Magic Moments of Music – Horowitz in Moscow

After more than 60 years, the uncrowned king of 20th century pianists returned to his freedom-torn homeland to perform his swan song in a piano recital. In the mid-1980s, a breathtaking concert took place in Moscow that many still recall with emotion. The great Ukrainian-American pianist Vladimir Horowitz performed there for the first time in more than half a century. At that time, the border between East and West was impassable. The Cold War was in full swing. The two superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union, considered each other enemies. The race to produce atomic weapons threatened everyone's lives. The legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz, then eighty-two years old, began one evening discussing with his concert agent Peter Gelb what he dreamed and wished for. One of the things was to look back to Russia.

Johannes Brahms - Die Pranke des Löwen

Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand

Michel Legrand, jazz musician and composer extraordinaire, has left his mark on the history of cinema, including the films of Jacques Demy, especially The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, the 60th anniversary of which is being celebrated in Cannes. Using never-before-seen archives and personal accounts, the film looks back on a lifetime dedicated to music, and the career of a man who served it masterfully to the very end.

Ukraine's Musical Freedom Fighters with Clive Myrie

Clive Myrie travels across Ukraine to meet musicians who are preparing to leave their families in their war-torn country in order to create an orchestra and perform at the Royal Albert Hall. With only ten days to rehearse, can they succeed in their ambition to fight the war with their music, instead of with guns? And will the concerts touch the world in the way that they hope?

The Art of Singing: Golden Voices of the Century

Imagine a window into the past. Imagine finally connecting singers' bodies to the voices you have always treasured on record, watching footage of performances from another era. All of singers featured here have something in common (with one exception, Sutherland): they sang and performed on stage before the advent of filmed opera. . And it shows, for the first time, a few tantalizing minutes of recently recovered footage from Callas' legendary Lisbon Traviata, featuring Addio dal Passato and Parigi oh cara with Alfredo Kraus. This DVD will leave you asking for more.

Peter Dvorský

John Cage: I Have Nothing to Say and I Am Saying It

This 56-minute documentary on America's most controversial and unique composer manages to cover a great many aspects of Cage's work and thought. His love for mushrooms, his Zen beliefs and use of the I Ching, and basic bio details are all explained intelligently and dynamically. Black Mountain, Buckminster Fuller, Rauschenberg, Duchamp are mentioned. Yoko Ono, John Rockwell, Laurie Anderson, Richard Kostelanetz make appearances. Fascinating performance sequences include Margaret Leng-Tan performing on prepared piano, Merce Cunningham and company, and performances of Credo In Us, Water Music, and Third Construction. Demystifies the man who made music from silence, from all sounds, from life.

The Fire and the Rose

A documentary on the life and work of the composer Sofia Gubaidulina.

Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy

Yo-Yo Ma narrates a documentary about the remarkable cellist Jacqueline du Pré, whose life and career were cut short by multiple sclerosis.

High Fidelity: The Adventures of the Guarneri String Quartet

Relationships, rehearsals, performances, hobbies, and family life of the members of the Guarneri String Quartet.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: The First 50 Years

Go behind the scenes with one of London's most important musical institutions.

Inside Karajan

Very few people really knew Herbert von Karajan. The conductor gave access to his private life only a little circle of strictly loyal people who kept their secrets even long after the maestro’s death. This documentary for the first time shows in the whole dimension the real man Karajan: not only the image of a dandy that he himself had shown to the public, but the unfiltered image of his personality. Newly discovered original film footage from the inner circle shows Karajan’s private life like it really was.

Leonard Bernstein: A Genius Divided

One of the first US born conductors to receive worldwide fame, Leonard Bernstein is an exceptional composer and certainly not only due to The West Side Story. Instead of concentrating exclusively on his most famous work, Thomas von Steinaecker sets out to paint a complete picture of Bernstein. Thus, the documentary focusses on the American’s less known later works and on three compositions in particular: his Mass, the musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the great final opera A Quiet Place. The film paints a vivid picture of the multitalented Bernstein, struggling with his role as composer and conductor, tackling the tension between successes and flops, between the politics of his time and his own liberal humanitarian claim. It looks back on Bernstein’s major achievements, such as his acclaimed conducting of Mahler and his involvement in the Young People’s Concerts, and it shows Bernstein’s work with young aspiring musicians as well as his political commitment.

Beethoven's Nine: Ode to Humanity

Can a work of art remain relevant 200 years after its creation? Ludwig van Beethoven’s last completed symphony proves it’s possible.

Cutting Grass

Moritats are old folk songs about crimes and are typical of Central Europe. Zela Trovke is a moritat from Slovakia which the Holland Baroque Society has recovered to include in its Barbaric Beauty programme. Maite Larburu, the orchestra’s violinist, unveils the song's hidden secrets.

Chopin: The Women Behind the Music

Documentary about the life of the great pianist and composer Chopin and the story of the women whose voices inspired his music. It is undeniable that Chopin revolutionised the nature of music composed for the piano both technically and emotionally. What is less well known is that the actual musical instrument that provided his greatest source of inspiration was the female voice.

Bennewitzovo kvarteto

Bach & Friends

A two hour documentary on Johann Sebastian Bach. World-class musicians share their innermost thoughts and personal reflections on the power and genius of the most influential composer in history.

Amin

AMIN portrays Qashqai musician Amin Aghaie, a young modern nomad and his family who despite facing steep financial, cultural and political obstacles are dedicated to their art and culture. Amin travels to remote towns and villages to record the music of the surviving masters whose numbers decline each year. His nomadic family are selling their meager belongings to help support their son's education in performance and ethnomusicology at Tchaikovsky's Conservatory in Kyiv, Ukraine, but it is not enough. Amin, desperate to finish his academic education, sells his violins one at a time just to pay for his tuition.

The Art of Conducting: Great Conductors of the Past

Documentary about sixteen great conductors of the 20th century.