Humphrey Burton

Haydn: The Creation (Bernstein) (2009)

Haydn's Creation, the culmination of his life's work, in a legendary 1986 performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein in the exquisite Baroque splendor of the Benedictine Abbey of Ottobeuren, Bavaria, now available on DVD for the first time. This spectacula ...

Bernstein | Beethoven Symphonies 2,6,7 (2008)

Bernstein | Beethoven Symphonies 3,4,5 (2008)

Leonard Bernstein conducts three symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony no. 3 in E flat major, op 55 ('Eroica'), Symphony no. 4 in B flat major, op 60 and Symphony no. 5 in C minor, op 67, all performed by Wiener Philharmoniker in Vienna in 1977-8. ...

Sir Georg Solti The Maestro Vol. 3 (Wagner - Richard Strauss) (2007)

A collector's celebration of Solti's time in Chicago and includes bonus material of Solti rehearsing the Vienna Philharmonic. Included are works by Rossini, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Wagner, Strauss, Kodaly, Bartok, Weiner, Berlioz. ...

Sir Georg Solti The Maestro Vol. 1 (Rossini - Mendelssohn) (2007)

A collector's celebration of Solti's time in Chicago and includes bonus material of Solti rehearsing the Vienna Philharmonic. Included are works by Rossini, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Wagner, Strauss, Kodaly, Bartok, Weiner, Berlioz. ...

Brahms Academic Festival, Tragic Overtures/ Variations on a Theme by Haydn/Serenade No. 2 (2007)

Between 1981 and 1984 Leonard Bernstein recorded nearly all of Brahms' orchestral works with the Wiener Philharmoniker to honour the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth in 1983. For the concertos, Bernstein enlisted the services of some of the finest ...

Bach The Cello Suites (2007)

Johann Sebastian Bach composed his Six Suites for Solo Cello in the early 1720's. Unlike the Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, composed around the same time, there is no extant autograph manuscript. Only four copies exist, of which one made by Anna ...

Rostropovich Life & Art (2007)

Released as a memorial for the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who passed away on 27 April 2007, this DVD contains one bonafide cello concerto, the Schumann Cello Concerto in A minor, and two tone poems with prominent cello parts, Ernest Bloch ...

Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 4 & 5 (2007)

Under the guidance of famed American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, Polish classical pianist Krystian Zimerman and the Vienna Philharmonic deliver a rousing performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concertos nos. 3, 4 and 5. Premiered in 1808 ...

Mozart: Requiem (2007)

Mozart Great Mass in C Minor; Ave Verum Corpus; Exsultate Jubilate (2006)

This performance of Mozart's Great Mass in C minor, which remained an unfinished torso, is reverent and highly dramatic. It was filmed 4-6 April 1990 in the beautiful Baroque Basilica of Waldsassen in Bavaria: a few kilometers from the Czech border. It was ...

Bernstein in London: Verdi Requiem (2006)

In a stirring 1970 concert dedicated to victims of war and oppression, American composer, pianist and conductor Leonard Bernstein leads the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a performance of Verdi's "Requiem" from stately St. Paul's Cathedral. Renown ...

Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 9 & 10 / Das Lied von der Erde (2005)

Filmed on tour at Berlin's Philharmonie, this account of the valedictory Ninth Symphony is an intense interpretation, expressing Bernstein's conviction that modern man had at last caught up with the message encoded in Mahler's last completed work. Having m ...

Vincent in Brixton (2003)

Based on Nicholas Wright's 2002 play exploring the life of the young Vincent Van Gogh during a stay in Brixton, London in 1873. In the play, which is largely fictional, he falls in love with an English widow. ...

The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland (2002)

Claudio Monteverdi's operatic adaptation of this story from Homer's The Odyssey receives a modern and distinctive staging in this 2002 production directed by Humphrey Burton for Les Arts Florissants. Penelope Marijana Mijanovic is left to her own devices w ...

Falstaff (2000)

The Graham Vicks production of FALSTAFF opened the new Covent Garden Royal Opera House, and was not to everybody's taste; the garish primary colours of the costumes. The staging is effective--the complicated counterpoint of the ensembles is reflected in un ...

A Gala Christmas in Vienna (1998)

Plácido Domingo, Sarah Brightman, Helmut Lotti and Riccardo Cocciante interpret traditional, European and American songs in Vienna, Austria. Vienna Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Steven Mercurio. ...

Rodelinda (1998)

Jean-Marie Villegier's modern interpretation of Handel's "Rodelinda" – filmed live at the world-renowned Glyndebourne Opera House in the United Kingdom, sets the timeless tale of jealousy and treachery in the black-and-white world of the silent-movie era ...

