A critic wrote, “It is simply not possible to listen to Patricia Petibon—born on 27 February—without gasping with admiration at her versatility, flexibility, musicality, virtuosity and sheer force of personality… Petibon has the ability to make Baroque music so much
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“The Carnival of Animals,” also known as “Le Carnaval des Animaux,” is one of Camille Saint-Saëns’ most famous works. It’s hardly surprising, as bees, bears, birds, cows and all manner of creatures spring to life in the ultimate musical animal
Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 1890 in London, as the youngest of four children. Her paternal grandfather Samuel Hess had migrated from his native Alsace to England, and he established a highly successful textile firm in London’s
Commissioned for the 1606/7 Carnival season, Monteverdi’s first opera L’Orfeo was performed in Mantua on 24 February 1607. Essentially, it was commissioned by Francesco Gonzaga in competition with his brother Ferdinando Gonzaga, both sons of the Duke of Mantua. Claudio
A contemporary newspaper reported, “No soldiers paraded, no trumpets blared, no drums rolled out an elegy. But throughout the Western World last week a mighty marching tune reverberated. Sir Edward Elgar, 76, was dead on 23 February 1934.” During an
Born on 22 February 1972 in Fuentes de Satélite, Mexico, Rolando Villazón has firmly established himself as one of the world’s most critically acclaimed tenors of our day. Raised in a suburban area of Greater Mexico City, he was discovered
For every aspiring pianist, Carl Czerny is still a household name. His extensive sets of technical exercises are part of nearly every pianist’s training. Czerny was also the most famous student of Beethoven, and in turn a teacher of Liszt.
For American composer Henry Cowell (1897-1965), the piano wasn’t just an instrument where you sat down at the piano stool and played the keys. He used the pianist as the sound generator for all kinds of sounds on the piano.