John Eliot Gardiner goes in search of Bach the man and the musician. The famous portrait of Bach portrays a grumpy 62-year-old man in a wig and formal coat, yet his greatest works were composed 20 years earlier in an almost unrivalled blaze of creativity. We reveal a complex and passionate artist; a warm and convivial family man at the same time a rebellious spirit struggling with the hierarchies of state and church who wrote timeless music that is today known world-wide. Gardiner undertakes a 'Bach Tour' of Germany, and sifts the relatively few clues we have - some newly-found. Most of all, he uses the music to reveal the real Bach.
This documentary portrait, the first television biography of Rattle for 15 years, follows him throug...
Very few people really knew Herbert von Karajan. The conductor gave access to his private life only ...

The young Clara creeps downstairs on Christmas Eve to play with her favourite present – a Nutcracker...

This music-video piece denounces the declining state of classical music by throwing a piano into the...

On Air presents Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird, performed by the world-renowned Royal Philharmonic O...

On Air presents Igor Stravinsky's Petrushka, performed by the world-renowned Royal Philharmonic Orch...

Surely Bach’s French Suites, which he composed during his years at Cöthen (1717–1723), are among the...
The Christmas I Love’ is a very special Christmas gift – a collection of some of the most tender car...

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

There is hardly a better way to approach Ludwig van Beethoven than through his piano concertos. Beet...

The Berliner Philharmoniker’s European Concert, held each year on 1 May, is invariably an internatio...

Emma, a talented conductor and rising star on the Montreal scene, has a complicated relationship wit...

Letters, Riddles and Writs is a one act opera for television by Michael Nyman broadcast in 1991.

In Anton Bruckner’s 7th Symphony, the listener encounters a music characterized by great spaciousnes...

"Probably the best living pianist" headlined the Berliner Morgenpost's review of Grigory Sokolov's s...

The film covers a hundred years in the lives of the Ricordi family, the Milan publishing house of th...

The renowned orchestra presents the world's biggest annual classical open air concert live from thei...

In this short, Johnny Green leads the MGM Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the overture to Ros...

You could be forgiven for mistaking Charlie Siem for James Bond. Whether he's driving an orange Pors...

Live performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's Magnificat, BWV 243 from Herbert von Karajan's New Year'...