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 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

Episode 11: We visit the cities of Lucca, Pisa, Busseto, Milan and immerse ourselves in the music of two of the most famous Italian composers, Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini. Note: Contrary to what this episode make it sound (starting with the Title "Tuscany: Verdi and Puccini", which I changed in Italy,) Verdi was not from Tuscany. He was born in Le Roncole (today Roncole Verdi,) a small hamlet in the municipality of Busseto, in the province of Parma, which is part of Emilia-Romagna region, not Tuscany. Episode 12: https://rumble.com/v6vlsrr-classical-destinations-i-bonn-and-berlin-beethoven-episode-12.html

Episode 12: Bonn is a true center of history, music, art. Beethoven is the most famous native of Bonn. Beethoven Museum, Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary German History and other interesting places of this city. Berlin is one of the world centers of classical music. There are three opera houses, several symphony orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Episode 13: https://rumble.com/v6vltaj-classical-destinations-i-st-petersburg-shostakovich-and-tchaikovsky-episode.html

Episode 13: n the series finale we return to St Petersburg to meet review some significant figures in its history: Pushkin, Catherine the Great, and Rasputin. Our last tour to a Classical Destination features the music of the composers Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky.

A 2008 Thirteen-Part Musical Programme Series, presented by Simon Callow. The great cities and towns of Europe and the UK form the backdrops for the stories of the world’s greatest classical composers. Episode 1: Simon Callow opens the new series in London before travelling to Halle, Germany. Halle was Handel’s birthplace and where he spent the first 18 years of his life before he ventured throughout Europe, finally settling in London. Simons tells of Handel’s Water Music on the banks of the Thames and we feature Handel’s life up and to Messiah, visiting Westminster Abbey and the Australian Chamber Orchestra performs two movements from Handel’s Water Music. Episode 2: https://rumble.com/v6yqaak-classical-destinations-2-london-and-dublin-george-fredric-handel-episode-2.html

Episode 2: Simon takes us through Handel’s house in London where he wrote Messiah and other masterpieces before taking a side trip to Dublin to explore the premiere of Messiah in the Irish capital. Returning to London we hear of his charitable work with the Foundling Hospital before Simon closes in Westminster Abbey where the great man is buried. The Australian Chamber Orchestra performs Handel’s Concerto Grosso. Episode 3: https://rumble.com/v6yqaow-classical-destinations-2-malvern-worcester-aldeburgh-elgar-and-britten-epis.html

Episode 3: The English countryside surrounding Worcester, Malvern and the Malvern Hills is where we explore the music of Sir Edward Elgar. We also visit the Royal Albert Hall before a sojourn to the beachside town of Aldeburgh, home to Benjamin Britten and the inspiration to many of his great compositions. Elgar’s Serenade for Strings first and second movements together with the classic Salut d’ Amour are performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Episode 4: https://rumble.com/v6yqb2o-classical-destinations-2-paris-debussy-and-ravel-episode-4.html

Episode 4: The great city of light and love is the perfect backdrop to the life, music and times of Claude Debussy. Simon shows us the highlights of this sensational city. We then travel west, just outside of Paris to the historic village of Montfort l’ Amaury where the pioneering French composer Maurice Ravel lived and worked for the last sixteen years of his life. The principal players of the Australian Chamber Orchestra perform Debussy’s String Quartet Opus 10. Episode 5: https://rumble.com/v6yqbgm-classical-destinations-2-moscow-and-switzerland-rachmaninoff-episode-5.html

Episode 5: Sergei Rachmaninoff spent his life in the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Kremlin and Red Square. Simon commences this captivating episode in the heart of Moscow overlooking the Kremlin and Red Square where we unfold the early life of Sergei Rachmaninoff. Highlights include a musical performance inside the Kremlin before travelling to Lake Lucerne, Switzerland where Rachmaninoff lived and wrote his masterpiece Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Richard Tognetti’s haunting solo violin features on Vocalise, performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Episode 6: https://rumble.com/v6yqbo4-classical-destinations-2-munich-and-garmisch-strauss-and-wagner-episode-6.html

