Showing results by author "Jörg Handstein" in All Categories

Giuseppe Verdi, the son of an innkeeper from a poor village in the Po Valley, was a "self-made man". At the age of 26 he produced his first opera at La Scala in Milan, at 35 he became a landowner, and at 48 he was a member of parliament. This audio biography describes Verdi's life in the exciting worlds of the stage, agriculture, music and politics.

The story of Richard Wagner's life–with its adventures and affairs, splendour and misery, delusions and visions–is almost like a novel. This audio biography conveys it brilliantly from all the material provided by music, original texts and contemporary documents. Colourful, polyphonic, and always authentic.

Erstmals widmet sich die erfolgreiche Reihe der BR-KLASSIK-Hörbiografien einem Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts: Dmitri Schostakowitsch. Seine Symphonien sind nach wie vor Highlights im Konzertsaal, sein Schicksal inspiriert großartige Romane. Doch was weiß man von seinem Leben wirklich? Er ließ sich nicht gern in die Karten schauen. Und er hatte Grund dafür...

Puccinis Musik berührt die Herzen von Millionen. Doch wie gut kennen wir den Menschen, sein Werk und seine Zeit wirklich? Wie war sein Leben? Was prägte sein Genie? Diese neue Hörbiografie von BR-KLASSIK–lebendig und fesselnd erzählt von Udo Wachtveitl und untermalt von opulenter Musik–liefert die Antworten.

Bach ist ein Zentralgestirn der Musikgeschichte. Manche verehren ihn gar als den "Lieben Gott der Musik". Aber auch der Schöpfer der Matthäus-Passion war ein Mensch wie jeder andere, und sein Leben verlief nicht immer harmonisch. Die neue Hörbiografie erzählt seine ganze Geschichte.

Robert Schumann's music reveals his eccentric, unstable and vulnerable character from childhood onwards, but also his sharp, highly developed mind and deep emotions. Schumann's "inner voice" is indeed the focal point of all musical romanticism.

Baroque splendour, triumphs and defeats shaped the life of George Frederick Handel. This audio biography tells the story of his astonishing career, from church organist to freelance opera entrepreneur. Music ranging from the little-known early works to the late oratorios illuminates Handel's creative path.

Following its audio biographies of Mahler, Wagner and Verdi, BR-KLASSIK now presents the fourth in the series: an audio biography of Richard Strauss, to coincide with the Strauss anniversary year of 2014. In operas such as "Elektra" and "Salome", the Munich-born composer made masterly use of established traditions, placing them brilliantly into new contexts and also pointing the way ahead especially where musical theatre was concerned.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, highly sensitive as well as homosexual, had a difficult life. He was willing to make the best of it, however, and left behind a multifaceted oeuvre. This audio biography tells the authentic story of Tchaikovsky's lifelong search for happiness.

Dass in Franz Schubert, der aus seiner Geburtsstadt Wien nie weit hinauskam, gleichwohl die Sehnsucht nach der Ferne schlummerte, zeigen etliche seiner Kompositionen, die das Wandern besingen, die Natur im Lauf der Jahreszeiten ausdeuten. Im Geiste der Romantik sind dabei Trennung, Einsamkeit und Todesgedanken stets unterschwellig präsent.

Auch diese Hörbiographie wird das Rätsel Mozart nicht lösen. Aber Mozart soll, verkörpert von dem Wiener Schauspieler Florian Teichtmeister, lebendig werden in seinem Denken und Fühlen, seinem Alltag und seiner Epoche—streng nach den Originalquellen. Erzähler ist Udo Wachtveitl, Autor ist wiederum Jörg Handstein, der bereits in der Reihe BR-KLASSIK WISSEN das Leben von Mahler, Wagner und Verdi in Form von Hörbiografien nachzeichnete.

Ludwig van Beethoven's life story is that of a radical individualist in uncertain times. The music–effective and profound, quirky and poetic, sensual and philosophical, and constantly in search of the new–plays a leading role here.

Fanny and Felix, the two eldest children of the music-loving banker Abraham Mendelssohn and his wife Lea, were both highly musical. While Felix became a famous composer and conductor, Fanny had to subordinate her compositional talent—according to the customs of the time—to a role as wife and mother. This audio biography deliberately focuses not only on Felix Mendelssohn but also on his sister Fanny.

In this audio biography, Gustav Mahler's life story is told against the backdrop of an age full of tension–colourful and polyphonic, faithful to the facts, and close to the sources.