This live recording from the Herkulessaal in Munich featthe Maestro conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Chorus and Orchestra with the outstanding Peter Schreier, Edith Mathis and Trudeliese Schmidt as well as ever-popular Welsh bass Gwynne Howell.
Symphony No. 5
A rare opportunity to see the work of the great conductor Sergiu Celibidache (1912-96). He agreed to set aside his long-held antipathy to recordings of his work to enable the cameras to capture this concert from the Philharmonie in Munich, in which he conducts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.
Violin Concerto
Recorded live from the Herkulessaal Munich, Sir Colin Davis conducts the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, with soloist Gidon Kremer, in a performance of Alban Berg‘s elegiac Violin Concerto. Alban Berg completed this concerto for violin and orchestra in 1935, impelled by the news of the death of Manon Gropius, the beautiful eighteen-yearold daughter of Mahler‘s widow by her second marriage, to the architect Walter Gropius. He dedicated it “to the memory of an angel”.
The secret life of Alban Berg
Alban Berg (1885-1935) lived in the mainstream of well-to-do Austrian society. His marriage to the beautiful Hélène was thought to be made in heaven. But how can this doyen of Viennese respectability be reconciled with the composer who wrote the dark operas Wozzeck and Lulu? In this multi-layered film, director Krišs Rusmanis explores the private world behind the composer’s public image and reveals the double life Berg led, despite his moving protestationsof fidelity and devotion to his wife.