Karajan conducts these symphonies with eyes closed, often intently enraptured by the music, smiling occasionally when a passage or solo sounds just right to his ear. He conducts Brahms with a greater sense of urgency than does Bernstein: the First symphony is 11 minutes shorter as conducted by Karajan! Nothing is rushed but there is what can only be described as emotional compression, an intensity of expression that sounds quicker than Bernstein's performances.

Released as a memorial for the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who passed away on 27 Ap...

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

"Four Ways to Say Farewell" is a personal introduction to Mahler and his Ninth Symphony, during whic...

In April 1981 violinist Gidon Kremer performed Vivaldi's Four Seasons leading the English Chamber Or...

Karajan conducts rehearsal and performance of Schubert's Symphony No. 4 with the Vienna Symphony in ...

From the very first bars of the Coriolan Overture, it is apparent that this is Beethoven at his very...

For Mahlerites, his symphonies are much more than musical performances--they can be an emotional or ...

Surely Bach’s French Suites, which he composed during his years at Cöthen (1717–1723), are among the...

Daniel Barenboim is an expert in exploiting the impact of cyclical performances of composers works: ...

Between 1981 and 1984 Leonard Bernstein recorded nearly all of Brahmss orchestral works with the Wie...

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...

In celebration of its 100th anniversary in 1983, the Metropolitan Opera hosts a four-hour performanc...

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

This large-scale live recording (Gardiner's second) was made in Venice's St Mark's Basilica. It capt...

Leonard Bernstein made these recordings during his wonderfully productive collaboration with the Wie...

Beginning with the First Symphony, Bernstein reveals Mahler's position at the hinge of modernism, wh...