The Winners

The Bolero

1973

The first part of this Academy Award-winning short consists of a behind-the-scenes look at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra as it prepares to perform Ravel's "Bolero." Individual musicians offer their thoughts as workers set up chairs and music stands; there are also comments by conductor Zubin Mehta and scenes of Mehta and the orchestra rehearsing. The rest of the film features a complete performance of "Bolero" with striking images of the orchestra as the music relentlessly approaches its climax.

The Strauss Fantasy

1954

Johnny Green leads the MGM Symphony Orchestra in a medley of waltzes and other familiar pieces by three members of the Strauss family. Filmed in CinemaScope.

Herbert von Karajan, Symphonie n°5 Beethoven

1967

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphonie Nr. 9 - Leipzig, Paris, Mailand, Wien

2024

Famous Composers: Joseph Haydn

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Joseph Haydn is renowned for taking the established forms of the symphony and string quartet and shaping them into the powerful media for musical expression that they became thereafter. He brought symphonic traits to the piano sonata and was a master of chamber music. His masses and choral works also continue as standards in the concert repertory, and his operas are highly valued. These informative programs are a concise overview of the composer's life and times, filmed on location in the cities and places that influenced their works. Also included in a detailed list of each composer's most significant musical compositions.

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.

Hudba Svetozár Stračina

1982

A Song Called Hate

2021

The pro-Palestinian, anti-capitalist, BDSM-provocative, techno-punk performance art ensemble Hatari unsurprisingly drew attention to themselves with their performance at the Icelandic qualifiers for the Eurovision Song Contest. So much so that they won and therefore were allowed to perform at the main event in Tel Aviv. But what now? Should they boycott the event, swallow their idealism, or use their airtime to criticise the host country for their illegal occupation of Palestine? The Icelandic director Anna Hildur joins the boys in the band all the way to the fateful final.

Anna Netrebko und Rolando Villazón singen "La Traviata"

2020

Hudební jaro

1952

Bach pour tous

2023

A musical journey in the footsteps of conductor Michel Brun, an atypical character, an atheist, who nevertheless plays sacred music, and who devotes his life to Johann Sebastian Bach. With the musicians of the Ensemble Baroque de Toulouse.

What Would Beethoven Do?

2016

Classical music doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being hip. For too long it’s been seen as a stuffy genre for the high cultured elite. WHAT WOULD BEETHOVEN DO? follows a number of renegades, from composers flirting with modern mediums, to young musicians dedicated to changing the narrative, to a man who’s bringing turntablists and orchestras together. Notable artists such as, Bobby McFerrin, Benjamin Zander and Eric Whitacre add their voices to the debate about why classical music is still relevant today.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: The First 50 Years

1997

Go behind the scenes with one of London's most important musical institutions.

Everybody's Cage

2015

In “Everybody’s Cage”, German film artist Sandra Trostel turns John Cage and his approach to art into a tangible fascination, without giving in to explain just a single bit of it.

Afghan Star

2008

This documentary on the effect the talent competition "Afghan Star" has on the incredibly diverse inhabitants of Afghanistan affords a glimpse into a country rarely seen. Contestants risk their lives to appear on the television show that is a raging success with the public and also monitored closely by the government.