Alessandro Scarlatti, born on 2 May 1660, is frequently considered the “founder of the Neapolitan school of 18th-century opera.” Contemporaries called him the “Italian Orpheus,” and he became the most important opera composer of his generation in Italy. Establishing Naples

Masaaki Suzuki, born on 29 April 1954 in Kobe, founded the Bach Collegium Japan in 1990. He simply wanted to introduce Japanese audiences to period instrument performances, and “to keep performing Bach cantatas one by one.” The ensemble began to

By 1915, Alexander Scriabin was working on a gigantic multi-media project called Mysterium. It was intended for performance in the foothills of the Himalayas over a period of seven days. “Bells suspended from clouds would summon spectators. Sunrises would be

Nikolai Lugansky has been described as a “pianist of extraordinary depth and versatility, capable of great refinement and crystalline beauty.” According to critics, “he combines elegance and grace with powerful virtuosity, and represents a true incarnation of the Russian tradition

The classical guitarist Miloš Karadaglić, probably better known by his first name Miloš, was born on 23 April 1983 in the Southeastern European country of Montenegro. Growing up during the Balkan wars, Montenegro was spared from direct conflict and Miloš

The Leeds International Piano Competition is frequently described as “one of the world’s foremost music competitions.” It first launched in 1963 with the aim to discover the finest young pianists, and to prepare them for the challenging and ever-changing professional

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) celebrated his seventieth birthday in the Alrae Hotel in New York City on 5 March 1957. The New York Times published a glowing editorial in his honor on 4 March. “Heitor-Villa-Lobos, Brazil’s most famous composer and one

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787), working at the Habsburg court in Vienna and at the Parisian stage, completely reformed operatic traditions. At a time when virtuoso singers dominated the operatic stage, Gluck set out to return opera to its origins by