Elektra

Understanding how the musical world was impacted by the World War I.

Massenet's opera centres on its charming but contrary heroine, the vivacious young Manon who longs for luxury and excitement. We first encounter her en route to a convent, where her family are sending her to be educated. Along the way, she falls in love with the young student Des Grieux, and, impetuously, runs off with him. She soon leaves him, however, to become the mistress of a rich nobleman. Thus begins her descent into criminality and depravity, all too soon dragging the besotted Des Grieux with her, until she is imprisoned. Despite its tragic story, the opera is full of French charm and vitality – typified by the ambiguous Manon herself. Her plight is touching because of the subtle play of innocence and calculation in her character. The score contains many sparkling arias and ensembles, moving rapidly from moods of exuberance to tenderness, with perfect dramatic timing. Recorded live at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, April/May 2007.

"It must schwing!" was the motto of Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, two German Jewish immigrants who in 1939 set up Blue Note Records, the jazz label that was home to such greats as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins. Blue Note, the most successful movie ever made about jazz, is a testimony to the passion and vision of these two men and certainly swings like the propulsive sounds that made their label so famous.

A bunch of terrorists take over a school to get to an instructor who has access to an advanced scientific device. A core group of youngsters fight back to try and stop the bad guys.

SOKO Leipzig is a German police procedural television programme, a spin-off of the earlier German police programme SOKO 5113. It was first broadcast on 31 January 2001, on German television channel ZDF. On 12 November 2008, the first part of a two-part crossover between SOKO Leipzig and British police procedural The Bill was aired, with the same version being shown on both ZDF and British television channel ITV1.

During a Christmas Eve party and a young girl, Clara, being given a nutcracker doll by her godfather, Drosselmeyer. Later in the evening when Clara sleeps, she finds herself in the midst of the Nutcracker’s battle against the Mouse King and his army of mice. Coming to Clara’s aid, the Nutcracker is transformed into a Prince and journeys with her to an enchanted island where spectacular celebrations are held in their honor. Pre-recorded at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in December 2011, Wassili Vainonen’s version of the beloved holiday ballet is for the first time in 3-D in select theaters.

At the Rheingau Festival, violinist Renaud Capuçon, cellist Julia Hagen and the Bamberg Symphony conducted by Jakub Hrusa perform Brahms's 'Double Concerto for Violin and Cello'.

In Stuttgart, the Gauthier Dance company explores the seven deadly sins in a performance structured like an ‘exquisite corpse’, created by seven different choreographers.

At Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, Croatian cellist Stjepan Hauser blends genres alongside the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by maestro Ulf Schirmer. The soloist performs Bach's famous Air on the G String, the theme from The Godfather by Ennio Morricone, and music from the series Game of Thrones, composed by Ramin Djawadi.

Warm vibrato, traditional throat singing, body percussion, a thirst for experimentation: Abel Selaocoe is breathing new life into the world of classical music. The cellist is performing this summer at the Rheingau Music Festival in a program entitled “African Roots,” featuring his own compositions and a score by Giovanni Sollima.

Accompanied by the chamber music ensemble CHAARTS, the soprano and tenor perform arias and duets from works by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Gounod, and Bizet. All in the open air, in the courtyard of Neuschwanstein Castle.

To mark Music Day, ten European orchestras will perform some of the finest piano concertos alongside prestigious soloists and under the baton of renowned conductors from various cities across the continent. The programme for this exceptional concert features works by Brahms, Grieg, Chopin, Beethoven, Ravel and Mozart.