In the eyes of many critics, the career of Romanian conductor, composer and music theorist Sergiu Celibidache was deeply controversial and beset by contradictions. “While advocating the gentle themes of Zen, he could treat individuals with brutal contempt.” In fact,

After listening to Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, the American physician and poet Lewis Thomas wrote an essay that addresses the anxieties produced by the development of nuclear weapons. “I cannot listen to Mahler’s Ninth with anything like the old melancholy mixed

Norwegian violinist and composer Henning Kraggerud, the Artistic Director of the Arctic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, has been lauded for his versatility and passion for music and the beauty of his performances. A critic writes, “Kraggerud displays striking virtuosity which feels

Darius Milhaud, one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century, died in his home in Geneva, Switzerland, on 22 June 1974 at the age of 81. For the last 25 years of his life, Milhaud had been confined

Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg premiered, generously supported by Ludwig II of Bavaria, at the Munich Court Opera on 21 June 1868. Hans von Bülow conducted, and Franz Strauss, the father of Richard Strauss played the French horn at

Jacques Offenbach composed some of the catchiest tunes and melodies ever written, and he exerted a powerful influence on subsequent composers for the music theatre. Initially, however, he was primarily known as a traveling cello virtuoso. He was born Jacob

One October evening in 1898, having returned home after a long day teaching, Edward Elgar lit a cigar and began to improvise at the piano. Elgar recalls, “I began to play, and suddenly my wife interrupted by saying: ‘Edward, that’s

Charles Gounod, born on 17 June 1818 in Paris, is primarily remembered as the composer of the opera Faust and an Ave Maria descant to the first prelude of J.S. Bach’s C-major prelude from the WTC. Yet in his day,