Classical Destinations - Great Cities and their Music

A 2006 Thirteen-Part Musical Programme Series, presented by Simon Callow, Niki Vasilakis and Matt Wills. European cities keep stories of the best classical composers in the world. This program invites you on an unforgettable journey to the most beautiful cities of Europe, introduces you to their amazing history, urban legends and masterpieces of classical music created under the influence of these places. Simon Callow, a British actor, writer and music expert, invites you on a musical journey through the most beautiful corners of the earth, through the greatest cities of Europe, ancient and beautiful, and tell your about the life and music of famous composers. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Grieg, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Handel, Debussy, Rossini, Chopin, Elgar, Rachmaninov - these are just a few names. This journey will open the amazing world of classical music from an unknown side. Music was not born in the heads of composers, it began where they were born, lived and died, where they were happy and sad, where they were recognized and rejected. This is a journey through the most beautiful cities of Europe, which are nothing more than a part of the world of classical music. Episode 1: The first stop is in Austria, Salzburg, a beautiful city where the great Mozart lived. The Salzburg Museum displays a rich collection of his personal belongings, including Wolfgang's musical instruments. You will visit the famous Mozart University, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre. Episode 2: https://rumble.com/v6vjz0p-classical-destinations-i-austria-brahms-schubert-and-haydn-episode-2.html

Episode 2: Simon, Niki and Matt follow Mozart through magnificent Austrian countryside from Salzburg to imperial Vienna, the irresistible magnet for composers such as Brahms, Mahler, Schubert and Haydn. Their stories and their relationship with the magnificent Habsburg capital are described amid the city’s great landmarks. Episode 3: https://rumble.com/v6vjzit-classical-destinations-i-the-real-song-of-norway-grieg-episode-3.html

Episode 3: A journey through the spectacular mountains, ravines and fjords of Norway, ending in the capital of Oslo, as we follow the life of the country’s most beloved composer – Edvard Grieg. Episode 4: https://rumble.com/v6vjzur-classical-destinations-i-finlandia-sibelius-episode-4.html

Episode 4: The elemental sights and sounds of Finland, from Helsinki to the snowy vistas of Lapland where Santa has his workshop, are captured in the music of Sibelius. We hear the story of the Finnish musical legend, visit the composer’s home of Ainola, and hear his most famous musical work. Episode 5: https://rumble.com/v6vk1nl-classical-destinations-i-st.petersburg-glinka-borodin-mussorgsky-rimsky-kor.html

Episode 5: Saint Petersburg, a city that resembles one big museum, which you can’t get around even in a month. Former capital of Russia, with its canals earning it the description ‘Venice of the North’, St Petersburg was also home to the composers Borodin, Glinka, Mussorgsky, and the naval officer turned musical painter of the Arabian Nights, Rimsky-Korsakov. Episode 6: https://rumble.com/v6vk3wj-classical-destinations-i-venice-monteverdi-and-vivaldi-episode-6.html

Episode 6: Venice is a city of canals, love and music. It has found immortality in the music of the great composers of the Baroque era - Claudio Monteverdi and Antonio Vivaldi. St. Mark's Cathedral, where Monteverdi held the post of conductor and the Pieta orphanage, where Vivaldi taught orphan girls to play the violin for more than 15 years. Vivaldi spent his most productive years in Venice in the early 18th century. Simon, Niki and Matt tour the canals, bridges and piazzas for which Vivaldi created the perfect soundtrack in his Four Seasons. Episode 7: https://rumble.com/v6vlp1b-classical-destinations-i-prague-smetana-and-dvorak-episode-7.html

Episode 7: Prague is a stunningly beautiful city that has preserved a lot of baroque architecture. You will learn about the lives of composers such as B. Smetana and A. Dvorak. The film "Amadeus" was almost entirely filmed in this city, as it is well preserved and passes for 18th century Vienna. Smetana serenaded its river; Dvorak started out as a dance band fiddler; Mozart enjoyed his greatest successes here. We visit the Old Town, where Simon Callow reminisces about filming Amadeus in its beautifully preserved streets. Episode 8: https://rumble.com/v6vlq2v-classical-destinations-i-germany-1-eisenach-and-the-towns-of-bachs-travels-.html

Episode 8: Eisenach is a town in the center of Germany, where J. S. Bach was born on March 21, 1685. Ohrdruf, Arnstadt, Weimar are the German cities where Bach lived and worked in his youth. The poets Schiller and Goethe also lived in Weimar. F. Liszt gave up his brilliant concert career to become an honorary bandmaster in Weimar. Episode 9: https://rumble.com/v6vlrcx-classical-destinations-i-germany-2-leipzig-and-mainz-bach-mendelssohn-schum.html

Episode 9: The story of the life of J. S. Bach continues. Leipzig, the Church of St. Thomas, where Bach held the position of cantor for more than a quarter of a century. The main concert hall of Leipzig (Gewandhaus), where Mendelssohn was the first conductor of the orchestra for the last 12 years of his short life. The house of Clara and Robert Schumann. The first music publishing house of Mainz, where R. Wagner submitted his opera cycle "The Ring of the Nibelung" for publication. Episode 10: https://rumble.com/v6vlrwr-classical-destinations-i-vienna-mozart-strauss-brahms-beethoven-episode-10.html

Episode 10: Vienna is one of the most important places in the world of music. Here Mozart and Beethoven wrote their greatest masterpieces, here the king of waltzes J. Strauss reigned, here there are monuments to musicians everywhere. The hall in which six-year-old Mozart gave his first concert. St. Stephen's Cathedral, where Haydn and Schubert served as choristers. The concert hall of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the House of Music (interactive museum), the Theater am Wien, the house-museum "Eroica" in the suburbs of Vienna, and finally, Heiligenstadt, where Beethoven wrote his famous last will. Episode 11: https://rumble.com/v6vlsd5-classical-destinations-i-italy-verdi-and-puccini-episode-11.html