The Berliner Philharmoniker’s European Concert, held each year on 1 May, is invariably an international highlight. Performing in 2008 in Moscow's renowned Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle presented outstanding performances of works by Beethoven, Stravinsky and Bruch, whose Violin Concerto featured one of today’s most fascinating artists, the Russian violinist Vadim Repin.
Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
Bruch: Concerto for Violin No.1, op.26
Beethoven: Symphony No.7 in A major, op. 92
"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.
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.
There is hardly a better way to approach Ludwig van Beethoven than through his piano concertos. Beethoven’s own instrument was the piano, and in his improvisations – which made him the darling of the Viennese salons – he merged virtuosity and unbridled expression.
Pierre Boulez conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a special concert from the Barbican, as part of the composer's 80th birthday celebrations.
Karajan conducts these symphonies with eyes closed, often intently enraptured by the music, smiling occasionally when a passage or solo sounds just right to his ear.
Popular movie trailers from 2008
These some of the most viewed trailers for movies released in 2008:
A beautiful grad student named Tara Simmons is abducted by aliens in a flying saucer. Four days later she finds herself back on earth at the top secret government facility Areola 51, which documents sexual encounters with aliens.
John Legend: Live from Philadelphia actually constitutes a two-disc set, with an album and a disc of concert footage culled from r&b and neo-soul demigod Legend's Philadelphia engagements on his "Show Me" tour.
A witty young woman, Samantha Billows, is diagnosed with a bizarre social anxiety disorder. No therapist seems to help her move beyond her plant maintenance job.
A woman takes a man she just met at a nightclub to a hotel, so they can have a one-night stand, but things start to get complicated when he asks her to spend the night with him so they can have a chance to know about each other between the sheets.
