Almost every biography of Fritz Kreisler quotes his famous saying, “I knew musical scores instinctively before I knew my A B C. It was a gift of Providence. I did not acquire it.” I have always wondered how this statement

Giacomo Puccini’s (1858-1924) La Bohème is one of his best-loved and most frequently performed operas. After its premiere on 1 February 1896 it was quickly adopted into the repertory of all the major theatres across Italy. However, the response of

Some say that Francis Poulenc was granted an ideal death. He died of a heart attack in his Paris apartment on the rue des Medicis, on 30 January 1963. On that day he was planning to have lunch with Denise

Fritz Albert Theodor Delius, better known to the world in later years as Frederick Delius, was born on 29 January 1862 in Bradford, a city in West Yorkshire, England. His parents came from Bielefeld in Germany, and his father Julius

Widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time, Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982) combined a prodigious technique with musicianship, scholarship, and a richly poetic temperament. One of the greatest Chopin interpreters of his time, his warmly outgoing and the

During the final years of his life, Giuseppe Verdi devoted himself to a number of philanthropic ventures. Chiefly among them was the establishment of a hospital at Villanova sull’Arda, close to Busseto. Yet, overseeing such a noble cause was not

Ever since Mozart’s Così fan tutte: La scuola degli amanti premiered on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria, its critical reception has been marked by ambivalence. For one, it opened during the Austro-Turkish War of 1787-91, playing

Born on 25 January 1886 in Berlin, Wilhelm Furtwängler still inspires acrimonious debates surrounding his “role as de facto chief conductor of the Nazi regime,” his passive political resistance, and his outspoken opinions on the relationship between art and politics.