The 9th Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the most popular pieces of classical music in the world. Even those who are not passionate about the classical music recognize the famous Ode to Joy. Despite the grim context in which it was created, the 9th Symphony leaves us fascinated, moved and uplifted by its creativity, its power and its culmination in the Ode to Joy. More than 160 years after it was written, Beethoven’s hymn to brotherhood was adopted by the European Union as its official anthem. But Beethoven’s Ninth is also met with enthusiasm far beyond the borders of Europe. What’s the explanation for its never ending success? What is it about this work of art that fascinates people all over the world?

Under the most complicated circumstances, when the world seems impossibly dark, a woman takes her life into her own hands. She risks everything to save her politically imprisoned husband - and sets herself free. The Birmingham Opera Company's production set in an enormous circus tent and mixing professional and amateur performers powerfully explores what oppression means today. The striking image of over 200 local people participating in their own imprisonments and experiencing freedom will stay with you for a long time to come.

Suspecting her missing husband to be held as a political prisoner, a noblewoman disguises herself as a male prison guard. She discovers him weakened in the darkest dungeon, but will she be able to rescue him before it is too late? The themes of oppression and isolation, but also of hope and the power of love, make Fidelio the perfect opera for our times. Garsington Opera’s outstanding cast, led by Katherine Broderick as Leonore and Toby Spence as Florestan, performs Peter Mumford's semi-staged concert of Beethoven's masterwork, complete with a beautifully filmed backdrop.

Václav Neumann leads the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Prague Philharmonic Choir, with soloists Gabriela Be?a?ková, Anne Gjevang, Günther Neumann, and Arthur Korn. This historic concert of December 14, 1989, given in support of the “Velvet Revolution” in Czechoslovakia, was attended by many prominent personalities, including Václav Havel, just weeks before he became the President of Czechoslovakia (later, the Czech Republic).

Beethoven spent three years composing the Eroica, an intimate journal of his emotional crises and his dramatic emergence as an original master. Michael Tilson Thomas and the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony help you make sense of this voyage into life as it really is.

Chicago's Chess Records was one of the greatest labels of the post-war era, ranking alongside other mighty independents like Atlantic, Stax and Sun. From 1950 till its demise at the end of the 60s, Chess released a myriad of electric blues, rock 'n' roll and soul classics that helped change the landscape of black and white popular music. Chess was the label that gave the world such sonic adventurers as Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf and Etta James. In this BBC 4 documentary to mark the label's 60th anniversary, the likes of Jimmy Page, Mick Hucknall, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Paul Jones and Little Steven, as well as those attached to the label such as founder's son Marshall Chess, pay tribute to its extraordinary music and influence.

Part road trip, part adventure story, FOLLOWING THE NINTH is an inspirational film about Beethoven's Choral Symphony, its majestic power to liberate us, to shield us against suffering, to provide hope and resilience during dark times. Filmed on five continents and in 12 countries, FOLLOWING THE NINTH is the story of four lives that have been transformed and repaired by the music, expressed most vividly in the prophecy of the Ode to Joy: “Alle Menschen werden Brüder”(All Men Will Be Brothers).

After decades of work on Beethoven’s original scores, the Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder offers a definitive interpretation of all of Beethoven’s piano concertos in this series of live recordings of his ecstatically acclaimed performances in the Musikverein in Vienna. Buchbinder conducts the Vienna Philharmonic from the piano and achieves a rare degree of tension and chamber-like concentration. “There is no one else who plays Beethoven with such classical perfection and at such a high level.” Der Kurier, Vienna

A dramatic concert performance of Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, streamed live from Leeds Town Hall. This romantic melodrama, inspired by a true story from the French Revolution, speaks to our times with its themes of isolation, liberty and humanity. Fidelio is actually Leonore, a noblewoman disguised as a boy in search of her husband, Florestan, who has been unjustly imprisoned by tyrannical political opponent Don Pizarro. Fidelio secures a job as a prison guard and sets in motion a chain of events in which she must risk everything to save her husband’s life…

The Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 2 & 7 performed by Seiji Ozawa, who turned 80!

Bonus content includes valuable footage of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy (piano: Martha Argerich
) from the Celebrating Seiji at 80! Gala Concert performance!

Felix Mendelssohn

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 64

Ludwig van Beethoven

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op. 61 Nikolaj Znaider, violin

Riccardo Chailly

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Missa solemnis, op. 123 Marlis Petersen

Elisabeth Kulman

Werner Gura

Gerald Finley

Orchestre Royal du Concertgebouw Amsterdam

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Beethoven’s Missa solemnis was performed on 13 and 14 February 2010 at the traditional memorial concert to commemorate the bombardment of dresden during the last weeks of World War II. Under Christian Thielemann, the Staatskapelle Dresden proved itself exceptionally qualified to master this work’s magnificient challenges. Thielemann “conjured up the gigantic cosmos of the Missa with such lightness and grace that its mystery seemed to reveal itself”, wrote the Frankfurter Allgemeine-Zeitung. No less remarkable was the fabulously homogenous solo quartet of singers.

Recorded live at the Semperoper, Dresden, 13 February 2010.

Pollini plays flawlessly, with the greatest finesse and sensitivity, very much in tune with each composer's personal style. His performances are exemplary in every respect. The video and audio are quite acceptable, given their 1970s vintage. Böhm and Abbado are at home in this repertoire, and the Wiener Philharmoniker in excellent form, notwithstanding a few strange noises coming from the horns.

Maestro Leonard Bernstein conducts and talks about the work of Ludwig van Beethoven. The collection includes all nine of Beethoven's symphonies, the piano concertos performed by Krystian Zimerman, the monumental Missa Solemnis and four overtures together with the String Quartet op 131, excerpts from the ballet 'The Creatures of Prometheus' and the Choral Fantasy op 80 - all introduced and conducted by Bernstein.