It was a uniquely uniquely magic moment of music. In what would be the first and only time, the BBC dedicated its prime time weekend schedule to broadcast an opera live to an audience of millions. In place of popular motoring programme Top Gear, the British public were treated to La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi. Legendary conductor Sir Georg Solti convinced decision-makers at the BBC that it was time to introduce a phenomenal singer and performer to the world: Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu. Until this moment, Gheorghiu was a talent known only to a few. Solti himself was at the podium to conduct La Traviata for the first time in his storied career, while the staging was by theatre and feature film director Sir Richard Eyre – likewise working on his very first opera. Eyre agreed on one specific condition. “I wanted a soprano as described by Verdi himself: young, elegant and with a voice full of passion.” Angela Gheorghiu had all of these qualities and more. In an interview she said: “During the broadcast, I felt that my time had arrived. I was in no doubt: it was now or never!”

Alongside Angela Gheorghiu, who the film accompanies 30 years later to the Royal Opera House in London – the birthplace of her global success – are memories and reflections from tenor Frank Lopardo, who sang the role of Alfredo, opera director Sir Richard Eyre, BBC film director Peter Maniura, French-Danish singer Elsa Dreisig, conductor Marie Jacquot, opera critic Nick-Martin Sternitzke and the writer Salomé Balthus.

The first act of La Traviata conducted by Sir Georg Solti and featuring Angela Gheorghiu as Violetta is available to enjoy at concert.arte.tv.

Praised as a virtuoso magician of the keys from China, with the potential to turn the classical world upside down – Lang Lang’s solo debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall becomes the birth of a superstar and a homage to the liberating power of music.

Lang Lang chose a wide-ranging program for his solo debut in 2003. After a more classical first half with works by Robert Schumann and Joseph Haydn, he interprets the Chinese composer Tan Dun after the intermission, finally culminating with Franz Liszt’s Don Juan Fantasy.

Throughout his playing, hardly any pianist is as close to his audience as Lang Lang. His expressive body language anticipates the mood of the compositions. “He makes it easy for the audience, even those who have no idea about classical music,” observes body language expert Stefan Verra. He also plays the virtuosic and feared masterpiece “Réminiscences de Don Juan de Mozart” by Franz Liszt seemingly effortlessly, with infectious enthusiasm.

Even as a small boy, Lang Lang is drilled to be a pianist by his father: He is to become the best piano player in the world. He is rarely allowed to see his mother so that she does not keep him from practicing. When he invites his father on stage at the end of his Carnegie Hall debut to improvise together on a Chinese folk song, one chapter of life ends – and a new one begins.

This defining moment deals with the difficult relationship between freedom and the sacrifices we make for it. Lang Lang lives his father’s dream, which becomes his own dream. It is about musical perfection and personal relationships, about virtuosity and emotions – themes that are reflected in Lang Lang’s performance and in his life. Not only for Lang Lang himself, but also for his long-time companions such as conductor Christoph Eschenbach, composer Tan Dun and his teacher Gary Graffman, this concert was a magical moment. Pianist Claire Huangci has also known Lang Lang since a young age, and Bruce Liu is currently considered the new shooting star on the piano. Together with audio producer Christian Gansch and body language expert Stefan Verra, they retrospectively classify Lang Lang’s legendary recital evening.

Her career almost seems like a fairy tale: Due to racial segregation, she was denied the opportunity to study at the St. Louis Institute of Music, even though she had won a scholarship in a competition.

But Grace Bumbry prevails against all odds: She celebrated her breakthrough in Bayreuth, where Wieland Wagner brought her for his “Tannhäuser”. Initially the victim of racist hostility, the press eventually celebrated her as a “black Venus” and the audience applauded her 40 times in front of the curtain. Carmen became one of her signature roles. Together with Herbert von Karajan, she is at the peak of her vocal and dramatic abilities. Her vocal power, her temperament and her minimalist portrayal continue to inspire singers who take on the role of Carmen to this day. Many have gone on to have great careers. Grace Bumbry’s was more than that: it was important – and “Carmen” was one of her finest moments. But “Carmen” was also a turning point in Bumbry’s career, which also demanded personal sacrifices from her and forced her to retrain from mezzo-soprano to soprano.

For mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine, who celebrated her breakthrough with “Carmen”, Garce Bumbry’s interpretation is still the reference. Grace Bumbry’s best friend since her youth, Felicia Weathers, draws parallels between the role of Carmen and Bumbry’s life. Anna Tomowa-Sintow, herself one of the greats of the opera stage, explains what makes Bumbry’s interpretation of “Carmen” so unique. Dominique Meyer, artistic director of La Scala in Milan, looks back on a long collaboration and friendship. And David Lee Brewer reviews Bumbry’s career in Bumbry’s music room on the day the apartment was cleared.

In 2003, the world-famous conductor Claudio Abbado returns to the stage after battling cancer. He celebrates his return to life together with the very best instrumentalists and chamber music ensembles, comprising a who’s who of classical music. This emotional performance of Gustav Mahler’s 2nd symphony – “The Resurrection” – is set to become a magic moment of music.

In 2003, after a battle with cancer, Claudio Abbado feels strong enough to take up the orchestra baton once again. For his return to the stage, he chooses Gustav Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, also known as the “Resurrection Symphony” – a gigantic work fit for an orchestra of superlatives. On this occasion, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra is made up of specially selected soloists and orchestral and chamber musicians with whom Abbado has performed on all the world’s stages. It is a distinguished “orchestra of friends” that celebrate his return to life together with him.

This magic moment grapples with such questions as the meaning of life, love, freedom and suffering – themes that run through Mahler’s music as well as the life story and personality of Claudio Abbado. “I shall die in order to live” goes the text of the Resurrection Symphony. During the concert, the conductor Abbado – still unwell with cancer – sings along with the choir. It is a profoundly emotional moment, not just in the life of the conductor but in classical concert history.

For this episode, the orchestra musicians relive the poignant atmosphere of this magic moment: Renaud Capuçon, Emmanuel Pahud, Reinhold Friedrich and Antonello Manacorda share their memories of their collaboration with Abbado and the occasion of this unique interpretation of Mahler’s music.

Ballet history was made at the Vienna State Opera on 15 October, 1964. The event is a performance of Swan Lake choreographed by Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who also took on the male lead role of the Prince – all at just 26 years of age. His partner is 45-year-old British prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn. His version of Tchaikovsky’s ballet classic story would go on to make Rudolf Nureyev the dance icon of the 20th century.

An incredible 89 curtain calls (and a corresponding entry in the Guinness Book of Records) is testament to the ballet history that was written at the Vienna State Opera on October 15, 1964. The event is a performance of Swan Lake choreographed by Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who also took on the male lead role of the Prince – all at just 26 years of age.

His partner is 45-year-old British prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn. Less than two hours later, the world-famous love story ends not with the traditional happy ending but with the death of the Prince. His version of Tchaikovsky’s ballet classic story would go on to make Rudolf Nureyev the dance icon of the 20th century.

His choreography for the Vienna State Opera Ballet and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under John Lanchbery is one of the most well received of all time and is still in the repertoire of the Vienna State Opera. To this day, the technically extremely demanding choreography is danced with reverence by the generations that followed Nureyev, who are inevitably measured against the legendary dream couple of classical pointe dance, Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn.

In his novel interpretation of Swan Lake, Nureyev revolutionises the role of the male dancer: no longer content to be the mere porteur, a “hoist” for the prima ballerina, he seeks to be her equal counterpart. And so he places the male role – and thus himself – at the very heart of the dance fairy tale. He adapts the original production by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov to his own tastes and includes, among other things, an extremely melancholic solo, which is now standard in every contemporary production.

Nureyev’s reading of the ballet shows not only a deep understanding of Tchaikovsky, whose homosexuality alienated him from society, but also has autobiographical leanings. Nureyev had experienced himself the pain of rootlessness, loneliness, the loss of loved ones, and the revolt against social conventions, which spurred the homosexual dancer to become the first artist to flee the Soviet Union to the West in 1961, an act of courage that brought him instant international notoriety.

This great moment in music includes the painstakingly restored 4K version of the legendary ballet recording, while the documentary passages with Nureyev reveal and make tangible this exceptional and fascinating personality. In newly filmed conversations, former dancers and companions, including Charles Jude, French “Let’s Dance” jury member Marie-Claude Pietragalla and biographer Julie Kavanagh, all have their own personal memories of the iconic figure. Michael Birkmeyer and Gisela Cech, who danced alongside Nureyev at the premiere of Swan Lake, take stock of this unforgettable evening of dance, while young artists such as the principal dancer of the Berlin State Ballet, Polina Semionova, choreographer Eric Gauthier and director Kirill Serebrennikov, look back at Nureyev and his work from the perspective of today.