The Piano Guys: Live at Red Rocks (2015)

The Beat That My Heart Skipped

A ruthless real estate agent discovers a passion for piano and auditions with help from a young virtuoso, but the pressures of his corrupt career threaten to derail his musical aspirations.

The ROH Live: La forza del destino

Verdi's sweepingly ambitious opera on war, religion, love and fate is given a cinematic staging by Christof Loy. The Marquis of Calatrava forbids his daughter Leonora to marry the South American nobleman Don Alvaro. The lovers attempt to elope, but the Marquis catches them. In the ensuing altercation, Alvaro accidentally kills the Marquis, who curses his daughter as he dies. Leonora and Alvaro become separated during their escape. Leonora's brother Don Carlo di Vargas decides to find them and avenge his father.

House of Ricordi

The film covers a hundred years in the lives of the Ricordi family, the Milan publishing house of the title, and the various composers and other historic personalities, whose careers intersected with the growth of the Ricordi house. It beautifully draws the parallel between the great music of the composers, the historic and social upheavals of their times, as well as the "smaller stories" of the successive generations of Ricordi.

Four Minutes

Jenny is young. Her life is over. She killed someone. And she would do it again. When an 80-year-old piano teacher discovers the girl’s secret, her brutality and her dreams, she decides to transform her pupil into the musical wunderkind she once was.

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.

Not Mozart: Letters, Riddles and Writs

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

Winterreise

Plot unavailable

Louis van Beethoven

1779. Eight-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven, called "Louis", is already known as a musical prodigy. He learns to go his own way - much to the dismay of the people around him. Some years later, he meets Mozart during times of political upheaval. The unconventional genius and French Revolution are sparking a fire in Louis' heart; he doesn't want to serve a master - only the arts. Facing times of family tragedies and unrequited love, he almost gives up. However, Louis makes it to Vienna to study under Haydn in 1792, and the rest is history. Who was this man, whose music has since touched countless hearts and minds? At the end of his life, the master is isolated by loss of loved ones and hearing. Surely though, he was way ahead of his times.

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 Resurrection

In 2005, the Staatsoper Berlin and its orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin under musical director Daniel Barenboim, celebrated a series of events to celebrate the 80th birthday of French conductor and composer Pierre Boulez. Artistically associated for decades with Barenboim and Berlin, Pierre Boulez is one of today's most distinguished composers and conductors. As part of the celebration, Boulez conducted a performance of Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony at the Berlin Philharmonie. With his uncompromising approach to the score, Pierre Boulez's Mahler readings have long fascinated critics and audiences alike. Boulez eschews the romanticized readings common in performance tradition and, instead, reveals the real joy and terror in Mahler's large-scale symphonies.

Mahler: Symphony No. 2, Resurrection (Gustavo Dudamel)

Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana, one of the world’s most beautiful concert halls, hosted Gustavo Dudamel and the Münchner Philharmoniker with an unforgettable performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “The Resurrection”. The composer emphasizes life and death in all its terrible and stunning splendour in this overwhelming opus: “There is nothing except the complete substance of my whole life”, he remarked on his all-embracing oeuvre. Gustavo Dudamel, who said it was “a privilege to conduct this work in this unique venue”, and his ensemble were celebrated with more than ten minutes of applause.

The Unanswered Question I : Musical Phonology

This series comprised six lectures on music, which cumulatively took the title of a work by Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question. Bernstein drew analogies to other disciplines, such as poetry, aesthetics, and especially linguistics, hoping to make these lectures accessible to an audience with limited or no musical experience, while maintaining an intelligent level of discourse: Phonology is the linguistic study of sounds, or phonemes. Bernstein's application of this term to music results in what he calls "musical phonology".

Allegro non troppo

The film is a parody of Disney's Fantasia, though possibly more of a challenge to Fantasia than parody status would imply. In the context of this film, "Allegro non Troppo" means Not So Fast!, an interjection meaning "slow down" or "think before you act" and refers to the film's pessimistic view of Western progress (as opposed to the optimism of Disney's original).

Aida - Arena di Verona

The grand scale and magnificent acoustics of the Roman arena in Verona are ideally suited to the pageantry of Verdi's Egyptian opera, presented here in a staging that is true to the original 1913 production, framed by obelisks and sphinxes and filled with chorus and dancers. Chinese soprano Hui He has won international acclaim for her portrayal of the eponymous slave girl whose forbidden love for the war hero Radamés (Marco Berti, the experienced Verdi tenor) brings death to them both.

Deception

After marrying her long lost love, a pianist finds the relationship threatened by a wealthy composer who is besotted with her.

