John Eliot Gardiner

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is one of the world’s most highly-regarded conductors of operatic and orchestral music. He first made his name in the field of Early Music, then, in 1990, he founded the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, a period instrument orchestra dedicated to playing classical and Romantic music. This programme focuses on Gardiner’s work with this orchestra, which brings a new and exciting perspective to some of the best-loved symphonic music.

Jordi Savall

Jordi Savall, the internationally-acclaimed Catalan musician, is a pre-eminent exponent of medieval, Renaissance and baroque music interpretation, and is widely credited with the rebirth of the viola da gamba. His schedule of performances is intense, but he still finds time to teach and to continue his musical research. All these aspects of his work are illuminated in this documentary, which includes a rich variety of performance and rehearsal extracts, exemplifying the musical eclecticism of this exceptional practitioner.

Country Music

This colourful, upbeat documentary travels to Nashville to look at the huge impact women singers have recently made on the country music scene. It is jam-packed with music, from wonderful catchy songs to hauntingly emotive ballads and features artists including Kathy Mattea, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Pam Tillis, as well as long-time stars Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette.

Christian Lindberg: A Trombone Odyssey

Swedish trombonist Christian Lindberg has won new recognition for the trombone as a solo instrument and now commands an international following. His passion for his instrument and his natural exuberance radiate from his playing. At the centre of this lively documentary is a record of the genesis of Anders Hillborg’s composition Strange Dances and Singing Water, a trombone concerto written specially for Lindberg.

Classic Widows

Classic Widows features four extraordinary women who are championing the music of their late composer-husbands: Susana Walton, globetrotting widow of William Walton; Bertha Stevens, whose husband, a contemporary of Walton’s, died in relative obscurity; Xenia Frankel, who was left £50,000 in debt on the death of her husband Benjamin; and Humphrey Searle’s widow. The programme features specially chosen selections from all the composers’ works, performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Hickox.

Lionel Bart

Composer and lyricist Lionel Bart, who died in 1999, had a remarkable, if chequered, career. He first found success writing hit records in the 1950s and went on to pen a string of musicals – including the ever-popular Oliver! – which brought him enormous fame and riches. A big spender whose generosity was exploited by others, he became addicted to drugs and alcohol. Failure, bankruptcy and obscurity followed. In the 1990s, the inimitable Bart bounced back. Seen working on a revival of Oliver! in London’s West End, he tells his story in a lively documentary filled with his music.

O Fortuna

No other piece of twentieth-century music has enjoyed such popular acclaim as Orff’s Carmina Burana. But, apart from this composition, his work – operas, ballets, cantatas – is largely ignored. Why? Tony Palmer’s search for the real Carl Orff (1895-1982) looks at the whole range of his music, his educational work and his difficult relationship with the Nazi Party. Interviews with the three wives who survived him and his only child are included. An extraordinary, dark story emerges – of betrayal, disappointment, lies and personal tragedy.