Manon Lescaut (1997)

Live from Glyndebourne 1997 ...

Merry Christmas from Vienna (1996)

Christmas concert from Vienna ...

Ermione (1995)

Recorded at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1995, this acclaimed presentation of composer Gioachino Rossini's epic opus ERMIONE is based on Jean Racine's play "Andromache. ...

Eugene Onegin (1994)

The cynical young Onegin rejects Tatyana, a dreamy, bookish country girl. But Onegin lives to regret it when, years later, he re-encounters Tatyana, now a beautiful, worldly woman who has married into wealthy society. Tchaikovsky clothed this tale in the R ...

Candide (1991)

The Very Strange Story of the Legendary Joe Meek (1991)

Documentary about the influential pop composer and record producer Joe Meek, who died in dramatic circumstances in 1967 after a bizarre childhood and a career, often controversial, which spanned the period from the mid-50s to the rise of the Beatles in the ...

War and Peace (1991)

The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army. ...

Mozart Requiem (1991)

You will find this Requiem the finest on video. It certainly outshines Bohm's dated approach, and Bernstein's lethargically slow performance. (No disrespect to them, I enjoy them but this is better :) It also gives us a superb opportunity to view Solti at ...

Charles Mingus: Epitaph (1990)

Conductor Gunther Schuller leads 30 renowned musicians in this spectacular world-premiere performance of Charles Mingus's epic composition, "Epitaph," filmed at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall on June 3, 1989. Clocking in at more than two hours long, the ...

Boris Godunov (1990)

This is the Andrei Tarkovsky production of the famous Pushkin/Mussorgsky opera, performed in 1990. Modest Mussorgsky's opera in prologue and four acts is performed by the Kirov Opera with performances from Olga Borodina, Alexei Steblianko and Sergei Leifer ...

Prince Igor (1990)

TV movie version of the famous Prince Igor opera ...

Ode to Freedom (1989)

Conducted by Leonard Bernstein, this is an historic performance marking the fall of the Berlin Wall. Performed on Christmas Day 1989 in the former East Berlin, a concert that unites an cast former eastern and western Berlin musicians and vocalists, among w ...

Leonard Bernstein - Bernstein - Candide (1989)

This is the historic concert performance of the final operatic version of Bernstein's Candide. It was recorded on December 13, 1989 at the Barbican Centre, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with a stellar cast of o ...

Candide (1988)

Candide falls in love with the beautiful but materialistic Cunegonde. Her barron father doesn't approve of the affair so Candide wanders, meeting all the misfortunes along the way. ...

Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1987)

Mozart's famous Singspiel after Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's work "Belmonte und Konstanze", DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL comes to life in the sumptuous setting of Topkapi, the Ottoman sultans' own Istanbul seraglio (palace harem). Belmonte finds his fi ...

Krystian Zimerman: Chopin/Schubert (1987)

As one of the youngest winners ever in the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in 1975, Krystian Zimerman went on to an international career and has performed with all major orchestras and conductors. This 1987 film captures Zimerman at the he ...

Neujahrskonzert der Wiener Philharmoniker 1987 (1987)

The 1987 Vienna New Year's Concert was the first and only New Year's Concert conducted by Mr. Herbert von Karajan, the "Emperor of Conducting" and the "General Director of Music in Europe", and of course, the only New Year's Concert ever held. ...

Herbert Von Karajan - New Year's Concert Vienna 1987 (1987)

This recording of Karajan's 1987 New Year's Day Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic and the ballet of the Vienna State Opera at the Großer Musikvereinsaal in Vienna features the music of Josef Strauss and Johann Strauss, Jr. With an emphasis on the polka ...

Ivo Pogorelich: Bach, Scarlatti, Beethoven (1987)

Pianist Ivo Pogorelich in a 1987 studio recital of works by Bach, Scarlatti, and Beethoven, recorded at historical palaces of Veneto Villa Caldogno in Vincenza and Eckartsau Castle in Lower Austria. The program consists of: BACH English Suites ##2,3 // SCA ...

Liszt Annees de Pelerinage (1986)

Certainly Brendel plays these pieces beautifully. He never overstates, which is lovely. Best of all, they remind me that they (for my money) are the best of the Liszt keyboard compositions. It is good to see the ease with which he plays. No flash, just won ...

