Fauré: Pélleas et Mélisande

Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto was criticised by its dedicatee, poorly performed at its premier and savaged by a leading critic. But still, this child of the composer's imagination became hugely popular and is one of the foremost violin concertos in classical music.

Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto has been popular ever since it's premier in 1868. Its combination of arresting melodies, warmth and dazzling piano parts has charmed audiences around the world. In this episode Deano Maduramuthu gives background to Grieg's journey into Norwegian nationalism, the encouragement he received from Franz Liszt and…

A public performance of Rhapsody in Blue was advertised before Gershwin had even thought of composing it! This episode explains how the Rhapsody came into being and how Gershwin infused 'jazz vocabulary' into a piece of classical music.

South Africa once again has a national orchestra - the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra. It's the first national orchestra since the NSO was disbanded. I attended the launch where orchestra CEO Bongani Tembe spoke about the purpose of the Mzansi NPO and dealt with some of the criticism levelled against…

Concert goers in Vienna in the early 1800s were unsure about Beethoven's Eroica symphony. It was unlike any other composed before and it broke the mould, eventually changing what they expected a symphony to be. Acclaimed conductor Bernhard Gueller explains what made the Eroica a groundbreaking work, as well as…