Overview

Arthaus Musik, distributed by Naxos, has released an in­triguing series of seven DVDs titled Leaving Home: Orchestral Music in the 20th Century. Created for a TV con­sortium in 1996, Leaving Home features conductor Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Or­chestra on a tour through some of the significant musical landmarks of the past century. Most ambitiously, the series tries to provide a context within which to approach—if not complete­ly understand-20th-century music. During the nearly five hours of pro­gramming (roughly 50 minutes per DVD), Rattle lays the case for what happened and why.