The Little Drummer Boy: An Essay on Mahler by Leonard Bernstein (1985)

This television essay from 1985 was written by Leonard Bernstein to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Gustav Mahler's birth. Recorded in Israel, Vienna and later in London, it is punctuated by biographical interludes and illustrated by musical examples ...

Bach: St. John Passion (1985)

Johannes-Passion St. ...

The Making Of West Side Story (1985)

A documentary which shows, in great detail, the making of the 1985 Bernstein-conducted recording of the entire score of "West Side Story", featuring operatic stars. ...

Andrea Chénier (1985)

Live from ROH 1985. Giordano's Andrea Chenier is one of the greatest of verismo operas, full of heart-stopping big tunes and powerful emotional situations. If it is not as well-known as it should be, it is because in summary it sounds a little too like Puc ...

Brahms The Piano Concertos (1984)

Between 1981 and 1984 Leonard Bernstein recorded nearly all of Brahmss orchestral works with the Wiener Philharmoniker to honor the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth in 1983. For the concertos, Bernstein enlisted the services of some of the finest ...

Die Fledermaus (1984)

Most opera houses ring in the New Year with Johann Strauss Jr.'s most popular operetta--the festiveness of which is appropriate for the occasion--and this December 31, 1983, Covent Garden performance follows suit. An exceptional cast--led by Hermann Prey a ...

Bernstein Brahms Symphonies (1984)

Here is the most convincing presentation of Brahms' symphonies that I personally have ever experienced. There is no explaining a gift like Leonard Bernstein, a true legend and one of the truly great ones of the 20th century (and a great Brahms conductor!). ...

Joseph Haydn Mass: In Tempore belli (1984)

Carlos Kleiber: Beethoven - Symphonies 4 & 7 (1983)

Carlos Keliber conducts the Concertgebouw Orchestra. ...

Verdi: Requiem (1982)

Live performance of Verdi's Missa da Requiem at the Edinburgh Festival in 1982. An all-star quartet of soloists under the baton of Claudio Abbado, recorded in high definition audio. ...

Bernstein Beethoven Overtures (1978)

Excellent Bernstein performance. Interesting version for String Orchestra. Interesting video details to introduce your friends to classic orchestral music (lets them to understand the sound of each instrument the music comes from). ...

Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (1977)

Karajan's very best video Beethoven 9th Symphony, recorded December 31, 1977. The Quartet of vocal soloists and Chorus in IV are superb. This is much better than Karajan's 1968 Berlin Philharmonic Beethoven 9 video (DG), filmed in the Philharmonie with no ...

Leonard Bernstein: Chichester Psalms Symphony No's 1 & 2 (1977)

Leonard Bernstein performs three of his own compositions with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the Philharmonic in Berlin. ...

Leonard Bernstein conducts Stravinsky & Bach (1977)

Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 4, 5 & 6 (1976)

For Mahlerites, his symphonies are much more than musical performances--they can be an emotional or spiritual journey through the struggles, fears, and triumphs of life. This Sixth Symphony is a 1976 performance in the Vienna Musikvereinssaal with PCM ste ...

Bernstein Mahler Rehearsal (1976)

"Four Ways to Say Farewell" is a personal introduction to Mahler and his Ninth Symphony, during which Leonard Bernstein is seen and heard rehearsing the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. ...

The Unanswered Question I : Musical Phonology (1976)

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 l ...

The Unanswered Question II : Musical Syntax (1976)

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 l ...

The Unanswered Question III : Musical Semantics (1976)

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 l ...

The Unanswered Question IV : The Delights and Dangers of Ambiguity (1976)

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 l ...

The Unanswered Question V : The Twentieth Century Crisis (1976)

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 l ...

The Unanswered Question VI : The Poetry of Earth (1976)

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 l ...

Bernstein Gerhswin & Ives (1976)

Leonard Bernstein conducts four pieces by American composers: George Gershwin's 'An American in Paris' and 'Rhapsody in Blue' and Charles Ives' 'Symphony no. 2' and 'The Unanswered Question'. 'American in Paris', 'Rhapsody in Blue' and 'The Unanswered Ques ...

Bernstein: Tchaikovsky: Symphonies No. 4 & 5 (1975)

In a pair of passionate performances, American composer Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic in Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 4 and Andante Cantabile, then leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Russian composer's Symphony no. 5. Russian v ...

Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8 (1975)

Leonard Bernstein made these recordings during his wonderfully productive collaboration with the Wiener Philharmoniker in the mid-1970s when he was at the peak of his career. Humphrey Burton's direction is, as always, very fine, giving the viewer/listener ...

