This comprehensive 3 DVD set, starring Anton Lesser, Daniel Radcliffe, Ian McKellan, Maggie Smith, explores the life, times and work of Charles Dickens, the great Victoria author. The full content of this box set demonstrates how much Dickens drew upon his own experiences when writing fiction. DVD 1 - Uncovering the Real Dickens - the great author's fascinating biography, presented by Peter Ackroyd is an innovative mix of documentary and dramatic reconstruction which vividly portrays his extraordinary life. Resembling the plot of one of his novels, this lavish literary production sets out to blur the lines between Dickens' fiction and his own life. The cast includes Anton Lesser, Prunella Scales and Timothy West (176 minutes).DVD 2 - David Copperfield - the classic 1999 BBC version of the most autobiographical of Dickens novels staring a star cast Bob Hoskins, Daniel Radcliffe, Maggie Smith, Ian McKellan, Zoe Wanamaker and Nicolas Lyndurst. Three hours of classic BBC drama. (186 minutes). DVD 3 - a Christmas Carol - at his house, a group of friends and relatives listen to Dickens as he tells his Christmas story. Anton Lesser as Dickens, brings this classic ghost story to life in a masterly and haunting way. (97 minutes).

There are many biographies of Robert Schumann, but none that gives a real voice to his music - and the life and the music of this great Romantic composer were connected in a particularly subtle way. This new release in the successful series of BR-KLASSIK audio biographies contains approximately 150 excerpts from Schumann's works; carefully interwoven into his life story, they give voice to his inner world. The mysterious "inner voice" that Schumann noted down in the score of his Humoreske op. 20 thus becomes the motto of this audio biography. "Unknown songs I had never heard flowed through my heart - songs that sounded to me like ghostly voices." It was this passage from ETA Hoffmann's Kreisleriana that inspired Schumann to write his own Kreisleriana op 16. In February 1854, the composer himself heard such voices - and this marked the start of a journey that would culminate in the mental asylum. Schumann's "inner voice" thus represents not only his romantic sensitivity but also his fragile and volatile psyche. Of course, this ten-part audio biography also devotes a lot of room to the relationship between Robert and Clara - probably the greatest "romantic novel" of music history. Nothing is exaggerated, however; it is all based on the original sources, which are dramatic and touching enough in themselves. Outstanding actors including Udo Wachtveitl (narrator), Matthias Brandt (Schumann) and Brigitte Hobmeier (Clara) contribute, alongside further narrators, to all the fascinating sounds and colours of this audio biography. Performers such as John Eliot Gardiner, Eric Le Sage and Christian Gerhaher guarantee the highest quality in the musical excerpts, which also feature several rarities. The audio biography is rounded off by a new live recording of the "Spring Symphony" with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Mariss Jansons.

“The will to happiness” determined the life and work of the great Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, even though it did not always enable him to reach his goal. Jorg Handstein’s audio biography takes this motto and fills it with the moving story of Tchaikovsky’s life, his survival and, of course, his impressive music. In nine chapters, on the first three of the four albums in this release, Tchaikovsky’s life can be vividly experienced, and his most famous and most important compositions heard, all closely interwoven with the highly exciting events of his life. Further along in the release, the Pathetique Symphony can be heard in a complete recording by the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Mariss Jansons (recorded live in June 2013), together with the first ever album recording of the a capella song “The Nightingale,” performed by the Chor and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen in a live recording from January 2016.

The lavishly produced audio biographies in the BR-KLASSIK WISSEN series tell the life stories of famous composers in an entertaining and amusing way. Who were Mozart, Mahler, and Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn? In what period were their works written? And how did their lives influence their music? This box set contains the ten audio biographies published to date by the music publicist J�rg Handstein. Great actors and actresses bring the past to life: Matthias Brandt, Martina Gedeck, Gert Heidenreich, Brigitte Hobmeier, Cornelius Obonya and many others. As the narrator, Udo Wachtveitl is the main voice of the series. Numerous musical examples as well as several complete works, recorded by leading musicians at an outstanding level, bring the composers' work to life. All quotations are from genuine sources - after all, what really happened is more exciting than all the anecdotes invented later. In this way, and captivatingly, well-founded knowledge becomes listening pleasure.

The successful BR-KLASSIK WISSEN ((BR-Klassik Knowledge) series is now being continued with an audio biography entitled Feuerzauber, Weltenbrand ("Magic Fire - World Conflagration"). On four CD's, narrator and noted voice actor Udo Wachtveitl guides us through the turbulent and complex life and music of the composer Richard Wagner- supported by musical selections from canonical recordings featuring conductors Leonard Bernstein, Bernard Haitink, Rafael Kubel�k, Wolfgang Sawallisch and many others. Additionally, the release features the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Mariss Jansons with four complete orchestral selections, interludes from Wagner's operas to complete this odyssey into the life of Wagner.