Episode 6: The great German city of Munich with its famous Opera Houses provides the perfect destination to showcase Richard Strauss, Munich’s favourite son. We finish in Garmisch and the beautiful Bavarian Alps where Strauss lived the latter part of his life and where he is buried. Strauss’s loved Morgen’ is performed by Sara Macliver with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Episode 7: https://rumble.com/v6yrvhq-classical-destinations-2-budapest-liszt-kodaly-bartok-episode-7.html

Episode 7: The picturesque city of Budapest is the home to three famous Hungarian composers, Liszt, Bartok and Kodaly. Our episode takes you on a tour through this magnificent city showcasing the memorable legacy and music of Liszt. The Australian Chamber Orchestra provides a stirring rendition of Bartok’s Romanian folk dances. Episode 8: https://rumble.com/v6yrwue-classical-destinations-2-rome-and-naples-respighi-and-rossini-episode-8.html

Episode 8: Discover the famous Italian cities of Rome and Naples as we explore the lives of Rossini and Respighi's. The famous Italian cities of Rome and Naples combine to provide an Italian masterpiece. The historic city of Rome with its majestic ruins is contrasted with the seaside port city of Naples. Featured works performed are Rossini’s The Silken Ladder and Respighi's Ancient Airs & Dances. Episode 9: https://rumble.com/v6yrxys-classical-destinations-2-warsaw-and-krakow-chopin-episode-9.html

Episode 9: The intriguing historic city of Warsaw was home to Poland’s greatest piano player and composer, Frederic Chopin. We contrast the stark city of Warsaw with the beautiful country retreats where Chopin was born and baptized as a child, before finishing the episode in the southern city of Krakow, a city full of history and charm. The Australian Chamber Orchestra’s quartet performs the stunning Szymanowski’s String Quartet No. 2. Episode 10: https://rumble.com/v6yrz6e-classical-destinations-2-london-thaxted-cheltenham-holst-and-williams-episo.html

Episode 10: Once again we return to London and the English countryside, exploring the lives of two great English composers, Gustav Holst & Ralph Vaughan Williams. We also travel to the delightful village of Thaxted where he spent many years. This episode is a true picture postcard of the traditional English countryside. Episode 11: https://rumble.com/v6yrzwo-classical-destinations-2-paris-and-versailles-saint-saens-and-bizet-episode.html

Episode 11: This episode features Paris as we explore the lives of Bizet and Saint Saens. Simon unfolds this episode within the Palace of Versailles, just outside of Paris undertaking a comprehensive tour of this magnificent iconic landmark. We again feature Paris in all its beauty and splendor as we explore the lives of Bizet and Saint Saens. Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra perform Saint Saens introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A Minor to sublime perfection. Episode 12: https://rumble.com/v6ys0sc-classical-destinations-2-madrid-and-belgrade-falla-albeniz-mokranjac-episod.html

Episode 12: Travel to Spain’s Madrid and Serbia’s Belgrade to discover these two fascinating composers. The music of Albeniz and de Falla bring the Spanish city of Madrid to life before we travel to Belgrade to discover the life and music of Stephan Mokranjac a hero of the Serbian people and composer of nationalistic music that is at the heart of the Serbian culture. The famous Tango by Albeniz is a featured work performed by Richard Tognetti and several Mokranjac choral works are featured. Episode 13: https://rumble.com/v6ys144-classical-destinations-2-moscow-shostakovich-and-prokofiev-episode-13.html

Episode 13: What finer way to finish Series II than by returning again to Moscow where Simon unfolds the music and lives of Prokofiev and Shostakovich. We visit again inside the Kremlin for a choral performance within the historic Cathedral of the Archangel. A stunning performance of the first and second movements of Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins is featured within the episode performed by Artistic Director Richard Tognetti and Satu Vänskä, Assistant Leader of the ACO. Music from Classical Destinations: https://rumble.com/v6ys45c-music-from-classical-destinations.html