How much do we really know about classical music? I have recently read about how success happens to only a very small number of people. How everything that is successful is a tiny portion of the whole. How the law

Born on 20 January 1924 in Houilles, on the north-western outskirts of Paris, Yvonne Loriod was a dedicated champion of the piano works of Pierre Boulez, André Jolivet, Jean Barraqué and Arnold Schoenberg, and she played the world premieres of

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2022 was “characterized by strength, vitality, and growth, underpinned by the dynamism of the tiger.” It was a year designated as yang, the active principle of the universe in ancient Chinese philosophy. As such, in

While Giuseppe Verdi was basking in the tremendous success he enjoyed with Rigoletto in March 1851, he was also looking for a subject for his next opera. His lover Giuseppina Strepponi had recently translated a play by García Gutiérrez titled

We should never forget that performing artists are essentially entertainers. And one of the biggest entertainers of his time was described as follows by the British magazine Belgravia in 1880: “In the years 1847 the management of the Drury Lane

Tomaso Albinoni, who according to his death notice dated 17 January 1751, died of diabetes mellitus in Venice, is primarily known for his famous “Adagio in G minor.” No self-respecting collection of Baroque music can do without it. But wait,

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 “Moonlight” In the wonderful and whacky world of fancy nicknames, nothing is more famous than Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata. Unsurprisingly, that particular nickname does not originate with

Shortly before his 55th birthday, Léo Delibes collapsed and died at his home in Paris. He was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris, and his legacy was secured with the ballet Coppélia and his operatic masterpiece Lakmé. The