Publisher, Naxos AudioBooks (November 2005)

Here are the fascinating and very different lives of six great composers who left their mark on history. Each composer's music reflects his personality as well as the time in which he lived; and even though all this music crosses the centuries, each composer is more popular now than he was in his lifetime.

Vivaldi's Four Seasons

Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor for organ

Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik

the famous opening to Beethoven's Symphony No. 5

Dvorak's dreamy Symphony No. 9 'From the New World'

Shostakovich's exciting Symphony No. 5

All are as powerful in the 21st century as they were when they were written.

Marin Alsop tells the story of their lives with a light touch and more than 75 music excerpts.