Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Chapter 1: The Young...

When the urge to compose finally struck again, Rachmaninoff took a little theme by Nicolo Paganini and turned it into a tour de force for the piano and orchestra, called Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. In this final episode of the Great Composers series on Rachmaninoff, we also ...  Show more

After four long years living outside of Russia due to political instability, Rachmaninoff was finally able to bring his family home. He returned with a determination to write a Russian sacred piece that would be a lasting contribution to the orthodox repertoire. The composer ulti ...  Show more

Synopsis It might seem odd that during his long career, Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály wrote only nine works for orchestra. When someone asked him about this, he replied, “I was busy with more important work: I had to educate a public.” Kodály and his countryman Béla Bartók wer ...  Show more

Synopsis On today’s date in 1845, the sleepy little German town of Bonn played host to 5000 visitors. These ranged from curious natives and opportunistic pickpockets to famous composers, performers, and music lovers from many countries, including British monarch Queen Victoria an ...  Show more

With the "Eroica," Ludwig van Beethoven expanded the idea of what a symphony could be. The man who helped inspire the symphony? Napoleon Bonaparte. 

Benjamin Zander's latest recording is of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus on Brattle Media, and it's one in which the conductor has sought to perform the work exactly as he believes the composer original intended. Zander talks to Editor Ma ...