Alexander Borodin, born on 12 November 1833 in St. Petersburg, came from a noble bloodline. He was the illegitimate son of the 62-year-old Georgian Prince Luka Stepanovich Gedevanishvili, and a 25-year-old Russian woman, Evdokia Konstantinovna Antonova. As was customary at

Classical music has given us some famous and unforgettable melodies. We might not know what a particular tune is called or where it comes from, but they flicker across in TV programmes, motion pictures of all kinds, on social media,

The phrase “classical music” covers over a thousand years of music. The genre spans everything from massive works for choral ensembles to delicate solo piano works and everything else imaginable in between. If you’re new to classical music, it can

Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) was much more than just the composer of an opera. In Hans Pfitzner’s memorable phrase, ‘Carl Maria von Weber came into this world to compose Der Freischütz’, which may be true, but he was so

For a number of commentators, Arnold Bax is far and away the most neglected British composer who flourished in the first half of the 20th century. Composing during a time that, say, the likes of Elgar and Britten, Delius and

The Provisional Theatre in Prague opened in 1862 as a temporary home for Czech drama and opera until a permanent National Theatre could be built. This venerable institution staged well over 5,000 performances over a 20 year span, and featured

François-Xavier Roth is one of today’s most versatile and imaginative conductors. Comfortably at home in Baroque and Classical music, he is also an expert in the Romantic core repertoire and a champion of contemporary music. A born communicator, Roth is

The small town of Meiningen is located in the southern part of the state of Thuringia. It was founded in the 6th and 7th centuries during the formation of the Frankish Empire, and over time it became the capital of