George Frideric Handel, travelled much more widely after his birth in Halle in the Southern part of Saxony. As a young firebrand, he went to Italy where he created a sensation before settling in London for the last 40 years of his life. There a series of superb concertos, operas, and oratorios poured out of him: Messiah is simply one of dozens of immortal vocal masterpieces he produced there.

In this final program, we offer listeners a full performance of Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy," performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop, courtesy of Naxos of America. The on-screen ‘Listening Guide’ helps viewers to remain focused in the music and recaps highlights explored in the previous three programs of this series.

The British Library’s vaults hold a staggering record of the UK, and the world’s culture, history and society. The collections range from maps to stamps, scientific discoveries to illuminated Bibles, Anne Boleyn’s handwriting and Oscar Wilde’s tales. Now radical poet Benjamin Zephaniah will delve into this truly unique store house, finding six individual treasures that speak to him. Benjamin is a passionate believer that libraries are the...

Kurt Masur directs the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig in Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor op.64 with soloist Frank-Michael Erben.

From the late 18th century to the early 20th century, Vienna was never without a world famous composer living and working within her friendly confines. It was here that composers from Haydn and Mozart to Beethoven and Brahms wrote the timeless melodies that became the foundation of classical music. In this program, past masters, seven in all, are roused by charismatic young artists who play their music and tell their stories. Vienna’s Golden Age...

The Europa Konzert 2001 took place at the historic St. Irene Church in Istanbul. In this live performance film, Mariss Jansons conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 94.

At the beginning of the 20th century there were two celebrated liberators of music who were the complete opposite of each other: the stylishly nonchalant Igor Stravinsky who revolutionized the musical field from the rhythm-section on the one hand – and on the other the smart and world-weary Arnold Schönberg with his visionary 12-tone-music. What started as a respectful meeting of two composers soon turned into a bitter rivalry that led to a fundamental...

Recorded live at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo in 2002, Claudio Abbado conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 with soloist Gil Shaham.

Claudio Abbado conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in a 2001 performance in Rome.

Claudio Abbado conducts the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in a 2004 performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.