Classical Destinations

Season 1

European towns keep stories of the best classical composers in the world.

Where to Watch Season 1

13 Episodes

  • Salzburg: Birthplace of Amadeus
    E1
    Salzburg: Birthplace of AmadeusThe hills around Salzburg were alive long before Julie Andrews started running up them! Simon Callow, Niki Vasilakis and Matt Wills introduce you to the birthplace of classical music's ultimate superstar, and tell of the infant Amadeus' most prodigious exploits. This is the city of the Salzburg Festival, the famous puppet shows, and the belated arrival there of the musical with which Hollywood took Salzburg to the world.
  • Across Austria to Vienna
    E2
    Across Austria to ViennaSimon, 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.
  • The Real Song of Norway
    E3
    The Real Song of NorwayA 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.
  • Finlandia
    E4
    FinlandiaThe elemental sights and sounds of Finland, from Helsinki to the snowy vistas of Lapland and a visit to Santa and his workshop, the country's icy beauty captured in the music of Sibelius. We hear the story of the Finnish musical legend and visit the composer's home of Ainola.
  • St Petersburg
    E5
    St PetersburgFormer 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.
  • Venice, Vivaldi and the Four Seasons
    E6
    Venice, Vivaldi and the Four SeasonsAntonio Vivaldi spent his most productive years in Venice in tl1e early 18th century. Simon, Niki and Matt tour the canals, bridges and piazzas for which Vivaldi created the perfect soundtrack in his Four Seasons.
  • Prague
    E7
    PragueSmetana serenaded its river; Dvorak started out as a dance band fiddler; Mozart enjoyed his greatest successes here. We visit the Old Tovn, where Simon Callow reminisces about filming Amadeus in its beat1tifully preserved streets.
  • Germany 1 - Eisenach and the Towns of Bach’s Travels
    E8
    Germany 1 - Eisenach and the Towns of Bach’s TravelsThe young J.S. Bach’s career path though eastern Germany from his birthplace in Eisenach to Arnstadt and Weimar. In the Wartburg castle we learn about Martin Luther and the birth of the Reformation.
  • Germany 2: Leipzig and Mainz
    E9
    Germany 2: Leipzig and MainzThe careers of Bach and Mendelssohn reached their height in Leipzig. We visit the publishers Schott in the city of Mainz to learn the craft of music engraving and look at the original manuscript of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
  • Vienna
    E10
    ViennaThe last difficult years of Mozart's short life; Beethoven's tragic deafness; the glamorous but turbulent life of the great "Waltz King", Johann Strauss II -all these took place in Vienna.
  • Tuscany: Verdi and Puccini
    E11
    Tuscany: Verdi and PucciniMore than just one of Italy's most beautiful regions, Tuscany also produced two of the greatest operatic composers -Verdi and Puccini. We visit the cities and towns that shaped their lives: Lucca, Pisa and Milan.
  • Bonn and Berlin
    E12
    Bonn and BerlinWe follow Beethoven's troubled early life in his birthplace of Bonn, near which descendants of his family still live and work as winemakers. Then to an indisputably modern city: Berlin, home to one of the world's greatest orchestras.
  • St Petersburg
    E13
    St PetersburgIn 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.

 

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