As a child, Andris Nelsons desperately wanted to become a football player. However, he soon got interested in playing the piano, the trumpet, and singing before turning his attention towards conducting. Nelsons was born in the Latvian capital Riga on

Daniel Barenboim’s early pianistic career produced performances distinguished by flexibility, spontaneity, and quick sensitivity. As a conductor, in both the operatic and orchestral repertories, he places the emphasis on freedom of expression, allowing for frequent changes in tempo and careful

The Spanish Civil War raged for about thirty months between 1936 and 1939. It pitted the left-wing Republicans, loyal to the government of the Second Spanish Republic, against the Nationalists under General Francisco Franco. A historian writes, “The war became

Marguerite Long is rightfully considered one of the most important French pianists of the 20th century. Her career, which included a long professorship at the Paris Conservatoire, was guided by her burning desire to discover French contemporary music. Her marriage

The voice of Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais has been described as “the gold of the Baltic Sea, with a honey-colored foundation and a vibrant high register, velvety splendor and character.” Born into a musical family in the Latvian city of

Historians frequently regarded François Couperin as “a composer of elegant trifles written for a sophisticated, yet frivolous, audience.” Charles Burney, for example, described Couperin’s music as “so crowded and deformed by beats, trills, and shakes, that no plain note was

Thomas Quasthoff was born on 9 November 1959 in Hildesheim, Germany, under horribly tragic circumstances. His mother had been prescribed the barbiturate Contergan or thalidomide, to ease her morning sickness. At that time she did not know that there was

Music lovers know Hélène Grimaud as a deeply passionate and committed performance and recording artist. Her basic biography is well known. Born on 7 November 1969 in Aix-en-Provence, she discovered the piano at the age of seven. As she explained