Years of Pilgrimage: The Wandering Soul of Franz Liszt / Fashionable Empire

YEARS OF PILGRIMAGE: Franz Liszt was a virtuoso pianist that took early nineteenth-century Europe by storm. He conquered the Parisian salons with passionate performances marked by excellent technique and handsome features that became the downfall of many women. But what was he truly after? The musical narrates the story of Liszt's early years, and his pilgrimage across Europe in an attempt to find a place where his soul could belong, focusing on the romance with the Countess Marie d'Agoult, and his greatest friend and rival, Chopin. FASHIONABLE EMPIRE: A revue that transforms the stage into the "Empire" where the pioneering fashionistas of our time gather. The stylish array of scenes will enchant the audience, at times with the cool atmosphere, and at times with the hot beats. While focusing on the sophisticated and metropolitan appeal of top star Yuzuka Rei this revue also shows off the unique, scintillating members of Flower Troupe through many groovy scenes.

John Williams in Tokyo

30 years after his last visit to Japan, John Williams has returned for a special concert – making his debut with the world-famous Saito Kinen Orchestra in renditions of his beloved film scores and reuniting with his longtime friend, world-renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa (1935-2024). Captured live on record at Suntory Hall last year, John Williams In Tokyo is now being be released by Deutsche Grammophon and follows his acclaimed concert albums, The Berlin Concert and John Williams in Vienna, which topped charts around the globe.

Beethoven - Symphony No. 7

Recording of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan playing Beethoven's 7th Symphony.

La Fille Mal Gardée (The Royal Ballet)

Frederick Ashton's La Fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter) is one of the choreographer's most joyous and colourful creations. Inspired by his love for the Suffolk countryside, the ballet is set on a farm and tells a story of love between Lise, the daughter of Widow Simone, and Colas, a young farmer. It contains some of Ashton's most stunning choreography, most strikingly in the series of energetic pas de deux that express the youthful passion of the young lovers, performed here by Natalia Osipova and Steven McRae. The ballet is laced with exuberant good humour, and elements of national folk dance, from dancing chickens and a maypole dance to a Lancashire clog dance for Widow Simone, performed by Philip Mosley.

Beethoven: Symphony 9 by Riccardo Muti

Experience what Zell Music Director Riccardo Muti calls “the work of a divine architect” in this special encore presentation of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Recorded live September 18, 2014, at Orchestra Hall during one of the opening programs of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s 2014/15 season, this performance features Muti leading the Orchestra and Chorus and distinguished soloists in one of history’s most powerful and inspiring artistic works. A masterpiece whose staggering influence can be seen across classical music, it concludes with the famous Ode to Joy, which calls for understanding, peace and universal goodwill. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is grateful to an anonymous donor for generously underwriting the recording of this concert in 2014.

Summer Night Concert: 2014 - Vienna Philharmonic

The renowned orchestra presents the world's biggest annual classical open air concert live from their hometown Vienna, Austria on Thursday, May 29th, 2014. The Summer Night Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic is an annual open-air event that takes place in the magical setting of the Schönbrunn Palace Park in Vienna with the palace as a magnificent backdrop. Everyone is invited to come to this unique occasion with free admission. Each year up to 100,000 people can take up the invitation, or enjoy on radio and TV in over 60 countries.

The Unanswered Question V : The Twentieth Century Crisis

This series comprised six lectures on music, which cumulatively took the title of a work by Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question. Bernstein drew analogies to other disciplines, such as poetry, aesthetics, and especially linguistics, hoping to make these lectures accessible to an audience with limited or no musical experience, while maintaining an intelligent level of discourse: Lecture 5 picks up at the early twentieth century with an oncoming crisis in Western Music. As these lectures have traced the gradual increase and oversaturation of ambiguity, Bernstein now designates a point in history that took ambiguity too far.

The Unanswered Question VI : The Poetry of Earth

This series comprised six lectures on music, which cumulatively took the title of a work by Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question. Bernstein drew analogies to other disciplines, such as poetry, aesthetics, and especially linguistics, hoping to make these lectures accessible to an audience with limited or no musical experience, while maintaining an intelligent level of discourse: This lecture takes its name from a line in John Keats' poem, "On the Grasshopper and Cricket". Bernstein does not discuss Keats' poem directly in this chapter, but he provides his own definition of the poetry of earth, which is tonality. Tonality is the poetry of earth because of the phonological universals discussed in lecture 1. This lecture discusses predominantly Stravinsky, whom Bernstein considers the poet of earth.

Divertimento

Zahia Ziouani, 17, dreams of becoming a conductor, while her twin sister Fettouma hopes to be a professional cellist. They want to make classical music accessible to everyone and create their own orchestra.

Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty

Known for his mournful "Adagio for Strings," Samuel Barber was never quite fashionable. This acclaimed film is a probing exploration of his music and melancholia. Performance, oral history, musicology, and biography combine to explore the life and music of one of America’s greatest composers. Features Thomas Hampson, Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop and many more of the world's leading experts on Barber's music, with tributes from composers Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and William Schuman. The film was broadcast on PBS, and screened at nine film festivals internationally, with three best-of awards. It was named a Recording of the Year 2017 by MusicWeb International.