Handel's journey from Halle via Hamburg, Rome and Hanover to London is the story of an unprecedented ascent: from the auxiliary organist to the child of the High Aristocracy, from the courtly conductor to the free-lancing artist in the most exciting cultural metropolis of Europe. At the age of 26, he was a European celebrity, claiming to be a leading opera composer in the hard-fought music market of London, through his activities for the royal house and his church music, which also played a political role in the Anglican state religion: the king was the head of the church and The glorification of God served at the same time to represent its temporal power. The dramaturgically directed effect of Handel's mighty splendor could and cannot escape. In Jörg Handsteins audiobiography "The Power of Music" in nine chapters and on a total of 3 albums you can hear about the life of Handel, his most famous and most important compositions are heard, which are closely interwoven with the very exciting biography. The numerous musical examples are from well-known interpreters, choirs and orchestras - all of them important baroque specialists. A lively, music-rich portrait of Handel and his time - strictly according to the original sources, but always alive and narrated and inspired.

Please note: this audio biography contains narration in German.

The two eldest children of the music-loving banker Abraham Mendelssohn and his wife Lea were highly musical: Fanny, born in late 1805, and her brother Felix, who was three and a half years her junior. The lucky children enjoyed a carefree youth, in which music played a central role. While Felix became a famous composer and conductor, Fanny, according to the dictates of the time, had to subordinate her own composing talents to a role as wife and mother. The musical compositions of this highly-regarded concert pianist only received more attention from the 1970s onwards, when they were re-edited, and have since appeared more frequently in concert programs.

In his new audio biography, Jörg Handstein tells the life stories of these two important creative artists of the early 19th century, both of whom died far too early in 1847 (Felix was only 38 and Fanny only 41 years old).

The audio biography is duly entitled: “Two lives devoted to music”. Linking the well-known phases in the life and compositions of Felix with those of his elder sister Fanny opens up different and entirely new insights into the musical history of those times. This detailed audio biography, elaborated as usual on the basis of original sources and accompanied by numerous impressive musical examples, is dedicated to the life stories of both siblings, and combines exciting and lively narration with inspired musicianship.

Some of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s early works have been included as bonus tracks: the String Symphonies Nos. 8 and 12 that he composed at the age of 13 and 14 respectively. They were written in 1822/23 for concerts at Mendelssohn's parental home in Berlin, where he himself rehearsed and directed them. The Symphoniesatz in C minor, a single movement that he completed on December 29, 1823, also numbers among his early string symphonies. These works by the young Mendelssohn are complemented by his choral cantata Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich (1831), which is based on the text of the traditional Lutheran chorale.

Admittedly, Franz Schubert's biography offers little in the way of great adventures, love affairs, glamour and long journeys. Jörg Handstein – in what is now his tenth audio biography in the successful BR-KLASSIK series - devotes himself here to a composer with an altogether quieter life. Schubert's story still remains an exciting one: no famous composer before him had ever chosen to lead a life in which his musical activities were supported solely by a private circle of friends. This did not succeed without resistance, setbacks, great disappointments and personal tragedies. Schubert's unhappiness in love, his terrible illness, and probably also his early death were, ultimately, the price he paid for this unconventional life. He bravely stood his ground, however, countering an age of cultural and political paralysis with his great and bold art. In this audio biography, Schubert’s creative path can be followed in around 130 musical examples – something impossible in any biography in book form. Alongside Udo Wachtveitl (narrator) and Robert Stadlober (Schubert), many other voices bring the composer’s world and his circle of friends to life. Schubert’s conventional image is encumbered by two clichés. On the one hand, we have the warm-hearted, sentimental man, known to his friends familiarly as Schwammerl (“mushroom”), churning out endless songs and beautiful melodies, and on the other, the incessantly tortured outsider, with music primarily conveying a sense of “brokenness” and “alienation”. This audio biography allows Schubert to speak for himself as often as possible. Despite the sparse documentation, a far more nuanced picture emerges – and the well-known Austrian actor and rock musician Robert Stadlober finds richly contrasting colors for it. We discover a different Schubert here: single-minded, argumentative, philosophical, reflective, and with a wide range of interests. That is also what makes his life story so exciting.

For the first time, the successful series of BR-KLASSIK audio biographies is devoting itself to a 20th-century composer: Dmitri Shostakovich. His symphonies are still highlights in the concert hall, and his fate has inspired great novels. But what do we really know about his life? He liked to play his cards close to his chest – and had good reason to do so... Dmitri Shostakovich himself claimed that his life was “rather grey and colorless". In reality, it was the most exciting composer's life of the 20th century. Revolution and civil war, Stalin's murderous terror, then the Second World War, the "thaw" under Khrushchev and finally Brezhnev's brutalist socialism: the whole tragic history of the Soviet Union runs like a thread through his work. As a functionary who seemed to be loyal to the party line, he played along - but his music spoke against the regime and in favor of its victims and of the freedom of art. "This is a game that can end badly," Stalin threatened, probably in person. Shostakovich was thus obliged to fight his own fears as well. He was playing a double game - and knew it was dangerous. This audio biography draws on many sources, some of them still little-known in Germany. The result is a comprehensive, colorful and detailed picture of the composer’s life, and contains several surprises – also with regard to his private life, which should not pale behind the historical panorama. Like every great composer, Shostakovich had his crises and affairs, his great sufferings and small joys.