Mozart: Symphonies 40 & 41

A production of Strauss' opera 'Der Rosenkavalier' performed at the Saltzburg Festival in 1984. Includes the Vienna State Opera Choir, the Philharmonic Orchestra with singers Wilma Lipp, Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Agnes Baltsa. Conducted by Herbert Von Karaja

This luminous, visionary opera tells the story of how Mahatma Gandhi developed the philosophy of satyagraha, nonviolent active resistance, as a political revolutionary tool to fight oppression, connecting his lifework to three historical figures who advanced his philosophy: the celebrated Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, the great Indian poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore and the heroic American civil rights leader Martin Luther King. The libretto is comprised of passages from “The Bhagavad-Gita,” India’s greatest philosophical epic, and perfectly complements Glass’ ravishing score, mysteriously transporting the audience with a serene power and an all-encompassing sense of peace.

In the 1960s Karl Böhm (1894–1981) had made his mark as interpreter of Mozart with the the Berlin Philharmonic. Yet his recordings with the Vienna Symphony demonstrate a mutual sympathy and deep love for this timeless music. The musicians are razor-sharp in attack, harmony, and release. Böhm's style is minimalist: a firm downbeat, a ruffled hand here and there, a slight sway, no mugging. Occasionally, when quite excited, he gives a little hop but immediately pulls himself on a tight leash.

Turandot at the Forbidden City is a 1998 live production of Puccini's opera Turandot directed by Zhang Yimou. The opera was performed by Giovanna Casolla, Audrey Stottler, and Sharon Sweet alternating as Princess Turandot; Kristján Jóhannsson, Sergej Larin and Lando Bartolini as Calàf; and Barbara Frittoli, Angela-Maria Blasi and Barbara Hendricks as Liù, with Zubin Mehta conducting the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

Recorded live at the Vienna State Opera, Placido Domingo and Eva Marton star in a sumptuous recording of Ponchielli's famed four-act melodrama, a story of tyranny and intrigue set in semi-historical and ever-romantic Venice. The action is projected by strong characters whose fundamentally sound instincts become distorted by raw passion. The performance draws upon both human and technical resources including a large ballet and varies in mood from the happy carnival to scenes of the darkest gloom and horror.

Requiem in D minor, K 626 by Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Performer: Walter Berry Gundula Janowitz Christa Ludwig Peter Schreier Orchestra/Ensemble: Wienere Symphoniker Orchestra Conductor: Bohm Karl Chor der Wiener Staatsoper Period: Classical Written: 1971 ; UNITEL

Live 1973 concert performances by celebrated Polish-American virtuoso concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra under conductor Bernard Haitink. Filmed in August 1973 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the performances include Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto, in C minor, op. 37; and Brahms's First Piano Concerto, in D minor, op. 15. These are followed by four short pieces for solo piano, by Schubert, Brahms, and Chopin. The 2008 DVD release by Deutsche Grammophon also includes a short documentary, "Rubinstein at 90", an interview with Robert MacNeil, filmed at Rubinstein's home in Paris in 1977.

Arthur Rubinstein performs Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, and Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 with Andre Previn at the London Symphony at Fairfield Hall, Croydon, England.

There are only a couple of DVD recordings of Mozart's Symphony No. 40. Fortunately, this one by Karl Bohm, recorded live in Vienna's Musikvereinssaal, is excellent, as are the other Mozart symphonies on this DVD. Since this disc offers three of the big six last symphonies of Mozart, Nos. 35 (Haffner), 40, and 41 (Jupiter), plus two more, it is an outstanding value. Despite the age of the recordings (1973-74), both the sound and the video are quite good.

Pollini plays flawlessly, with the greatest finesse and sensitivity, very much in tune with each composer's personal style. His performances are exemplary in every respect. The video and audio are quite acceptable, given their 1970s vintage. Böhm and Abbado are at home in this repertoire, and the Wiener Philharmoniker in excellent form, notwithstanding a few strange noises coming from the horns.

Emil Gilels is well known as a Beethoven interpreter. His approach is characterized by a full bodied sound throughout a wide dynamic range, complete virtuosity and a structural sense that gives clarity to both local and global musical events. His tempo choices make sense within a complete movement or entire sonata (he doesn't need to slow down dramatically for the second subject in Op.53's first movement) and he will mostly maintain a tempo with only slight fluctuations.

Live performance of Mozart's immortal Requiem in D minor from the Herkulessaal in Munich, 1984. Soprano Edith Mathis, alto Trudeliese Schmidt, tenor Peter Schreier, and bass Gwynne Howell, with the The Bavarian Radio Symphony and Orchestra, are conducted by Sir Colin Davis.