When I was studying music at school in the UK in the 1980s (I took music at O- and A-Level, in addition to studying the piano privately), I was often the butt of jokes that I had “taken the easy

When he was thirty-one years old, Ludwig van Beethoven cracked. In a touristy town just outside of Vienna, he sat down and wrote arguably the most famous letter in classical music history. It was a cry from the depths of

Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) was a scientist and medical doctor who considered music his favourite hobby. Regardless, his compositions place him in the front rank of Russian composers, as his music had a strong lyric vein that reflects the character of

Born in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk on 25 February 1989, Pavel Kolesnikov studied both the piano and violin for ten years, before focusing on the piano. A graduate of the Moscow State Conservatoire he won several major piano competitions

Although he was overshadowed during his lifetime by his more flamboyant colleague Jean-Baptiste Lully, Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) is today acknowledged as one of the most gifted and versatile French composers. His most famous work, the main theme from the prelude

Known for his ability to communicate with and engage audiences, Alan Gilbert became one of the youngest music directors of the New York Philharmonic and the first native New Yorker to hold the position. Gilbert built his reputation conducting contemporary

Lutenist and theorbist Thomas Dunford has brought a new life to music that seems to have had its best exposure about 20 years ago. His skill on these two Renaissance instruments brings back many pieces of music we’d heard long

The new interior designs of the 1930s, particularly in space-conscious New York, reduced the size of many rooms of the apartment and created the three-piece dinette (a table and two chairs) to replace the 8- to 10-seater dining table, with