The Marriage of Figaro (1974)

Live performance of Mozart's opera buffa "Le nozze di Figaro" from the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1973, featuring Knut Skram, Ileana Cotrubas, Benjamin Luxon, Kiri Te Kanawa, and Frederica von Stade. ...

Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 3 (1973)

Beginning with the First Symphony, Bernstein reveals Mahler's position at the hinge of modernism, while emphasizing his emotional extremism. The uplifting Second "Resurrection" Symphony, with which Bernstein had an especially long and close association, is ...

Das Lied von der Erde: A Personal Introduction (1972)

During a break in rehearsals with the Israel Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein sat down at the piano to film an introduction to the poetry and music of Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. ...

Beethoven's Birthday: A Celebration in Vienna with Leonard Bernstein (1970)

In this documentary portrait prepared for the anniversary of Ludwig Van Beethoven's 200th birthday, Leonard Bernstein illustrates his analysis with excerpts from his performances of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major and the Ode to Joy from the Ni ...

Bernstein in Vienna: Beethoven, The Ninth Symphony (1970)

To play Beethoven's music is to give oneself over completely to the child-spirit which lived in that grim, awkward, violent man. Without that utter submission it is impossible to play the Adagio of the Ninth. Or, Heaven knows, the first movement. And the F ...

Benjamin Britten and His Festival (1967)

A behind-the-scenes look at the Aldeburgh Festival and the opening by The Queen of the new concert hall at Snape. ...

The Golden Ring (1965)

Watching the Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, and a stellar cast record Wagner's immense Götterdämmerung for Decca in the fall of 1964 provides a thousand lessons in the art of working under pressure. For this classic documentary, The Golden Ring, a BBC ...

Elgar (1962)

An astonishing documentary of the life of classical composer Sir Edward Elgar. This partly dramatised account is remarkable for its sensitive portrayal of the rise of a young musician from an underprivileged background to international fame. ...

Antonio Gaudí (1961)

A study of Antoni Gaudí's architecture (especially the Church of the Holy Trinity in Barcelona), his sources of inspiration and his influence on Picasso. ...

The Opera House (2017)

In this documentary, award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke explores the creation of the Metropolitan Opera's storied home of the last five decades. Drawing on rarely seen archival footage, stills, and recent interviews, The Opera House looks at an importan ...

Karajan's Magic and Myth (2014)

Over twenty-five years after his death in July 1989, the controversial Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan remains an enigma. He was the most successful conductor in the history of classical music. Many of his recordings - of Italian opera, of Wagner an ...

Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould (2009)

A documentary on the mysterious and influential pianist. ...

Herbert von Karajan: Maestro for the Screen (2008)

Documentary on conductor Herbert van Karajan, focusing on his early adoption of audio and video recording technology and his impetus to make use of it to preserve his musical legacy for future generations. ...

Glenn Gould: Hereafter (2006)

A retrospective of the life and work of Glenn Gould, Hereafter synthesizes an incredible wealth of archival material from various sources. ...

La Stupenda (1991)

Dubbed 'La Stupenda' thirty years ago by an Italian critic, Dame Joan Sutherland and her husband Richard Bonynge talk at length about her distinguished singing career and their life together in opera. The film combines documentary, archival material and pe ...

Marevna and Marika (1978)

Documentary on 84-year old Marevna; painter, friend of Picasso and one-time mistress of Diego Rivera; and her daughter by Rivera, Marika; former dancer and actress. ...

The Story of Pantomime (1976)

This 1976 BBC documentary sees Ken Campbell (and his Roadshow) investigate the origins and the development of the traditional British Christmas pantomime. ...

New York, New York - Saturday in SoHo/Watching My Name Go By (1976)

Humphrey Burton introduces two Omnibus USA reports on the arts in New York... that is the arts in the streets, away from the museums and the concert halls. One film is 'Saturday in Soho', an impression of artists, dancers and musicians' work and of the Soh ...

Signs of Vigorous Life: The New German Cinema (1976)

BBC documentary about the rise of the New German Cinema and several of its most important figures. ...

Elton John: Mr. Superfunk (1971)

Short documentary originally featured on Aquarius containing interviews, concert footage, and general information about Elton John and his career up to 1971. Featuring Elton John working on an early version of Tiny Dancer before it had been recorded for h ...

The Golden Ring (1965)

Watching the Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, and a stellar cast record Wagner's immense Götterdämmerung for Decca in the fall of 1964 provides a thousand lessons in the art of working under pressure. For this classic documentary, The Golden Ring, a BBC ...

Gordon Jacob (1959)

A portrait of the English composer Gordon Jacob. ...